I met up with a friend who is a former colleague today in Jackson Heights for lunch and strolling. What has bonded us is definitely our love of food, travel, and culture, and it’s always so comforting to catch up with him and know that he takes my passion with my channel seriously. He’s always sharing different ideas with me on things he thinks I should try and what he hears from other friends who are trying to build their social media following. He actually left the company we both worked at shortly after I left because he was sick of the corporate world, and he’s now running his own business with a friend.

Wandering around the Jackson Heights, Woodside, and Elmhurst area today, I always feel grateful that I used to live in this area and got to get acquainted with it better than most New Yorkers would who live in Manhattan. But as I browsed, I realized that there’s still so much of just this specific area that I have no idea about, streets I’d never really walked down. I discovered a street in Jackson Heights actually called “Colombia Way,” where a bunch of Colombian businesses were speckled along. I walked off of Baxter Street in Elmhurst onto 82nd Street into a Colombian bakery that has been around since the ’70s and bought the most delicious pan de bono (Colombian cheese breads) and fresh squeezed passion fruit juice. I was in heaven. As I sat there drinking my non-sweetened juice and eating my crusty, chewy cheese bread, waiting for my friend to drive to the area, I realized there’s still so, so much more exploration in this neighborhood I want to do.

And now that I’m starting a new job this coming Monday, my time to explore during the weekdays is sadly coming to an end. It’s funny how we never think we have enough time no matter how much time we have in a day.