Ending the Year in Jacksonville, FL | 2018

After one of the quickest feeling years of my life, Jesús and I ended 2018 by continuing a tradition that began only one year ago. For the second time, we spent the final days of our year - you know, that awkward-feeling span of time between Christmas and New Year’s - in a place far away from home, reflecting, writing, relaxing and working on our respective art (me) and music (Jesús) projects.

Last time, we chose a quiet woodsy town outside of Atlanta, GA (you can read more about it here!) and after journeying 12 hours with colds, to a 40° F cabin without central heating, we decided to stick within Florida this go around haha. Playing it safe with a MUCH shorter drive, and some warmer weather - we ended up in Jacksonville, FL!

We picked Jax for it’s cute old buildings + neighborhoods, good food, good coffee, and the fact that I’ve never been there before. Perhaps next year we’ll choose something a little more remote (I think I prefer that for the sake of forcing myself to relax and focus more on art, since I’m a ‘see/do everything’ type of traveler) but all around, this trip treated us so well that I have nothing but great things to say about our time spent there!

So we packed our car with gear, art supplies and multiple bags of Trader Joe’s trail mix (hell yeah), and made our way to the cutest little Airbnb which acted as our retreat for the week. As we briefly lived and worked in this mother-in-law house, I documented the interior that surrounded us, the parts of the city that inspired us whenever we left to explore, and the outward appearance of the creative process which takes place when the two of us are focused in on our projects in the same space.

It’s a really cool thing for Jesús and I to both be working on art and music alongside one another, together yet individually tuned into what we truly enjoy. I’d like to think that my marks and his melodies speak to one another and inform the corresponding project at hand in cool ways.

Jesús was in the midst of working on songs for his band, Muchacho (they actually just released a new single)! I was drawing and sketching new artwork with an upcoming fine art collaboration in mind, and learning about/putting together the first of my email newsletters!

It was a moment in time for the both of us (+ both of our businesses) that I didn’t want to leave undocumented. Because before we know it, we’ll be counting down from ten, throwing confetti around with our friends, and after another 365 days of hard work, our businesses will hopefully be in a completely new and evolved place from where it was on this very trip.

Be it near or far, on a tight or relaxed budget, I’d truly love to spend the end of every year like this. With one another, reflecting on our successes, and spending time with the work that we’d like to fill our lives with. Removing ourselves from our daily environment really seems to do the trick.

So please enjoy this close-up look at our week - the photos below that document our trip and our art.

If you feel so inspired and you haven’t before, I would definitely encourage you to take your own reflective retreat like this some day! Cater it to your interests, goals and needs, and please do share about it with me when you do. I would love to hear about the similarities and differences in our experiences.

Cheers!

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Recommendations while in Jax - thanks to our friends, Andrew, Josh and Josh’s wife, Bonnie!

Food: