Solo Trip to Copenhagen 🇩🇰 ¦ Travel & Journal with Me

Good morning from Copenhagen, I'm in Denmark today and I am spending the weekend exploring this really really pretty city. I have been to Scandinavia in 2015 but it's different when you live in Europe now and it's just less than an hour flight basically and I'm really looking forward to just explore a bit. I don't want to push myself to go to all the places I want to go. I also did a couple of research beforehand. Actually one of the reasons I'm looking forward to going is I watch The Bear, it's one of my favorite shows and there's an episode there called Honeydew and one of the characters Marcus goes on a stodge project, goes stodging at a Danish restaurant so I am going to some of the places that he went to like the bakeries and the restaurants and I'm really looking forward to just explore Copenhagen as an adult. I also feel like creatively I haven't been too inspired since the start of the year and spring just started so I'm really looking forward to just see where things take me. I didn't bring as much stuff as I usually do when I document and when I journal. I just brought everything like small because I wanted to hone the ability to like bring it when I'm in cafes or like just journaling on the go. Another thing I brought is my kindle so I've been looking into reading more again and fill my time with more mindful things which is like reading more than like scrolling so I am looking forward to sharing with you some of the things that I did in this city so let's head out. I had zero expectations going into this trip and it was pleasantly surprising that I actually picked a hotel right across Nyhavn which is this really really gorgeous view and it's the first thing you see when you google Copenhagen and look for places to visit in the capital city of Denmark. I personally wanted to go to Hartbaggeri and this is a bakery situated somewhere near the water. I went to that particular branch and it was really nice it was huge. I got to try the cardamom croissant and it was pretty much life-changing and I will say that I ended up here because of my fangirl era for the bear and it really did not disappoint so much so that I actually went back which you will see later on in this vlog. I didn't miss this chance to visit the Hay House. So Hay is a furniture company that was founded in Copenhagen and it's Danish and it's really famous for its crates but apart from that they have a lot of furniture and lifestyle goods, tote bags and also just a visual feast of things well curated and well made especially if you're into lifestyle or home. I just love tote bags so you best believe I ended up getting one but it was nice to see a very big showroom of Hay because I've only seen a couple of their items stocked at certain gift shops and it was just nice to see an entire building dedicated to the brand. This is me getting an everyday tote bag for me and my biz bestie caught in the act. Kidding aside, it was really nice to have a look and take my time browsing all of the goodies here. Something that stood out to me were the color blocked crates not just like one color but multiple colors that Hay recently released I think so these were really nice to see and it was just overall lovely to visit the store. I dropped by this shop called Akimbo because I saw reviews that they had Moomin items. Moomin is from Finland though and this is Denmark but they're in the Nordic countries and they did have items they had a lot the owner Liz was so sweet we had a nice chat and I ended up buying a couple of things that I've been looking for Moomin wise Moomin themed wise that I wanted to add to my collection and I also got a couple of these really gorgeous prints. Beside Akimbo was actually the Lego store and I managed to drop by to hype myself up because during this trip I went to the Lego house and it was just nice to see a couple of the Lego items on display here. A lovely discovery while researching for my Copenhagen trip was this store called Studio Arhoi. They make this really cute blobs and ceramics and really bespoke artisanal homeware and I ended up getting a really really nice mug in a really nice yellow glaze but the store was just a visual feast in itself and it was lovely to see the artisans at work also at the back so you can see that everything is being made by hand in the studio and the shop. Irma was a popular supermarket chain that originated in Denmark and this exhibition at the design museum really really tugged my design nerd heartstrings. I enjoyed looking through this exhibition as it had a lot of logo design, packaging design, and origins of the brand and it was really lovely to see it everything in one room and to see how the branding evolved, how collaborative they were with other artists and design agencies and just seeing all these visual elements come together is really something that I love doing especially while traveling. I try to museums that sort of fit the aesthetic that I like and also the design direction I like then this definitely hit the spot. Over the weekend, I paid a visit to two of my favorite people all the way in Billund which was a three-hour train trip and a 40-minute bus trip and I met them at the Lego house. So this is Ian. I call him dad but he's actually not my dad. He is married to one of my favorite people. This is Coco, my publisher and work mom and she currently lives in Denmark. So they took me around. I call them my work parents by the way. So they took me around the Lego house and we had a very splendid time at least for me. I actually started building Legos when they gifted me a set of sunflowers back in 2022. It was like two years ago and ever since that I've just been so fascinated with Legos. So it was perfect timing for them to show me around this really wonderful house. We're building our lunch today. So the whole concept of Mini Chef is we basically built our lunch and mini chefs are preparing it in the kitchen. So the different colors signify different types of food like vegetables, meat, carbs and you sort of build it like this and this was what I built and then you put it inside this drawer slot so that the mini figures will be able to read the Lego structure and that's how they figure out what you're going to eat and then they're going to prepare it. So this is Robert and Roberta working hard to make sure our orders are coming. You can see the Legos coming down this spiral ramp and this was our food. It was such a fun experience. Afterwards we got to visit the history collection in the building. I requested it because I like seeing vintage packaging and also seeing how things start and how Lego originated. It was really nice to see how everything came together. I have never played with Legos so for me this was really an eye-opening experience especially the part where there are certain zones where you can build. I tried to build flowers and I realized I'm not as imaginative but I tried so this was my little attempt to put together a Lego flower. It was such a nice day trip and my inner child was definitely so happy after this visit to the Lego house. On my last day I decided to try my luck and go back to Hartbagari and get a seat inside which I luckily did. So I had a rhubarb tart and a cortado and I figured it was time to put together all of the ephemera that I've collected and just sit down and write a bit about my trip. Usually I would write half of the things while I'm traveling and then back home I will catch up and do more proper journaling with all of my stationery and if I needed to print photos or whatnot. And yes the rhubarb tart was exceptional. I really loved it and I had a really nice and productive journaling session before I went around. I think that day I ended up walking around the city as a local would do. I cannot ride a bike so I just walked around but it was a nice... I got a lot of steps in. We are here at the garden of the royal library. It's the garden beside the royal library which I was supposed to go to but I was like oh I kind of feel like just hanging outside, staying outside because the weather is really good. And it's my last day in Copenhagen. I don't know I didn't really have that much on the plan except to maybe catch up on some journaling which I did this morning and visit a couple more places that I wanted to check out. It was a really nice trip. I would say every year I've been traveling solo at least once a year since 2014. So it's my 10th year of doing this and I will say that every time I travel I get to meet different versions of myself in a new environment and also the combination of my current life status if that makes sense. I'm 31 now and it feels different to travel at this age and really get to know myself and I feel very privileged to be able to do this. Part of my job as an artist is to constantly look for inspiration which is easier said than done and I try to let myself be amazed and delighted by just making things a bit more spontaneous with regards to traveling and not just always making plans because that's 90 percent of my life basically. I like to plan and this trip was partly planned but a lot of things kind of had to be changed along the way so it was a good exercise and a way to kind of open myself up to the year. I feel like I have been asleep for the entire winter and start of spring just because there's just so many things I've been fixing and I'm looking forward to gather a bit more creative inspiration especially from this trip and for future adventures and I'm really happy to be out in the sun. I don't think this gets hyped much but honestly my perfect moment of every time I enjoy a trip is just sitting at the park and reading or journaling or writing or just sitting there and listening to the birds chirp and the leaves just like being in nature basically. This was my one for the road food edition. I wanted to try Pulet's spicy fried chicken sandwich because it was also featured in the bear honeydew episode and I had my early dinner before I left for my flight. True enough it was really good and it was really scrumptious and not so spicy. I actually really liked it. This is me being all like I have a photo this is proof that I went to eat there. If you'd like to check out my journaling video make sure to stay tuned for the next episode and make sure you subscribe to my channel. I also share a long form version and my little haul from Denmark over on my Patreon if you'd like to support me and my creative journey. Thank you so much for watching this episode of travel and journal with me always be creating and I'll see you next time. Bye!