Idea Lemon is on an epic road trip August 8 - September 20, taking our Discover Your Inner Awesome podcast around the country in partnership with our friends at the kickass travel community Under30Experiences. If you daydream of going to places like Bali, Costa Rica, Belize, Peru, Iceland and more, you HAVE to hit up U30X. Their trips have changed our lives. We're all about helping you do more of what you love, so use Promo Code "idealemon" for $100 off your booking.

These are our notes from Kansas City.

We started our epic road trip with a weekend stop in Kansas City. We arrived on Friday night in the midst of a really cool event called First Fridays, where they basically open the streets of the Crossroads neighborhood for art displays, music, and you get to walk around with beer. Plus, we got this caricature done:

Now, ladies I don’t know about you, but all you dudes out there will be able to relate to this next part.

The first thing Martin and I noticed as we pulled into KC was the plethora of hot girls. No offense to you ladies, but spotting the hot girls before anything else is just how guys operate.

So we’re walking through First Fridays checking out the cool art and music going on, and every few steps we take, a cute girl walks past us and Martin and I do that thing where we look at each other and smirk without saying anything--the guy code indicating a mutual acknowledgment of hotness in the vicinity. Think of it like a mental high five.

This goes on for a while, and at some point one of us just says, “Why are there so many more hot girls here than in Chicago (where we’re from)?!”

We thought about it for a few, and realized from a pure population standpoint that it just couldn’t be possible.

That’s when it hit me that we had Tourist Eyes. I don’t know if this is already a thing, but if it is, I haven’t heard of it, and therefore am staking claim to the phrase Tourist Eyes.

Tourist Eyes are when you hype up the attractiveness of the girls or guys around you when you are somewhere new, purely for the fact that it’s something you’re not used to.

Let’s face it--yes KC, you have many hot girls, but Chicago does too. The thing is, we’re used to Chicago. We had never been to KC before, so OF COURSE we’ll think it’s like this sexuality mecca, because it’s new and different.

Now let’s think about getting Tourist Eyes in other areas. Maybe you hate your job, so you develop Tourist Eyes for any opportunity that’s not your job, and you jump on a new offer because it’s an out. Or perhaps you’re sick of being single, so you get Tourist Eyes for the first person who shows interest. In both cases before you know it you’re just as unhappy again.

So how can we stop ourselves from getting bitten by Tourist Eyes?

The first step is to do a gut check and acknowledge you have Tourist Eyes. Once you do that, take some time and reflect on what you’re used to, how that makes you feel, and why you feel that way. Some ways you can reflect are:

Journal
Meditate
Talk to a friend
Remove yourself from the situation entirely (When I left my job at an ad agency, I did it without having a new job lined up so that I could give myself time to figure out what I really wanted, and I soon found out entrepreneurship was my path.)

Everyone refers to doing something new and different as ‘making the jump’ or ‘taking the leap’. Jumping and leaping are what you do when you have Tourist Eyes. You can turn that jump and leap into a baby step, and get rid of Tourist Eyes completely, when you give yourself solid reflection time.

Do you have Tourist Eyes in your life? Take the first step in catching yourself and leave a comment below.

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Lastly, here are some additional notes and travel tips on Kansas City:

Hit up the Power & Light District and Westmore areas for a fun night out.

Try Jack’s Stacks BBQ. Anton’s Tap Room has good beer and good food too. If you want a good coffeeshop to get some work done, go to Thou Mayest. While there, see if you can find the Art Alley nearby which has some amazing street art like this

If you’re in KC on the weekend and into yoga, there is a free AM class on the lawn of the Art Museum. Great scenery while practicing. Shoutout to guest yogi Beau Campbell for an awesome class! Find her classes if you’re in KC--she’s also leading a January yoga retreat in Nicaragua, more info at triptribe.com.

Get dinner before 10:30 pm, because all the kitchens close at 11!

First Fridays is great! We met a dude named Jason Sivewright exhibiting a new children’s book he authored that is now a live Kickstarter campaign. The book is titled The Sugar Lion.

If you’re into baseball, add Kauffman Stadium for a Royals game to your to-do list.

A HUGE thank you to our Under30Experiences alumni friends who we met in Belize earlier this year, Michelle and Catherine. Michelle is probably the nicest person ever, letting us crash at her place even while she was in Colorado for the weekend. Catherine took us through Power & Light District and Westmore, making for a kickass Friday night!

Denver and Boulder--we got you next! We're in your hood August 10-12, and we'll be hosting an Under30Experiences meetup the night of the 11th. Check here for details!

Remember to follow our journey on instagram @idealemon and Periscope @idealemon

Take care and be awesome today.

Rajiv

What up! My name is Rajiv Nathan and I'm the Cofounder of Idea Lemon. That banana peel you slipped on to land here came from me. That's because I fancy myself a human Curious George, and the yellow hat I chase is life's authentic moments. I share my chase one story at a time through this blog, our email newsletter, and as a rapper.

Oh and I'm a WWE fan 4 lyf!