I’ve been thinking a lot about traveling and seeing new things, seeing new things my eyes have never seen before. But I’ve also been thinking a lot about seeing things I’ve always seen before that become new to me.

Lemme ’splain.

When I worked at that temp job that made me cry last week, I went every day to the Subway at Irving and Lincoln. It was so cold those days and that Subway represented so much to me, my halfway point of the day, warmth, that Subway was the most important part of my day, that Subway I had never really been to before. And now that Subway means something to me, that place I passed by a million times before now holds sense memory for me, warmth and relief.

Or there’s a place by our house where a friend of mine used to work, a little shop, and we would sometimes see her inside. She no longer works there but every time I pass by this place, I look in, just in case for some reason she might be inside. Now this little shop that meant nothing to me, has become a place that I notice every day.

I believe in the importance of traveling and seeing land you have never seen, but I’m also learning the importance of seeing things that are new to me out of things I’ve seen a million times before. I’m learning to appreciate and love what’s around me, to notice what I may not have noticed before, and to love this city in which I live with every bone in my body (like I didn’t before).

Traveling is a state of mind.

We’d like to wish everyone happy holidays! Also we’d like to share some test footage. Lucky for us we can do both at once. Here’s a look at the 2009 Chicago Christkindlmarket.