I’m baaaaack. If you’re reading this, that means I have once again left the confines of the United States of America to explore other areas of this planet as it makes its trip around the sun—this time featuring Portugal and France. Though I once planned on using this blog a place to share my everyday musings, Substack came about, and now I share my musings there with the aptly titled Melanie’s Musings. To be honest, I thought about retiring this blog altogether—transferring my travel thoughts to the more direct newsletter.
Upon reflection, I’ve decided to resurrect the blog for travel. These posts tend to be a bit longer than those I share with my newsletter audience, and I kinda like the travel journal having its own home. I’ll probably do some crossover episodes with the newsletter, so if you do subscribe to that — look for the reruns soon to be in syndication.
Now that the preamble is complete…
I recently read an article on Skyscanner’s website that showcased their predicted travel trends based on a recent survey. Among the most common reasons people travel were exploring new cultures (duh), adventure travel (not my cup of tea, but have at it), concert tickets (if you couldn’t get tickets for Taylor Swift at your home arena, you could always try somewhere else), and food experiences (again, duh). One trend, however, particularly spoke to me: “Main Character Energy.”
This spoke to me for two reasons:
- It was very reminiscent of one of my favorite movie quotes, which is Kate Winslet’s line “You should be the main character in your own life!”. Fittingly, she says as her character is learning to take up main character space in The Holiday.
- If you’ve talked to me even for 5 seconds since May this year, you’ve definitely heard me talk about Candice Renoir, a French comedy procedural that, I kid you not, changed my life—and inspired part of this trip.
The Skyscanner “trend” referred to the idea that people are traveling to places where their favorite shows are set or filmed to “embrace the cultural zeitgeist and step into the shoes of their favorite on screen character.” I’m here to confirm that trend is accurate .
While I was planning the trip to Portugal—a weeklong trip to explore a country I had never been to—I began watching Candice Renoir. Something about her character, the beautiful views of Sète, and the return of the French language to my brain encouraged me to take advantage of my #remotework life and extend my trip to add a bit of the South of France, yes including the filming locations of my beloved commandante and her sexy adjoint (deputy). That second week became a third week when I realized that coming home before Thanksgiving seemed like a silly proposition, especially since I had two free days off.
But, for me, that “Main Character Energy” is bigger than just going to the locations in which my favorite shows are filmed (more on that later). It is no accident that I grouped together the quote from The Holiday with my affinity for and connection to Candice Renoir. In both instances, the characters concerned are women who have previously lived their lives at the behest of other people and are learning to take up space, live life on their terms, and break out of a box.
Whether it be in these incarnations or others (Diane Lane in…well anything…but Under The Tuscan Sun comes to mind), I have always related to this character. A woman who knows she is more, but hasn’t exactly figured out how to let herself live life on her terms in a society that often asks them to fit certain expectations. Then, we watch as they embrace all of their qualities—and faults—as full human beings, often embracing their whimsy, quirks, and own ways of doing things.
As I said above, Candice Renoir really did change my life this year. I’ve been going through this process of transformation and allowing myself to be me, without worrying about judgment from myself or others, for the last few years. Seeing it so perfectly mirrored on screen—a character full of whimsy, zest for life, kindness, and growing self-confidence—reminded me that I get to be the main character in my own life, embracing everything that goes along with it.
I’ve long said that I think solo traveling brings out my best, most confident self. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s been the experience I’ve had each time I’ve stepped off a plane into an airport in another part of the world. My love of adventure, culture, and people are all ignited, and I start walking taller, smiling more, and noticing the little things around me that add whimsy to my day.
This was certainly true when I got off my long haul flight from LA to Heathrow today. On the long (long, long) plane, I started feeling my normal pre-trip jitters, and a familiar dialogue came back to my in my head “What the heck am I doing? I’m going to be gone for three weeks by myself, what if I meet no one? What if it’s all overwhelming?” As soon as I got off the plane, this voice disappeared.
I remember the first time I went to Heathrow Airport when I was 13, and I was immediately taken in by its grandeur. As my most frequented airports at that time were DIA and LaGuardia (with its gourmet food option of Sbarros), the designer stores and brightly lit duty-free shops that lined the corridors seemed magical to my teenage self who was enamored by glamour (let’s be honest, I still am). Though, as a teenager, I was too overwhelmed to feel like I could ever be that posh (despite always claiming Posh for our Spice Girl role plays).
Though I still don’t know if I’m that posh, I was pleased to see that my memory of Heathrow held up. The British Airways international/Europe terminal has your normal airport restaurants, Starbucks, and Newstands complete with designer stores, a mini-Harrods, a mini Fortnum and Mason, and not one, but TWO caviar bars.
I didn’t have the time nor the £80 to spend on caviar and champagne, so I settled from a meal deal at the WHS instead—side note: this sandwich, chips, and drink deal was £5. An American airport would have charged $15 for the sandwich and it would have been soggier. Get it together, US.
While I didn’t eat there, I did indulge my main character energy and wander through the very posh aisles of Fortnum and Mason. Complete with holiday whimsy.
That energy followed me on my connecting flight, through the airport to easily find the metro, to catch my train to Porto. Much easier than my first solo travel transportation venture in Vietnam.
While waiting for my train, I woman came up to ask me about the which train was coming to the platform. I must have looked very comfortable, because she started speaking to me in Portuguese, a language I know about 4 words of and have recently discovered I have a very hard time understanding.
Fortunately for me, she spoke English, and I learned that she was from Iran getting her PhD in electrical engineering in Aveiro—a city near Porto. She was so excited to show me pictures of her adopted home city, and I was so grateful that she gave me ideas of things to do.
The rest of the day went fairly easily, despite my being in the wrong seat on the train not once, but twice.
Having made it to Porto, I am now having my first meal in Portugal. The classic Portuguese cheeseburger, fries, and beer. What can I say, there aren’t many options at 10 PM.
My hostel has a karaoke night tonight. Part of me feels silly about staying in a hostel, but honestly, I really like them, and I don’t really care about my room since I’ll spend most of my time out of it. If I can save money for other experiences, and meet new people, I’m going to embrace that too.
And the 18 year old I met when I got in told me I don’t look 33–which I’m taking as a massive main character energy compliment.
I’ll be in Porto for the next 3 days. I don’t have much planned, but I am sure it will be an adventure!
Highs of day 1: Meeting the woman at the train station and sharing a really special moment.
Lows of day 1: The woman on my flight from London to Lisbon glaring daggers at me when I asked if I could get out to go to the bathroom. She was annoyed she had to get up for me already—to let me into my seat.
Biggest surprises of day 1: Portuguese trains have assigned seats. Good to know.
A Trip Around the Sun 