Paris
As a very meticulous planner, I do loads of research, obsessive google map street view tours, and type ‘hip x-city neighborhood;’ ‘off the beaten path x-city’ etc. into google countless times until I find my ideal neighborhood.
We picked a place not far from Rue Oberkampf—one of my favorite places from a previous trip 5 years ago. Our Airbnb was a charming, candlelit little oasis, tucked behind a lush garden alley, in a little neighborhood full of dirty mattresses. And so so so much homelessness. It was heartbreaking to walk past the families sleeping with tiny babies on the sides of the road. On the misty mornings I'd walk past them, on my way to buy pain au chocolat. It was very grounding, filling me with so much self doubt about the selfishness of my nomadism-by-choice.