When my cat headbutts me. I love that little guy

The shower. Sometimes I just sit down in the tub and let life roll away in heated bliss

Falling backwards into a soft snowbank in full winter gear and basically falling asleep while snowflakes drift down, melting on my face but otherwise slowly covering the rest of me. Absolute perfection.

Thanks op, it’s nice to think about this stuff

Walking the streets and sleeping rough a couple of days after arriving in Amsterdam, tired and hungry, a Portuguese guy with almost nothing himself invited me to his squatted place and cooked patato and onion soup and offered me a glass of port and a place to rest. I still hold this memory close.

I live on an island in the Atlantic. There’s this beach cottage nestled in the dunes along the southern shore, and it’s been there for over a hundred years. The wealthy family that owns it no longer lives on the island, but they love the space and don’t want it to fall into ruin so they’ve had a series of caretakers for the past thirty years or so. The position is unpaid, BUT it comes with the freedom to use the property year-round. I was the caretaker for fifteen years, and a few years back passed the title down to a friend (so I can still visit.) It’s one of the most magical places on Earth, and every time I’m there it’s like my health and mana bars get refilled.

Nordic spas. Going from dry saunas to cold pools to warming up again in hot tubs or wet saunas and doing it over and over again… Ahhhhhhh

Great question and the fairy fountain angle is a neat way of asking it.

Climbing gym, I roll up high as fuck and put my headphones in and go hard for like an hour or two. When I’m done it’s the absolute best feeling especially when I finish a project route or just do something cool.

Unfortunately all the gyms in my area are closed because of hurricane Helene so I haven’t been able to go for a while.

Beaches. Specifically where the ocean is hardcore and there’s huge rocks that the waves crash against. There’s this deep sort of infrasound that comes out of the big waves when they meet the big rocks and it’s just like heaven.

My dream is to travel to Nazaré, Portugal and watch the waves there. Bliss. Almighty powerful bliss.

The woods/forest. I love to go forest bathing when the weather and my schedule allows, and camping (even at populated camp sites) is so enjoyable.

Western North Carolina 😭

Hoping to get back there soon and bring my tourism $$ with me when they are ready. The mountains are my happy place and make me feel like a kid again.

Also, bike riding (when I’m not in a conflict with cars) is giving me a lot of joy. Especially when there are other bikers about.

Lake Michigan. The dunes are made of the softest sand and some of the most beautiful parks are along the lakeshore. I remember going one winter with some friends and it was probably one of my favorite trips. Honestly, I don’t really remember my friends much, but I remember how crisp the air was. Some of the ice on the lake had cracked and ran into more ice, forming ridges. The night was so silent that you could hear it groaning. For a moment, we were the only people on Earth.

A deserted beach we found one time. Very peaceful and beautiful.

Sitting by a bonfire all bundled up. Maybe even drinking cocoa or tea.

When someone I love hugs me tight.

Taking a kayak out into one of the local waterways on an early morning. We have a few canals that run through a nature area on the outskirts of the city. Around that time no one is yet on the water and I can just glide peacefully past the water lilies and other plants. The silence is so soothing. Everything just seems to live and breathe all around me.

It’s great until about an hour later, when some of the locals use their motor boat to put-put-put down the canal, stinking up the place with their exhausts :P

My closest fairy fountain is hundreds of miles away. I kind of lost that when I moved away from my previous friends. I used to have people where I am like that, but you could say the fairy is gone from those fountains.

My home garden. I’m by no means a great gardener but I’m a software developer working from home and just popping in there to spend 30 minutes caring for the plants is really refreshing.