Playing Host in Your Own City

There is something wonderfully refreshing about hosting friends in your own city. Suddenly, the place you call home looks a little different. You find yourself looking at familiar streets through their eyes, and somehow the ordinary becomes interesting again.

Here in Fredericton, there are places I can walk past without giving them a second thought, the little art galleries tucked into corners, the craft shops filled with treasures, the coffee shops where I know exactly what I’m ordering, and the farmers’ market where I can easily spend more money than I intended because, apparently, I needed that amazing cheese.

Then there are the places that make our city feel like ours: the pickleball store where we can browse equipment and sneakers we probably don’t need, the facilities where friendships are made one game at a time, the little restaurants and cafés we’ve discovered along the way, and those hidden gems that don’t necessarily make the tourist brochures.

When friends come to visit, we get to become tourists in our own backyard. We take them to our favourite spots, introduce them to the people and places we love, and sometimes discover something new ourselves along the way. Their excitement reminds us that what has become familiar to us may still be pretty special.

The greatest gift of all for us is sharing our home.

There is something intimate and beautiful about opening your door, putting the coffee on, making a meal, sitting around the table and letting the hours unfold without an itinerary. Home doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to feel welcoming. A comfortable chair, a good meal, a bottle of wine or sometimes more, a few laughs and friends who feel free to put their feet up.

Perhaps that is one of the joys of having people visit us. We don’t just show them our city; we share a little piece of our life.

In the process, they remind us to appreciate the very things we sometimes take for granted.

So the next time friends come to Fredericton or your hometown, put on your unofficial tour guide hat. Take them to the gallery you love, the little shop you always recommend, the coffee place where they know your order, the market, the pickleball court and that tucked-away spot you almost forgot about.

Show them your city.

Because sometimes it takes a visitor to remind us just how lovely it is to come home.

Gratefully yours, Ms. Mindful Traveller