Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

Stuff gets done here

recent posts

  • A small thing

    We have a great travel light; mostly we use it for camping, but it works on traditional trips too, less than 3 inches in diameter. It makes a great night light at each new place.

    We’ve used it on so many trips that it’s a familiar little beacon. The few times we’ve forgotten to pack it, I’ve been a little sad.

    We’ve been traveling nine days, have stayed in four different places and there it is every night.

    I’m not an influencer, don’t get paid to direct folks to products, but do like to share well-made things that work for us.

  • Around any corner

    A pleasure of travel is simply walking around in a new-to-me city and seeing whatever is there. Yesterday, after settling in at our hotel in Stockholm we wandered out and found the St. Johannes Church, built in 1890 and part of the Church of Sweden until it was sold in 2024 to the Roman Catholics, for use by the Polish Catholic community. I want to know more about all of that.

    I expect we’ll consult guidebooks and things in coming days for advice on what to see.

    But stumbling upon unanticipated beauty tops my list of reasons to go.

  • Planes, trains, buses

    Public transportation in Britain is so uncomplicated. We found a bus directly from Heathrow to Woking, from there a train to Portsmouth (they leave every 10 or 20 minutes), then a return, just as uncomplicated, very little waiting around. Easy shuttles two and from the hotel near the airport.

    Since transit images are boring. Here’s a picture of a vine having its way between a sidewalk and a brick wall. In Portsmouth. In the morning.