One of the best things about traveling or moving to a new neighborhood is figuring out what your new favorite places are. Yet even if you’ve lived in the same place for a while or have taken a travel break, you can still find that joy of adventure and discovery closer to home.
Select something to test
First, you must decide what you want to test out as your favorite. Don’t worry, you can add as many things and categories as you want! My first thing to test anywhere I go is “best latte.” I find all the coffee shops within walking distance (or driving distance) and order the same thing. Maybe you decide to test a specific kind of sandwich or croissant!
Create your own categories
I then create my rating categories, sometimes adding in new ones as the morning goes on. For example, maybe I’ll rate things like ‘best vibe’ for the shop, best coffee foam artistic design, coziest mug, most comfortable chairs, smoothest coffee, strongest coffee, or best all around. The more creative and specific the categories are, the more fun you’ll have so feel free to add new categories and even create sub-categories!
Make your own schedule
Sometimes I test things all in one morning, like one time testing out five different coffee shops in a row! It was a lot of caffeine for one day, but super fun and each shop got different and more interesting ratings as the day went on.
Maybe instead of trying to test all the coffee or pizza shops in one morning, you might plan for every Saturday for one month or something similar. Either way, choose something to test and compare the same thing in a few different places, and make your own schedule for the test.
Also this works with take out as well! Get coffees to go or compare the best pizza delivery options.
Enjoy the process and share the results!
After you find your most favorite latte, pizza, ice cream flavor, or day spa, then you can always create new categories and sub-categories. In the process, you’ll not only learn a lot about your neighborhood or travel destination, but you will also learn about yourself and what you really enjoy most about a place or cup of coffee. Once you find your favorite latte, then test out the same places for your favorite mocha. The possibilities are pretty endless, as long as you are willing to be creative and step out of the norm.
And when friends and family visit you next time, you’ll have very specific recommendations for them, like, “this coffee shop has the best music and coziest mugs, but this one has the best foam art designs and best almond croissants!” Everyone will appreciate your tips and you will have enjoyed your adventures in research!
Enjoy the adventure, however big or small! 🙂
Julie Manthey 