PRACTICAL ESCAPISM

You are where you need to be.

We all need to get away from time to time — a break from the relentless pace of life. But here’s the thing: you don’t always need a plane ticket or a week off to escape. Sometimes, it’s the small, everyday acts of letting go that give us the freedom we crave. Here are a few practical ways you can embrace a little escapism in your daily life:

Fashion Tip: Simplify Your Wardrobe

Take a page from the Stoics: there’s nothing more freeing than reducing decision fatigue. Take a good look at your wardrobe — what pieces make you feel like you? What clothes speak to you? Now, next time you shop, get a couple of those in different colours. Having a few of the same go-to items will spare you from having to agonize in front of the closet and waste those precious moments you will never get back. Personal tip: pick stuff that’s loose fitting, comfy but still makes a strong graphic or geometric statement. That way you can always be confident that your personal style is well represented even when you feel a little bloated or less pretty. And I recommend you splurge on one or two well-made and comfy statement shoes. The right shoe doesn’t match anything and can go with everything.

Travel Tip: Wander Without a Plan

You don’t have to book a flight to escape through travel. Start local. Pick a day to explore your own locale without an agenda. If you can, walk or drive through neighborhoods you’ve never visited, or take a different route to your usual spots. Let curiosity guide you, not Google Maps. You might be surprised by what you discover. I’m always amazed in the ghettos and rural areas around my island how people can be so creative, making strikingly beautiful, intuitive compositions using plastic bottles, hubcaps, and mismatched, expired paint that was being thrown away by the local haberdashery. My only regret is that I’m often so involved, absorbed in the process of seeing these things I hardly ever stop to take a photo and then, later on, I can’t remember where I saw it. That’s the downside of living in the moment — the moment is fleeting, and sometimes forgotten.

Food Tip: Cook Something New

Food is one of my favorite escapes, and it doesn’t take much to feel transported through a meal. Try cooking a dish from a culture you’ve never explored before. Pinterest is good for this: the photos make you hungry! Let the ingredients and the process ground you in the moment, offering respite from the chaos of daily life. After a time you will begin to trust your own instincts — remember, it’s about the experience, not the perfection of the recipe. That will come with time.

Mindset Tip: Let Tomorrow Handle Itself

Take a bit of wisdom from Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind): “I’ll think about it tomorrow,” she would always say. Sometimes the best way to escape is by allowing yourself to let go of the need for immediate answers. Take a mental break from the decisions, the overthinking, and the control. Trust that tomorrow will handle itself. And in the meantime? Enjoy a moment of freedom.

Escapism doesn’t require grand gestures. Sometimes, the most powerful escapes happen in the everyday moments — through enjoying the thing you are doing, the outfit you choose, the route you take to get to your destination, food (say chocolate!), or simply letting go of the need to control everything. So go ahead: find your escape, in whatever form it takes. You are exactly where you need to be.