Why It’s Okay to Travel for Nostalgia
You can still find adventure in the familiar
Travel publications are filled with exotic locations and adventurous destinations. No matter where you look, you’ll find the perfect stuff for thrill seekers or bar goers or nature lovers, and while there’s plenty of merit in all of that, there’s another type of travel that doesn’t seem to get the hype it deserves: traveling for nostalgia.
Not only is it nice to revisit familiar places and be somewhere that you know well, but it also gives you the opportunity to see old places in a new light and discover things to do and see that you never knew about. So, when my family was ready to pay a visit to my hometown in Georgia, I wanted to make sure that I experienced this trip to the fullest.
Revisiting the Familiar
There is no feeling quite like waking up in your grandparents house in the bed you used to sleep in as a child to the sound of the morning news and the smell of coffee. Walking down the stairs to find your parents and grandparents chit chatting about the latest gossip that you’re finally old enough to understand and pouring yourself a bowl of Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal in those distinctive bowls at the bar is a joy that is just impossible to find anywhere else.
There’s also something inexplicable about eating at your signature spots and getting a taste of that food that transports you back to another time and place. For me, one place I knew I had to go to was the Flying Machine. It’s a restaurant situated in the Gwinnett County Airport with a patio area right next to the runway.
My younger self was fascinated that you could eat a meal and watch planes take off at the same time. Although, when my dad and I went, I realized I may have been seeing things through rose colored glasses. The place wasn’t all that it was when I was a kid, but I still got to have a good sandwich and see some planes fly, so all in all it was still worth the visit.
Another couple of food spots that deserved revisiting were the fast food chain, Moe’s, that they don’t have where I live and a spot my family liked to visit called El Real. I think that both of these places had more nostalgic value than actual craving for food, but nonetheless I had my classic order from when I was a child, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Being in your hometown also provides you with the opportunity to reconnect with old friends — those that you are still in contact with at least. So, my partner, my friend, and I carved out some time in both of our schedules and headed off to the mall, watching a movie at the theater and browsing shops with things we never intended to buy. We also made a stop in the lego store, and we all got to create little lego figures.
On this trip I also got to spend some time at my old neighborhood pool and pay a visit to the comic book shop that I had been to a few times with my friend.
Seeing Things in a New Light
As fun as it was to revisit all of these places, there’s only so much that you can re-experience. I moved out of my home town when I was about 14, so all I ever knew there was life up until the end of middle school. It is sometimes embarrassing even, talking about where I’m from but then realizing that I never went much outside of my neighborhood or school.
Revisiting this place, especially now as a more experienced traveler, was the perfect window to take on this not-so-new destination as if it were new and see a place that I thought was familiar through the lens of a traveler. And, luckily for me, I had my family and friends still living there to recommend places to eat and things to do. One of our first stops was a quaint, Victorian house with a wrap around porch that was home to the Boulder Creek Coffee Shop.
The best way that I can describe the Boulder Creek Coffee Shop is cozy. When you walk into the scent of fresh coffee, the low hum of conversation, and a dimly lit room with simple and comfortable furniture, your mind is instantly put at ease.
With plenty of cakes, pastries, coffees, and other drinks, everyone ends up satisfied, and when you find a place to sit there are games and other activities to occupy the clientelle. My father, my sister, my partner, and I only sat in the shop for a little, but taking in the view of the quiet downtown out on the porch while sipping on a latte certainly made an impression.
Then, I got to experience the downtown of the place I grew up in, that for some reason I had never really visited. After walking down the sidewalk past all of the shops with a cool breeze and clouds overhead, I headed into Liberty Books.
Just down the street from the comic book store, Galactic Quest, the book store was a unique and locally-owned shop that I couldn’t resist peeking my head into. Though they were largely faith-based and didn’t have much in some of the genres I typically read, they had great used book deals, a wide selection, and some distinctive architecture that was certainly worth the visit.
After the downtown excursion and as night fell, my brother took my partner and me out on the town to a local pool hall located in a small Asian market place. Though I am certainly no pool aficionado, it was a new and interesting experience to see what people my age do in the place I used to live. We also got to eat at the fast food joint, Steak ‘n Shake, which is a place that’s fairly hard to find where I live.
Even up until the last day my family and I were finding new things to try and hearing about things we wish we had time for. We stopped at the Peachtree Cafe and had a delicious breakfast with portion sizes that I could never dream of finishing. We also saw that the Atlanta Botanical Garden was going to be home to some giant wood troll statues by an artist that my partner and I had seen the previous year on our trip to Maine, so we were sad to have missed it — but it sure does provide a good excuse to visit again soon!
Conclusion
All things considered, I would never pass up a trip back to my hometown. Any excuse to see my friends and family, eat nostalgic meals, visit familiar places, and find new and exciting things to do is an excuse I’ll take in a heartbeat. It may not be an intercontinental adventure with crazy sights or wild activities, but it is a very satisfying way to travel that allows for a change of pace and a warm, home-y feeling that you can’t find anywhere else in the world.
If you like what I do and want to support, buy me a coffee.
