Happy Friday!
When I returned from a vacation last week and people asked how it was, for once I did not reply: “Too fast.” It was wonderful and I loved it, but lazy, hazy days these were not.
We drove more than a thousand miles, glamped at a wedding in the California Redwoods, swam in Lake Shasta, got altitude sickness amidst the snow and wildflowers above Crater Lake, found ourselves in Umpqua National Forest on day one of bear-hunting season, visited our first-ever recreational marijuana dispensary, spotted whale spouts in the Pacific and starfish in tide-pools, jumped into the bracingly cold water at the beach from The Goonies, and learned to cut pizza with special scissors (because Portlandia is real).
It felt satisfying, eye-opening, and varied. And for once, my summer vacation felt long.
According to Marc Wittmann, the author of Felt Time: The Psychology of How We Perceive Time, I was experiencing “the classic holiday effect”: a stretching of time I first learned about in the L.A. Review of Books. The more memories we make, Wittmann says, the longer a trip feels. That’s a good reason to take a road trip, where everything feels new all the time—as opposed to just sitting on the same beach for seven consecutive days.
Dr. Wittmann gave me more tips on how to stretch out our vacation experience. Among them: challenge yourself to stay in the present moment, and resist the urge to over-plan. Quartz has the complete guide to making your summer feel endless—in a good way.
Another way to stretch out that summer vacation feeling? Souvenirs. I restocked my Olo Fragrances Cedar & Rose rollerball at the Portland boutique Frances May, where I resisted many clothes and Robert Clergerie shoes. We collected pine combs and lichens from Crater Lake, Wyld chocolates (though we’ll be careful not to Maureen Dowd ourselves), and a Stumptown coffee punch-card that will be good at the NYC location too. Other very Portlandia souvenirs not pictured: a skein of neon yarn, a bar of handmade soap, and—no shit—a live sourdough starter and two pounds of flour from Tabor Bread.
Serious fragrance people in Portland should visit the the new Fumerie Parfumerie. The owner, Tracy Tsefalas, will help you find your favorite new scent, taking down all the bottles from all the shelves. Fumerie’s website is also easy to search by maker or fragrance family, and commitment-phobes can purchase all the $3 samples they want. The lingering scent of Lubin’s Korrigan is helping keep my memories alive.
Summer, unplugged. I truly disconnected from work while I was away, which reminded me of this wonderful 2010 story by the late New York Times media columnist David Carr, about a holiday he took on a deserted Caribbean island with limited power. This may sound like paradise to you, but David compared it to Alcatraz. If you need inspiration to unplug—or just a nice summer read—here it is.
Apple Watch anxiety. Speaking of unplugging, Quartz tech reporter Mike Murphy has a more urgent reason to step away from the devices. After Mike started getting dizzy spells, he realized his Apple Watch was giving him anxiety and aggravating his heart condition:
The Watch was supposed to leave us with just the things we really needed. But that’s hardly how it works. The watch is strapped to you: The internet never leaves you alone, is symbiotically tied to you, is physically closer to you than some of your appendages. It’s always there, always tapping you.
He took the watch off, and already looks lighter as he glides around our office on his mini Segway.
If you’ve never seen The Endless Summer, Bruce Brown’s seminal 1964 surf and travel documentary, it’s well worth a watch. We found it in the DVD library of an Oregon resort, but you can find it on Amazon. If you ever enjoyed a Warren Miller movie, you’ll appreciate Brown’s wry narration. Browns’ cinematography, and the surfers’ fancy footwork—pre-Go Pro!—stand the test of time.
May your weekends feel endless!
Look up! Earth is re-entering the trail of the comet known as Swift-Tuttle (not to be confused with Hiddleswift) right now! That puts us in the midst of a meteor shower called the Perseids, which Quartz science reporter Akshat Rathi calls ”the best fireworks visible on Earth.” NASA advised to start watching around midnight on Thursday, but the cosmic debris (some might look like shooting stars, others like blazing fireballs) should still be visible after dark on Friday and Saturday. According to NASA: “Go outside…allow about 45 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. Lie on your back and look straight up.”