I love that we all have weird, yet wonderful things that make us, us.

It's what gives the world flavour.

Because bland is boring, right?

In a world that's taught us to be a sea of beige, I love when we each show our splashes of colour.

I have many and I wanted to share a fun story of that with you today.

Do you have little things you do when you travel?

Little you like to do wherever you go?

I do.

First, I always bring my own coffee mug anywhere I go. Because hotel coffee mugs drive me nuts. They just don't feel right to me. Usually very generic and too small!

And if you know me at all you know I have a thing for mugs. I take my morning coffee ritual seriously and the mug is a big part of it. Because everything tastes better from something that feels good to look at or in my hands.

On top of the mild annoyance I have with cheap, small coffee mugs, having something from home also always grounds me into somewhere new. To have something familiar to hold and touch is a big deal for me (hello touch cognition in human design - ikyk).

The other thing I'm big on when travelling, of course involves food. Yes, there's nothing better than trying new dishes in a new place, but even more than that there's nothing I love more than coming home with ingredients. Whether it's to take me back to the memory of that trip through my kitchen or just to stock the pantry with good ingredients that I can't find locally.

Because ingredients matter to me. It's the foundation of good cooking for me and it's one thing I won't compromise.

I recently was on a trip to New York so you as you might guess, yes my bag was full of food coming home.

In amongst the haul was a solid variety of tinned fish. Yes that's right, I said tinned fish - sardines and anchovies to be exact. Not what you expected? Sure, but let me tell you nothing makes me happier to have these in the cupboard ready to get creative cooking with them or even just straight from the tin with some good cheese & crackers.

But the best part was what happened before I left to come home.

I stayed with my cousin in Connecticut for a couple days to visit before heading home and while we were catching up over a glass of wine after I arrived off the train, I happened to mention how my suitcase had grown. Because in between the shows, the museums and the restaurants, if you were looking for me you'd find me scouring Manhattan in various markets (another favourite travel thing of mine) searching for slippery little treasures in gold tins.

As soon as I mentioned this to him, my cousin's face grew into the biggest smile. He jumped up and quickly disappeared into his kitchen only to come back with an armful of his very own tinned fish collection. Not something I would've expected but you have no idea how much fun we had taking about the different kinds and brands, completely nerding out on the magic of fish in a tin.

Even better we ended up in the kitchen together a few nights later making the most delicious tinned fish pasta for Sunday night dinner together before I left for home. The most perfect way to end the trip.

In the past I probably would've just kept quiet about what was in my suitcase because, well, being excited about tinned fish maybe isn't the coolest thing in the world. But here's the thing - when we're willing to share about the things that make us happy, the things that we love, the things we think are weird or quirky without worrying about what someone else thinks we open up space for magic to happen.

The morale of the story - don't hide who you are or what makes you you. This is what makes us all better. Because okay maybe you don't share my love of tinned fish (neither does my cousins' wife so that actually made it even more fun because he and I could connect over it) but when we’re willing to own all the things we love, be vulnerable about who we are, quirky bits and all, it gives everyone around us permission to do the same.

I know it can be scary to share parts of ourselves that maybe we've hidden in the past but if I've learned anything over the years of becoming the most honest version of me, it's that it can start with smallest of things like this and usually that's what moves the needle. Because that's the whole point, right?

I read something the other day that resonated along these lines - instead of focusing on being the 'best' version of ourselves, how about being our favourite version?

And maybe, just maybe it doesn't have to feel so heavy and hard. Start with your version of tinned fish.

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