Some of our team got to travel to some really cool places in October. We asked them to reflect on their trips. Read on to learn about their biggest takeaways from their travels and their favorite small businesses they visited! 

Adam and Allie visited California for Allie’s brother’s wedding!

Allie’s biggest takeaway: “Being outside every day is really, really important.”

Allie’s favorite small business that she visited: “Night + Market.”

Adam’s biggest takeaway: “That I’m a happy person without work.”

Adam’s favorite small business that he visited: “Steady State (San Diego) and Bar9 (LA) coffee shops. Next level.”

Vince and his girlfriend tagged along to assist Allie shoot the wedding and they also got to do some exploring on their own. 

Vince’s biggest takeaway: “That the world is so much bigger than Columbus Oh! I love my city and where I come from but it’s important to remember that what’s normal here isn’t normal somewhere else. To me that means remembering to value things that might seem mundane and to question things that “are the way they are” a little bit more. Also In-n-out.”

His favorite small business that he visited: “Does in-n-out count? I loved this place called Achilles Coffee Roasters. The coffee was good, the baked goods were ok, but honestly the people there were really awesome and even though we went to way cooler places, that’s just really stuck with me.”

Erika traveled for most of October visiting Dayton, OH for her best friend’s wedding, LA and Joshua Tree National Park. 

Erika’s biggest takeaway: “Communicate constantly, even if you think you’re being annoying. The more you communicate the more people aren’t left in the dark and know when you’re actually working vs out in a desert with no wifi. If I can I try to book a couple days extra that I reserve solely to just work all day, that way I don’t feel too guilty when taking a whole day off. Get ready to wake up early and go to bed late during the whole trip. That’s what I basically did to make up for days I wasn’t available.”

Her favorite small business that she visited: “Either Primally Pure or this place where I’m not even sure if it’s a business or not but it was called Rudy’s General Store. It might be more of a museum but we stumbled upon it. This guy named Rudy preserved all this packaging, signs, medicines, groceries, ect. from the 1930’s and 40’s and made a museum of his collection in a replicated old times general store. It was pretty impressive and only cost a dollar to go see. Visiting Primally Pure was also very awesome. I got to see some of the things I designed in real life and got to meet some of the people I’ve only seen pictures of. They were super nice and it was just really peaceful to step into their space.”

Dayna visited Austin, Texas primarily to go to Austin City Limits but went down a few days early to explore and relax.

Dayna’s biggest takeaway: “I feel like I experienced a lot so it’s really hard for me to choose one, BUT, I guess I’d say that it’s okay (in fact encouraged) to take a vacation and to unplug. I had not gone on vacation and completely unplugged since our honeymoon 4 years ago. 😏It was really good for me to just live in the moment. I’m trying to more of this now that I’m back home.”

Her favorite small business that she visited: “I’m a foodie so my mind immediately goes to all of the amazing food we ate. We went to this restaurant called Suerte that served up the absolutely best tacos I’ve ever had (I’d like to think I’m a taco aficionado). The service was amazing and so were the cocktails. Let’s just say I never want to eat a store-bought tortilla again. Also, she’s definitely not a small business, BUT seeing Lizzo at ACL was a highlight of the trip!”