There are points in your life when your environment and/or social circle allows you to adopt lifelong habits or habits that you continually try to incorporate into your life even after you move and your circle changes. For me, this happened when I lived in East Nashville, Tennessee for a year.
The routine was set: on Sundays, I would go to Bongo Java, a hip coffee and sandwich shop, for most of the day. Did I buy one thing and stay there for 6 hours? Maybe. The place had delicious vegetarian and vegan options and a cool ambiance; the exposed industrial piping had a hipster vibe that many shops in Nashville adopted. The best part of this café were the shelves of boardgames that dominated the back wall, attracting most of the clientele, including myself. They ranged from light, kid-friendly games to more advanced strategy ones that were upwards of $70 a box. Unable to afford this hobby, my favorite thing to do was to pluck a new box from the shelf, learn it, and play it. I would spend hours enjoying new boardgames and making new friends with people who wanted to join.
After leaving Nashville, the scene changed, and I no longer had endless access to new games or time dedicated to having entire Sundays for playing. Grad school began, and my free time was for homework and the gym.
Having playfulness penciled into my calendar, in any capacity, was phenomenal, and it gave me something to look forward to. Now, it doesn't always mean literal games, per se, it could also be doing art, going outside for hikes or runs, or being in team sports. As an adult with endless responsibilities, bills, and work pressures, having this time to reduce stress, spend time with friends, to laugh, and to feel light and happy has been essential. But, I need to remind myself of this when school, work assignments, and deadlines ramp up.
This year (after Argentina won the world cup!), my friends and I spent 7 straight hours playing a variety of boardgames, and I absolutely loved it. Modern Alchemy, a game bar, also opened in Ithaca, and I've been dying to try it out.
My favorite games so far:
Scythe
Wingspan
Splendor
Lanterns
Ethnos
Dominion
Pandemic
Evolution
Which ones should we try out next??
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