We might be in the middle of winter, but don’t let the chilly air keep you from enjoying your Getaway. It’s the perfect time of year to cozy up in a cabin or bundle up and appreciate the natural beauty around you.
We’ve thought of some fun activities, both indoor and outdoor, to keep you occupied during your cold weather escape.
Learn A New Card Game
Ditch your solitaire app and get back to the real thing. Cards are provided in our cabins, so you don’t need to bring anything. If you’re interested in mixing it up, learn a new card game. You can try some of these classics from Bicycle or get creative and make up your own.
Do a Puzzle
Bring a puzzle and bond with your loved ones by doing it together. Puzzles are the perfect indoor activity and are great whether you want a solo escape or to bring people together.
Try a New Recipe
Our busy lives can make it hard to carve out time to cook. Use your time at our cabins to experiment with ingredients and try out new things. Our cabins come with cooking utensils, so all you need are ingredients. We recommend trying out these easy meals or these campfire cocktails.
Lose Yourself in a Book
Disconnect and dive into all the non-required reading you’ve always wanted to tackle. Use our cozy cabins to get back into the reading habit. Bring some books of your own, or choose from the ones we already have waiting for you.
Sketch or Journal
Take advantage of the quiet and let your creative side come out. Express your thoughts through journaling or create all those sketches you’ve been dreaming about making. It will help relax you from the stresses of everyday life and will give you a way to remember your Getaway.
Bundle Up and Head Outside
It might be cold outside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t explore. Bundle up and play in the snow or get out and take a cold-weather hike. Go on an impromptu adventure and breathe some fresh air. Don’t forget your layers, though! We even made a winter packing list so you don’t forget anything.
Cold or not, we believe any day is a good day to disconnect and relax. Don’t forget to make time for yourself and give yourself the break you deserve.
There’s nothing like a “New Year, New You” email – or several – to jolt you into 2019. I must have received a hundred emails with that headline.
While there’s a lot to be said about taking time to reevaluate, to renew, and to replenish, it’s hard not to feel drowned in cliches. Especially when these temperatures drop down to freezing, and we all end up spending more time indoors and in our routines than outside getting replenished and re-energized.
January at Getaway
This month, I had the privilege of speaking on a panel about “experiences” in retail. Getaway might not seem like an obvious choice for discussing retail design, but I was happy to participate because it allowed me some beginning-of-the-year reflection to crystallize why I think what we’re doing matters to us, but more importantly, why it matters to you.
Much of the panel conversation was about the officially tired trend of corporate-designed “immersive” experiences. I can wax cynical on the distraction I think these spaces provide, but instead I was grateful for the experience to reflect and to advocate for what I think we’re doing differently.
We’re not here to give people a “Getaway experience” — Getaway exists so that you can unlock your own experiences, and live a little more deeply. It’s you, not us, that are creating the experience.
You can read more about that panel here, or feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. I’d love to hear from you.
Here’s hoping for a little less distractedness, and a more deep experiences in 2019.
Anna Tullis has been all around the US. Born in Colorado, she moved to Kansas City to work for a non-profit before relocating to Los Angeles to attend college. These days, she finds herself in New York City, recently having completed a graduate degree at The Juilliard School of Drama.
As an actor, writer, and photographer, Anna enjoys crafting anecdotes about the people, passersby, and surroundings she observes. Informed by her photography, these ideas morph into short stories, vignettes, and poems that feed her expression on the stage and screen.
After four rigorous years of graduate school, she is mindful to allot time to escape it all. To get away from the bustle of New York City, Anna enjoys traveling upstate, visiting her home in Colorado, people watching in Washington Square Park, or sitting at home in her room and rediscovering serenity.
As an Artist Fellow, Anna integrated the solitude and peacefulness of our New York Outpost with its opposite: the constant, taxing presence and pressure of the crowds in New York City. One of her goals was to find inspiration and quiet in nature, to be still, listen, observe, and nurture her innermost self and refuel.
She produced a series of photos and written pieces formatted on her typewriter, capturing nature’s expressiveness through the stillness, aromas, animals, and colors of the Catskills and her tiny cabin in late fall. Enjoy one of her ethereal creations here.
This long weekend, consider spending doing something for your community. Ever since the 1980s, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been marked a day of service and it now serves as an annual reminder to volunteer in the communities we live and work in.
We’ve picked one volunteer event in New York, DC, and Boston that you can sign up to participate in this Monday.
New York
Public parks are important – they serve as small gateways to the natural world within our cities, and we believe in keeping them clean. Join the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for one of the cleanup projects happening in Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx.
Boston
A collection of local volunteer organizations, including The Massachusetts Service Alliance and Mayor Walsh’s Senior Corps, are joining together to create care packages for homeless youth in Boston. Volunteers will work together and learn about youth homelessness.
D.C.
Lend a helping hand at the annual blanket and toiletry drive. Volunteers will help package and deliver 1,200 kits to people in need in DC, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County. You can also donate blankets, shelf-stable snacks, and hygiene products.
The list doesn’t end there. There are plenty of places that still need volunteers for this Monday and many other ways to support local organizations, national parks, and more. Here at Getaway, we hope everyone has a happy MLK Day.
Kuzu Creative was born out of an artistic collaboration between Sera Boeno and Fredric Freeman. After completing their first project together back in 2017, Sera and Fredric knew that if they combined forces, they could unlock so much more creative potential. Thus, the creative services agency was born.
Drawing inspiration from their environment, Sera and Fredric took their skills to our Artist Fellowship program at Getaway’s DC outpost. Our Getaway cabin and surrounding foliage became their canvas for elaborate projection mappings. We were totally in awe of what they were able to create using such simple surfaces as inspiration.
We sat down with Sera and Fredric to talk through their creative process and how they get away.
Kuzu Creative House cabin projection mapping
Hi Fredric and Sera. Please introduce yourselves.
Fredric: Hey it’s Fredric. Pleasure to meet you. I have a pretty varied background. I’ve been everything from a reputable underground music artist, to award winning agency animator, professor of virtual reality, and pizza delivery professional. My current professional endeavors have focused on exploring more augmented, extended, and virtual realities.
I grew up in Maryland. Born in Baltimore, only a few hours aways from our Getaway stay near the Blue Ridge Mountains. I can remember visiting this area a few times as a kid. Flying along Skyline Drive losing my mind from how beautiful it looked.
I’m currently based in Philadelphia, working as an adjunct professor of animation at Jefferson University. I also do non-profit work serving as the President of the Philadelphia Area New Media Association, a tech agnostic organization that promotes diversity through education.
Sera: Sera Boeno here. Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey and currently residing in Baltimore, MD, by way of Hanover, NH. I am a sculptor, installation artist who also dabbles with digital design and curatorial work. I just earned my M.F.A degree in Sculpture from Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture. Currently, I am an artist-fellow at the Hamiltonian, DC, and I work as the Asst. Creative Director of KUZU Creative. The KUZU title is a broad-spanning type of hat, having a broad spectrum of expertise helps with that.
Kuzu Creative House cabin projection mapping
How did Kuzu Creative come to be?
Fredric: At the end of 2017, a fashion school in Philly approached me to do a projection installation. I was in need of a person who can wear many hats from research and conceptualization of creative projects to organization and production to help out with the project. At that point Sera and I had been acquainted, and knew of each others work; I approached her to see if she would be interested in co-creating this installation. The work was a huge success and was followed by inquiries of more work, which was a sign to institutionalize our working relationship. We wanted a flexible structure through which we can leverage, and provide for our individual creative networks. This mindset turned out to be a great way to work, as we now have the opportunity to curate a specific team of contracted creatives that we trust according to the specific needs of any project from projection installations for children to animated music videos to product design.
Kuzu Creative House Tree Projection Mapping
Where do you go or what do you to to feel inspired?
Sera: I either do something completely unrelated for inspiration, like going swimming. Or I go to art spaces and museums, visit other artists’ studios or peruse a good book/documentary around a subject I am thinking about.
Fredric: I agree with Sera. Positive distractions.
How do you recharge?
Fredric: Nature. It’s the easiest way to recharge. One of the things I love about the Getaway is its ethos- the idea of unplugging and enjoying the space you are currently residing in. I’m a strong believer of taking walks in the woods. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that nature provides all the stimulation we need.
Sera: Agreed with Freddie, nature is a good way to come back to ground zero. I also find it really important to make space and time for self-care routines; mine are, in no particular order, exercising, reading fiction, making and eating good food, baths, meditation, and Skype dates with friends on the other side of the Atlantic.
Kuzu Creative House Projection Mapping
Can you take us through how you created these incredible projection mappings? Step by step if possible.
Fredric: We started with a concept: Lost Digital Civilizations.
Sera: This is how we usually start, we muse about the possible response to a space/prompt we are given. After the concept is loosely set, we start collecting “assets”; in this case, zoom-in photographs of micro-chips, stock photos of archaeological artifacts, etc.
Fredric: We then created digital imagery and animations infused with these photos of ruins, microchips, cultural icons, etc. to create images of, say, Digital Gods Descending or something like that…
From there we did some test projections in Sera’s studio. We also took some time to build concrete objects to project on. Then we packed everything up and hit the woods. From there we scoped out a few areas we thought might create a nice composition and mapped our images on to these spaces. A huge reason things came together was the fact that we just went with it. We projected onto everything from tree trunks, to branches, to rocks, to even the front of our cabin.
Sera: I agree. I think most of the time our concepts are starting points but chance happenings have a big part in how the end-result is shaped. We welcome such opportunities to end up with things that we did not necessarily foresee. I personally believe it’s best when the work is one step ahead of you.
Kuzu Creative House cabin projection mapping
Where do you go to get away?
Sera: It’s tough to get away when you are in the creative hustle, because most of the time that means you are juggling multiple jobs/contracts while also trying to maintain an active studio practice. The two strain each other quite a bit. My solution is finding art residencies away from the city. For example, I spent some weeks in Steuben, WI, at ACRE residency where there was barely any cell phone reception. The surrounding area was so isolated that the moon shone bright enough to create shadows. I committed to making work here away from urban life, and while practicing to focus on doing so without thinking about to what end. That was my get away. Though, when I am able to travel, spending time in Istanbul, at home with family, usually serves as the ultimate getaway.
What is your dream creative project?
Sera: I would love a client to come to us with endless budget, space and time to commission an art project.
Fredric: Currently I think it would be to direct a music video for the Turkish rapper, Ezhel.
What are you most proud of?
Fredric:The journey Kuzu Creative is on.
Finish the sentence. At Getaway…
Kuzu Creative House made some pretty cool projection installations in nature.
For more information and to see more art from the Kuzu Creative House, you can visit their website or follow the artists on Instagram @seraboenostudio and @fredric_fresh.
Here at Getaway, we believe in the importance of building balance into our daily lives. To disconnect from the technological world and reconnect with the natural world, not just when you visit our cabins, but in your every day.
Creating this balance not only provides you with quiet, unstructured time to recharge; it allows you to better focus when you are engaged with work, technology, and the hustle and bustle of city living.
To get you in that balanced mindset, we have some tips to bring the healthy benefits of Getaway back into your everyday life.
Put your phone on Do Not Disturb
Work is stressful; but when the day is done, allow yourself some time to recharge. Start building a strong work-life balance by putting your phone on Do Not Disturb mode when you leave the office. This lets you destress and allows your mind to wander away from those projects and assignments, so you can focus on the other important parts of your life – like your loved ones or your favorite hobbies.
Take a break and get some fresh air
Schedule time into your workday to step outside. Nature is an important part of our lives and taking a constructive break will help you refocus once you return to work. Take a walk through a nearby park or take 15 minutes to just sit outside in the fresh air. Let the outdoors re-energize you before you take on the rest of the work day.
Introduce hands-on and analog activities into your free time
Every Getaway cabin comes equipped with a booklet of conversation starters and fun activities. Whether you want to start a fulfilling conversation with your partner or engage your brain in a puzzle, we love finding joy in those analog moments. While our cabins create our favorite scene for this, there’s a lot you can do right at home. Ask your partner or friends a thought provoking question, meditate for a few minutes (or more), do a puzzle. Sometimes the best activity is letting yourself do nothing.
Meet Christina Chun. Christina is a talented illustrator-turned-entrepreneur, running her very own stationery business called Forage Paper Co.
Christina is also one of our recent Artist Fellows in New York. You may have caught some of her work if you purchased our Black Friday deal; she designed beautiful postcards below inspired by her Getaway stay. We loved the postcards so much, we printed them up and sent them along to our guests who booked on Black Friday. Take a look at the design below.
We sat down with Christina to talk about her stationery work, what inspires her, and how she gets away.
Let’s start off by introducing yourself. Hello! My name is Christina Chun. I currently live and work in New York City with my husband and my studio-mate German Shepherd. After graduating from college with a degree in illustration, I worked as a freelance illustrator for many years until Forage Paper Co. came into the picture.
How did you start Forage Paper Co.? Several years ago, I started creating my own stationery and sharing them with everyone–friends, family, my local community, and the internet. To my pleasant surprise, people began purchasing them and retailers started carrying my cards in their shops! It was then when I realized that merging my love for illustrations and my passion for stationery was the perfect marriage. After mustering up enough courage, I started my very own business: Forage Paper Co. officially opened in 2015 in Oakland, California.
Where do you go for inspiration? I forage for inspiration and ideas wherever I go. It can be as grand as my travels around the globe or quotidian as a walk through Central Park with my dog. From there, it all gets recorded in my sketchbook, and then I take it to the literal drawing board.
How do you recharge? I recharge by either reading, cooking new recipes, exploring a new part of the city, or spending time with friends.
Where do you go to get away? Living in New York City, Central Park is my get-away. Thankfully, I live close by and can enjoy it whenever I please.
What sound do you find most relaxing? There’s nothing like the sound of a heavy downpour with a chorus of thunder. It can put me right to sleep!
Let’s talk analog in a digital world. What does making stationery mean to you in 2018? Nowadays, everything we do is quick and on-the-go. We microwave our food; we send emails from our phones; we snap, click, and go. In this hyper digitized climate, nothing beats receiving a handwritten letter in the mail. Why? Because it’s saturated with purpose and thoughtfulness.
When I see someone smiling as they pick up my products, I know they intend to share a slice of that joy with pen on paper. Seeing it truly affirms my belief that people desire to be connected to others. There is nothing more poignant and meaningful than a handwritten note. Knowing that my stationery can be the sweet medium makes me happy.
What’s your dream illustration and/or stationery project? The beauty of my job is that I get to illustrate my dreams anytime I want–and I have. I pour myself into my illustrations, and I think others get a glimpse of it in my work. In terms of projects, I am always cooking up ideas in my studio. I recently launched a series of notepads, and I have plans to expand my line even more!
Finish the sentence. At Getaway… I took my time cooking over white-hot embers, slept without an alarm, woke up to the best view of fall foliage, and read to my heart’s content.
Wellness expert and coach Amina Altai helps her clients build healthy professional and personal lives. Among other things, Amina is a former Getaway guest and featured on our upcoming season of The Getaway Podcast. She shared with us her thoughts on intention setting and being your best professional self in this new year.
I’m a healthy business advisor and I help people feel really great in their work, whether it’s in the context of an organization or in their own business. After being on the front lines of entrepreneurships for the better part of a decade, what I learned was that healthy people and healthy businesses are intrinsically tied. In my coaching practice, I look at experiences holistically through a mind, body and business approach to growth. We evaluate clients’ relationship to themselves, food, work, movement, relationships—all of it. Because it all impacts how we show up for our work and our purpose.
So when the new year rolls around and all my clients pile into sessions fretting about their new year’s resolutions and with a litany of work goals, diets and workouts to labor away at, I ask one question. Why? What’s the point here?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that goals and intentions are a bad thing at all. I commend the drive to grow and clearly, I value human transformation. After all, I’m a coach whose life’s work is to inspire people to be their best in work and in life. I fully believe that when we relinquish what weighs us down and fill our lives up in the right ways, we are freed to do what we’re meant to do in this world. Self-help equals world help in my opinion.
If self-help is defined as “the use of one’s own efforts and resources to achieve things without relying on others” or as a “self-guided improvement”—I’ve noticed there is a propensity to totally abandon the “self” in this equation. As New Year’s rolls around I see self-help bingeing—pre-ordering every book before it even hits the market, signing up for every boutique fitness workout ClassPass will allow, and binning everything that isn’t Whole30 approved. Resolutions and goal setting can become a drug that eats away at the real you.
The only person that can thrust you into greatness is you. Your path can be inspired by, but not found on, the pages of just any book. And if you really wanted to #liveyourbestlife, we need to journey to the truth of who we are and why we do what we do. And no one is better equipped to guide you there than, well, you. New year’s goals and intention setting can be incredible and valuable—there’s no doubt about it. However, like a quick-fix diet plan, goal setting and new year’s resolutions can be chaos if they’re not connected to the truth of who you are and your deep why. Resolutions and intentions by themselves are not enough. If you want to thrive, you need to have self-awareness around your goals and intentions too.
Why do you want what you want? Is it what you need for your own personal growth or is it a societal, cultural, familial ideal you think you should want for yourself? I invite you to think deeply on that.
My time as a coach, as well as through my own deep soul searching, I’ve done some serious diving into why we want what we want. I’ve learned that ideals around work, weight and lifestyle are indeed learned but the precursor to those ideals are beliefs. Our belief systems are learned from our families, caretakers, cultures and subcultures and they are often unconscious and unexamined. Beliefs about our self-worth, our value in the world, the work we do, and how we should look are all acquired. Growing up in a household where the story line is “we’re not enough” will likely cement the belief that you are not innately valuable. So, you eat to comfort yourself. You overwork to remain lovable. You do what you think you should do to hide. And then when you feel slightly out of control, you set goals and intentions to course correct the behavior instead of the belief. So as you scribble away on your new year’s intentions, I invite you to find your why and answer the below questions to set yourself up for a powerful and authentic 2020.
2020 Intention Setting Exercise
I recommend starting with a little celebration. Taking a moment to feel joy for what we achieved often points to our why as well. Take a moment to witness where you won big this year, what the circumstances were that supported these big wins and how it made you feel. And then I want you to think about where you might have missed the mark and what you want to release as a result.
Celebrate: What were your big wins in 2019? Why did they feel so great? What conditions were present for you to achieve this level of awesomeness?
Release: What do you want to let go of from 2019? Honor and release any shame from your lows. Shame, just like beliefs, are often programmed into us as well.
My Mission Is…
My Big Juicy Vision Is…
Who do you want to BE this year and why? Is this something that is deeply connected to your broader mission or is it programming from an old belied system? (Notice here I asked who you want to be, not just what you want to achieve or do) What do you need to heal or transform to BE this version of you in 2020?
What do you want to create this year and for whom?
How do you want it to take shape?
What next steps do you need to take to become this version of you and serve how you want to serve? What do you need to do over the next 30 days, 60 days, 90 days?
What resources do you need to bring this to life? How can you creatively access or manifest these resources?
My 2020 mantra is…
Now, I want you to think big picture for 2020. I invite you to think of your broader mission and vision and how you’re doing to bring it to life. You can do this for one specific area of your life, or all areas.
If you’re looking for the perfect place to set your New Year’s intentions, you know where to go. Make your escape today.
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