By Lisa Chandler, 16 April, 2024

In the five days leading up to our travel, I walked:

A calculator page

In the first five days while travelling, I walked:

Calculator page

Travel is a good reason to walk!  

By Lisa Chandler, 15 April, 2024

We arrived back in Copenhagen last night, where we were welcomed with a glass of Happy Hour wine. All hotels should be thus.  
Happy hour hot chocolate in hand.
Peter found a cool ping pong room for a pre dinner warm up.  
Funky ping pong room in Danish hotel
Despite that I cannot seem to sleep a full night no matter where I am in the world, this is a lovely spot to lay one’s head.  
Girl on a hotel bed

By Lisa Chandler, 14 April, 2024

Peter’s friends Olle and Luisa were warm hosts during our visit to Malmö, Sweden, these past few days. 

While they fed us tasty food and cocktails, warm soup and hot coffee, we couldn’t help but notice all the ways that Peter has been present in their lives, from afar, over the years.

I know he felt cherished to see his artistry on their walls.  
Artwork on a bulletin board.  Sketch of ground cherries with other objects.

Printed map, framed above a cabinet.
By Lisa Chandler, 13 April, 2024

We arrived in Sweden on Thursday. For L and me, it’s our first time. Peter has been many times and Olivia, at least a few. 

Today we asked for early observations from L. “What’s different in Malmö?”.

Here’s what she said:
People bike a lot. Without helmets. Even Peter did, though she did not see this. I saw it because I did too. 

Man on a bike without a helmet.
No one lives in a “house”! And none of the apartment buildings are green, blue or purple (from the outside). Many of the streets are cobblestone. 
People walking on a cobblestone city street in Sweden.
Lots of people are willing to speak English to us. 
 
And the playgrounds are way better.

Girl on a rope play structure.

And a few from me:
The Swedes are more innovative with potatoes. They call these tornados!
Two women with a fried potato tornado.
Airport food is much more artfully displayed in Scandinavia (at CPH).

Danish sandwiches in a display case.
Peter’s Swedish friends will move mountains to support his (our) creative pursuits. Here we’re binding little books to put into the “This Box is for Good” edition that we’ll design and print this week in The Netherlands. 

People around a table binding little books.
Old Swedish couches are way cooler than old Canadian couches. This one belongs to Peter’s friend Luisa in her studio at Blå Huset.  
A teal couch in a large creative studio.
And Swedish dogs can speak using buttons. Well, at least these cute little ones can.

Two people and two small dogs sitting on the floor.





 

By Lisa Chandler, 5 January, 2024

My workout coach Matt said the other day that “any kind of fitness is better than no fitness”.  In this spirit, perhaps any kind of writing is better than no writing at all?

I want to better remember a myriad of things that pique my attention and then are forgotten.  Like this:

A quote from an article in The Guardian about narrow and wide focus.

Peter sent it to me pointing out that he and I are very used to narrow focus (coaching, web development, managing households etc.). As we attempt to widen our focus, he wondered if we need to embrace “intentional unintention!”? 

Perhaps. But how do we do this after a lifetime of defining ourselves by our quests?