Let’s be honest, everyone has different desires when traveling.  Some people want to sit on a beach and have drinks handed to them, some want to explore museums and historic ruins, and some wanna party and find a lover in every country they visit.  No matter your style, everyone should experience the art of a Freespace Day.

What’s a Freespace Day, you ask?  It’s embracing the unknown.  It’s selecting a day during your trip and planning nothing.  Let your heart take you away to explore the city you’re in and allow chance and fate to guide you along the way. 

The best Freespace Day ever had was in the intoxicating city of New Orleans on the night before my birthday.  After checking into my haunted hotel, The Cornstalk, I headed out on the town with only one thing on my itinerary, to go to Brennan’s Restaurant. 

 First trick for a freespace day; find a starting point and go from there.

During my research, I learned that Brennan’s Restaurant invented the Bananas Foster. Ella Brennan and Chef Paul Blangé created the dessert in 1951 back when NOLA was the hub for banana shipments from South America!  

As I walked from my hotel to Brennan’s, I realized I had no other plans for the night.  I was turning 34 the next day, perhaps an early night would be for the best?  NEVER!  It’s New Orleans!  I was going to find a magical experience no matter what!

Brennan’s Restaurant is stunning, from the pink exterior, to the roost bar, to the lush green dining room straight out of a Southern romance novel.  I moseyed up to the bar, ordered a scotch & the banana’s foster built for two, and quickly started to make friends with Eric the bartender. 

Eric was a plethora of knowledge, he moved to the city for college fifteen years prior and never left. His wife was a New Orleans native. As you can imagine, Eric knew every tip and historical bit of information about the city.  Therein lies the second trick for a Freespace Day; get friendly with the service staff at your first destination.  

After I stuffed myself with the Bananas Foster, where Eric made the caramel in a pan in front of my face, I began to close my tab.  It was barely 7pm, so I asked Eric, “If you were me, where would you go now?”

“First night here?” He replied, “Davenport Lounge at the Ritz – Carlton.  Ask for Kevin and you won’t be disappointed.”  

Third trick; play “Where do you like to go?” with the locals.  Easiest way to find a second location on a Freespace Day.

Now I had a mission.  

I thanked Eric for a job well done, he gave me a to-go cup of pink bubbles for the road, and I set off in search of Kevin. 

The Davenport Lounge is everything you want it to be and more.  Located in the Ritz-Carlton, it’s lavish and makes you feel like you’ve teleported away to another time and place.  Lively jazz and easily drinkable cocktails make this a place to note.  I wandered in and immediately felt at home, even if just the thought of booking a room would make me go broke.  

Kevin.  Where is Kevin?  I must find Kevin.  Looking over to the bar, I saw two male bartenders.  I strode over, and waited for a moment until a gorgeous bespeckled man saw me and came over and asked, “Are you Kate?”

I was stunned.   

“Eric called and said you might be on your way.  He said you like scotch, is that right, ma’am?”  

My night was made, there was scotch in my hand, gorgeous jazz being played, and a stunning man was calling me ma’am in a way that could even melt a cold heart.  

So I sat, listened to Jeremy Davenport and his band, while Kevin brought me a few drams of scotch.  Eventually I wanted a change of scenery, my night was going just swell.  I figured Kevin would know the next best place to go.  So I asked, “Where do you like to go?” Kevin’s recommendation was the Snug Harbor on Frenchmen Street.   “Grab a taxi, and I’ll meet you there when I’m off at 11?”  I smiled and Kevin walked me to the elevator where we shared a sweet kiss.

I called my lyft, and twenty minutes later I arrived at Snug Harbor.  The line was HUGE, they had a cover charge of $20, and my cash was back at the spooky hotel.  Suddenly, I didn’t want to meet Kevin.  I didn’t want this night to be about Kevin, as lovely as he was.  It was the night before my 34th birthday and I wanted to spend it with the most important person in my life, me. 

Just across the street was “The Spotted Cat”, the picturesque NOLA Jazz Club, and here is tip number four; Let go of your expectations of the trip and listen to your heart.  Trust that you’re making the right (or at times wrong) decision and enjoy your time.  

The Spotted Cat was my everything.  Livly, fun, and fantastic for people watching.   I rang in midnight on my birthday while the lead singer of the band sang a jazz rendition of Higher and Higher (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) and my first Freespace Night was made.   It was a glorious introduction to New Orleans and now everytime I travel somewhere I save a day for zero plans and see where the destination takes me.  It ensures the discovery of the new and enchanting and allows me to live as if I were a local. 

As we travel and grow more into ourselves and our relationships (romantic and platonic) there can be the loss of power in being alone and spending time with yourself.  Nothing empowers me more than spending time alone, even if it’s a few hours in my neighborhood park or cafe bistro.  

There is a lot of potential in taking a day and not knowing how and where you’ll end up. Being alone is a superpower that few can enjoy, but through trusting yourself and leveling up to a higher (and higher) version of the person you once were, you will find the exact source of independence you need.  So, take that leap, trust yourself, the destination of the unknown, and enjoy the magic of a Freespace Day.