I seriously CANNOT believe I haven’t traveled this year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for my health, my loved ones’ health, and completely understand why it’s necessary not to travel right now. But selfishly, I am longing to hop on a plane and get lost in a new city. Usually, this far into the year, I would have typically gone to a handful of domestic cities, traveled internationally at least once, chatting with my girlfriends about our annual girls trip, while planning more trips in my mind during the aforementioned travel.

I think I’ve said it a million times, but travel is my biggest source of inspiration. It’s fuel for my soul. I love absolutely everything about it. Not understanding a language as I eavesdrop on conversations, trying food that is brand new to me, wandering around from morning to night, and being out of my comfort zone. In an effort to spark my inspiration, in addition to reading The Artist’s Way, I’ve been going back through my travel photos longingly looking at them and wishing for the day when we can safely travel again.

It dawned on me while looking back on these photos that travel is just a string of artist’s dates and that’s why it always sparks my creativity. The artist dates I experienced in Portugal consisted of:

Popping into almost every perfectly curated, colorful sardine shop
Going to a castle with the most stunning views of the city
Wandering around a former palace turned shopping mall
Stumbling upon live music and listening for hours
Shopping the aisles of a flea market
Port tastings
Reading a good book on the train
Sitting outside on the rooftop deck attached to our Airbnb pulling tarot cards
Having drinks in a kind of hidden location with a couple of videographers (who would later shoot our wedding) looking over the city, chatting about life in Portugal
Eating and drinking all the food and wine
Visiting places that inspired JK Rowling like Livraria Lello and Cafe Majestic
Going to the aquarium
Refining my photography skills by snapping photos of the city, especially the beautifully tiled buildings
Taking in the colorful pink street and surrounding pastel buildings

With all that said, enjoy these photos from a truly unique country, Portugal. Hopefully, they spark some creativity or artist date ideas of your own.

We started our trip in Lisbon, a city washed in burnt orange, full of hills, incredible views, cute sardine shops that turned me into a sardine lover (seriously, try this sardine pasta recipe and tell me you’re not convinced that sardines are amazing), inexpensive places to eat and drink, open container laws that let you take your beer to go while you climb all those hills. Plus, one of the best seafood restaurants I had ever been to.

Be prepared to walk up many a stairs and hills in Lisbon! But it’s ok, because you can bring your drink with you on the climb.

Books for days at Ler Devagar, apart of the Lx Factory that houses a variety of unique retailers, restaurants, and bars.

Another view from the São Jorge Castle. Look at all the red orange!

The stunning stairwell in Embaixada, a 19th-century palace turned shopping mall.

We continued our trip to Porto, a smaller city about a 3-hour train ride north of Lisbon. A city that if you couldn’t tell by the name, loves port wine, stunning tile covering just about every building you see, and like Lisbon, plenty of beautiful views.

Bridge that crosses over the Douro River.

Stumbled upon this view right before a storm

I can’t wait to create more artist dates on my future travels, wherever that may be.

Reliving Past Travel: Portugal