Day 25 - Exploring A “New” Town
Day 25 took us on a drive to Santa Barbara/Montecito to drop Elisha off at a week-long camp. But instead of just passing through Carpinteria as we have countless times over the years—my brother used to live in Santa Barbara, so this route is familiar territory—we finally decided to stop and explore Main Street.
There's something both simple and profound about breaking the pattern of "passing by." How many places do we drive past repeatedly, thinking "we should stop there sometime" but never actually doing it?
We had fun researching ratings and food choices, turning the decision-making process into part of the adventure. We landed on an Italian cafe (Guichos) that had excellent ingredients and solid execution. As our foodie family discussed over lunch, we agreed it earned a solid four out of five—good food, nice atmosphere, but missing that extra "specialness" that ties all the flavors together into something transcendent.
This might seem like a small challenge compared to some of the others, but there's nervous system expansion in breaking the autopilot patterns we fall into. The drive to Santa Barbara is so familiar that we could do it with our eyes closed. Stopping in Carpinteria required a conscious choice to disrupt our usual rhythm, to be present to possibility instead of just focused on the destination.
It was the perfect way to refuel and regroup as a family before sending Elisha off for his week of independence. There's something sweet about marking transitions with small explorations, about creating gentle memory-making moments before the bigger separation.
The challenge here wasn't dramatic—no adrenaline rush or major discomfort. But sometimes nervous system expansion looks like simply choosing curiosity over habit, presence over efficiency. It's about being willing to stop for the town you've always driven past, to turn "someday we should" into "today we will."
How many Carpinterias are in your life—places, experiences, or conversations you keep meaning to explore but somehow never do? Sometimes the most important growth happens when we finally pull off the highway and see what we've been missing all along.