That Freedom Lifestyle by Paris Davis

10/06/2026

10 years living in this cool, creative city.

if you want to know where to REALLY go in Berlin (cafes, restos, bars, flea markets, parks etc etc), I’ve put my FAVE 33 spots in a guide for you to read before your trip at the link in my bio or below 🫶🏽🥰

https://stan.store/____viaparis/p/your-guide-to-the-top-33-local-berlin-experiences-

09/06/2026

this week i heard someone say “the more i heal the less ambitious i am…”

not in the sense of having no purpose, or goals, but rather just not trying to manically achieve lots of things. and it resonated so deeply and also made so much sense.

i am pretty sure that i’ll always be creating something, in some form or another, until the day i no longer can, because creating is a joy for me, but the way i do it now is different to what it was…

it’s no longer about all-day all-night work stints, working in hustle mode. now i value pace, weaving creativity into my slow living lifestyle … and i feel much much better for it.

sometimes what we thought was ambition was actually survival, trying to prove ourselves or escape pain. healing brings clarity and with it, a softer more grounded version of ambition ~ not driven by pressure, but by peace.

i started this account in summer 2022 … and if you ever feel inclined to scroll back, you’ll see the messages of slowing down woven into many posts as this was the main lesson i was learning back then. a lesson whose meaning (and healing) has only deepened with time.

having experienced both sides, there’s such a difference between creating from love, and from lack. so i leave here a quote i once posted and still hold close:

“slow is the fastest way to get to where you want to be”

🤍

ps, how beautiful are the lyrics of this version of the ”older” song ? 🥹

08/06/2026

six years of working from cafes around the world ~ and it still feels like a dream sometimes 💭 it’s exactly the kind of life i used to imagine … back when i was stuck in one that felt nothing like me.

this is the life I worked for ~ and i know so many of you are building/living yours too. i see you 🤍
____

ps, if you’re planning a trip to Berlin, Paris, Ubud, or Hoi An, i’ve spent months/years in each and have created downloadable guides with my favourite hidden/local spots ~ they’re linked in my bio if you need them 🥰

05/06/2026

worked out this morning that in the last 1.5 years alone, 9 months of them have been spent with my phone in airplane mode 🙊 i would legit make the worst emergency contact lol

but while there are def some cons to this too, i think it actually does a lottt of good for the soul which makes it an overall pro :) how about you, next time would you maybe choose airplane mode over staying fully connected?

04/06/2026

this setting ~ sauna sessions, a podcast downloaded, a book with one last chapter to read and a massage under the trees. t’was THE perfect Sunday.

this place started last november and isn’t even google maps 🙊 it took some WhatsApp coordination with the owners, who also picked me up and dropped me back home, to make this happen. that by definition is a true hidden gem in my books.

i’ll for sure include it in my oaxaca guide (coming next week!) 🤗🤍

UPDATE: the guide is now live and you can find it at the link below :) 33 spots and experiences that became my favourites after 3 months living in Oaxaca (including this one)! ✨

https://stan.store/____viaparis/p/your-guide-to-33-insider-spots-in-oaxaca-city

03/06/2026

“I’m just going to look” 👀 - the famous last words of a traveller with no fixed home … but a love for ceramics 😅

that ‘looking’ ofc turned into buying seven gorgeous ceramic plates, two of which i ended up gifting to the lovely lady in the corner shop of my neighbourhood the day before my flight ~ and even then, my suitcase was STILL 2kg overweight (thanks to Javier from united for letting that slide) 🙊

but i am happy to report that the 5 remaining pieces safely survived 4 flights and made it back to England with me in one piece 💪🏽

i mean it … if you go to oaxaca city and you’re a ceramic lover then you’re about to walk into a wholeee lotta luck 🍀

there are over 70 villages surrounding the city that each have their own styles and specialise in different types of ceramics from black clay to tan to green etc. you could easily spend days exploring them all.

it took me a while to know where to go but thankfully in my third month i bumped into a ceramic artist in training who pointed me in the right direction.

i’ve included the village, its ceramic market and two ateliers in my oaxaca guide which you can access / download at the link below).

each of my plates were just €5 and so well made by hand, locally and traditionally ~ and it was also just so nice seeing the artists at work and knowing where they came from 🤍

https://stan.store/____viaparis/p/your-guide-to-33-insider-spots-in-oaxaca-city

02/06/2026

my ex once told me i was just a dreamer ~ and meant it in a negative way.

it was during a conversation, back in 2018, where i was trying to explain how empty i felt living a ‘normal’ routine life. working a 9-5 that drained me. feeling like my soul had fallen asleep somewhere along the way.

i said i missed the freedom i’d felt in my early 20s ~ living in new countries, travelling, feeling awake and alive and full of possibility. and how i wanted to somehow regain this life of adventure, working whilst travelling. to build a life that felt like mine again. something outside of the ordinary.

he looked at me with a kind of disbelief… as if what i wanted was naive, unrealistic. something that people grow out of. “this isn’t how real life works” he said.

but this is what i am grateful for having understood intuitively at that moment: that each one us operates within our own reality and no two are the same. my feelings told me that it was somehow possible … even if at that moment i was far from knowing how. and didn’t have examples of other people doing it around me.

i guess my message here is that just because someone else can’t see your dream doesn’t mean it’s not reachable. it just means your path isn’t theirs.

so if you’re in that moment now, where you feel the pull for something different, please don’t shrink your desires to fit someone else’s reality, someone else’s version of life.

what excites you exists. hold on to your vision. because dreams have a way of finding their way to reality ~ especially when you keep believing in them, day by day 🥰 🤍

01/06/2026

Whenever those “most expensive cities in the world” articles start circulating each year, Paris always seems to be one of the first names to appear. I’m not entirely sure how the research is carried out, but it definitely does the job in convincing everyone with normal-sized pockets that a trip to the City of Love may be out of their price range.

And while it absolutely can be expensive, I certainly won’t dispute that, if you have a bit of local knowledge, it truly doesn’t have to be and you CAN experience Paris on a budget.

I spent ten months living in the city as an au pair at 24 years old on just a €400 monthly allowance provided by the family I worked for. And if that experience taught me anything at all, it’s that some of the very best things about Paris cost little to nothing.

Long beautiful walks, picnic spots with views and prime people-watching entertainment, affordable little bites to eat and afternoons spent in local parks.

I became very savvy at discovering things to do in Paris that didn’t break the bank and even after returning to the city countless times since with a little more money to play with, these are still some of my favourite ways to spend my time there.

So if you’re planning a trip and are looking for some more budget-friendly insider tips, here are a few ways you can fill your mornings, afternoons and evenings beautifully without emptying your bank account...

Continue reading:

Paris may have a reputation for being expensive, but after living there on just €400 a month, I discovered plenty of beautiful and affordable ways to experience the city like a local.

29/05/2026

do we arrive here with prewritten imprints on our soul? is there a certain age when a deep desire activates that starts pulling us towards a certain direction ~ or does it perhaps awaken the very first time we come into contact with it? and why do these ‘pulls’ differ between us … why do some feel it for roots and others for wings?

i think a lot of questions. and i don’t have all the answers. but what i do know, is that for whatever reason, i came here to experience ~ and create ~ freedom in all its forms. to move, to travel, to live fully…

i know this because i’ve experienced both sides:

what it felt like to move to six new countries solo in my early 20s. what it felt like to work in an office full time and be limited to 3 weeks of holiday per year. and what it feels like now, coming back to a life of travel again these last years.

in short, the emotion for each chapter went like this: peace, pain, peace.

as i was looking back at these old posts i found something i’d written in 2014 ~ right after returning from living in Brazil and just before moving to Paris. i had just turned 24. it said:

“travelling has changed not only my mind but my heart; i need the unknown, new places, new people, new adventures. a friend said to me that travelling isn’t something that you do, it’s a way of life. interesting thought.”

funny that…

the me back then definitely didn’t consciously recognise that as a hint of what was to come. that i would indeed find out for myself that it is possible for travel not just to be a detour or break from ordinary life but a whole path in itself... though in hindsight, i think it’s clear a deeper part of me already knew.

so maybe it’s the feelings, thoughts, dreams, wishes and desires that we keep circling back to time and time again ~ the ones that make us feel peacefully alive ~ that are the clearest signposts we could possibly have of the life we’re meant to live 🤍