How Coffee Shops Make the World Feel Smaller (in a good way)

I’m a sucker for a great cup of coffee, and once I find a place I like, I go back every single day.

This isn’t hyperbole. I’m writing this from the same coffee shop in Capbreton for the sixth day in a row.

The coffee gets me through the door, but the people are what bring me back. If a shop has both, I’m there every day.

It’s one of my favorite parts of traveling. And since I go back to the same places year after year, these coffee shops have become staples in my life. When I return somewhere, one of the first things I do is hit that coffee shop.

It’s incredible how many conversations and connections we’ve made at coffee shops around the world, and how many of those people have stayed in our lives. They live across the world, but I’ll see something that reminds me of them or their shop and shoot them a quick text that basically says, “Hey, I thought about you today.”

To me, that’s the kind of thing that makes life feel rich.

NOA Coffee, Sapporo

One of my favorite coffee shops on earth is NOA Coffee in Sapporo. It’s run by a local named Mon. The coffee is excellent, the food is even better, and Mon himself is about as genuine as they come. Every morning before opening, he bakes the most unreal focaccia himself and makes Italian-style sandwiches that remind me of where I grew up on Long Island. There’s something amazing about tasting home in a place 6,000 miles away from it, made by someone who’s never been there, that I still can’t quite explain.

Mon used to be a professional cross-country skier, and every winter we make multiple mandatory trips to his shop, even though it’s a 45-minute drive.

A few months ago, I was in NYC eating a sandwich at a famous Florence-born sandwich shop. I watched them slicing fresh mortadella and immediately thought of Mon. I took a photo, sent it to him, and we had a quick catch-up after not talking for months.

It might seem small, but these are the moments that make my life feel full and meaningful.

We’ve even hit him up for help with hiring, run ideas by him about our future shop in Otaru, and offered to let him run our shop in the beginning because he’s such a beast.

Pausa Tre, Shimbashi

Then there’s Pausa Tre in Shimbashi. Shimbashi is my spot in Tokyo. It’s close to Haneda, there’s a hotel we stay at every time, and there’s a coffee shop I love, so I’m locked in there.

We walked in after four months away and got the most overwhelming greeting. The owner’s English is limited and my Japanese is limited, but we get by. It turns out you don’t need much shared vocabulary when both sides actually want to understand each other…

He runs a full-time business helping Japanese companies modernize, and he opened this coffee shop purely for the love of the game. Pure Japanese style obsession with coffee. He works on his business in the back while Suzu, a talented artist who makes coffee on the side, runs the bar up front.

It’s a shop that exists strictly to serve you a good cup of coffee, not because it needed to make money, and its evident as soon as you walk in.

The second they saw us, it was hugs and shouts. And right away, in his broken English, he said, “I hope your guys’ business is succeeding.”

At the time, we were getting a lot of hate from people on Instagram calling us evil colonizers, this and that, so it meant a lot to hear from a local that he hopes we succeed in our Japanese business.

Byron Bay Coffee, Miyazaki

Down in Miyazaki, we went to a spot called Byron Bay Coffee pretty much every day for three weeks straight. If a coffee shop has an Australian name, I’m there. Aussies really know what’s up when it comes to new-wave coffee.

A woman named Yuko runs the shop every day for its Australian owners. Over those three weeks, she went from the person making our flat whites to someone we genuinely looked forward to seeing. One night we invited her to dinner at a Spanish restaurant (yes, in Miyazaki) and had a fantastic time.

We talked about Miyazaki, coffee, life, and her views on Japan’s future: population decline, the influx of foreigners, all of it. It gave us real insight into how Japanese people feel versus the media snip-its you see online.

Now every time she posts a cup of coffee on Instagram, I tell her I miss her coffee.

Marché Commun, Capbreton

And finally, where I’m sitting right now: Marché Commune in Capbreton, France. We’ve been here six days in a row, and we’re in France for another two weeks, so we’ll be here about 14 more times.

It’s run by Manon, and it’s a cool shop that also sells a selection of sustainable, locally sourced clothing. You can tell it’s run by someone who thinks about where things come from and who they support, a mindset we want to bring to our shop in Otaru.

On stereotypes

The world is full of stereotypes. Some are true, some aren’t.

Because our business is in Japan, people often say to me, “Aren’t Japanese people cold?” My experience has been the exact opposite. I’ve never met more welcoming, kind people anywhere. If you make even the slightest effort to speak the language and respect the culture, it’s remarkable how much love you get back.

As for the stereotype about the French being standoffish and rude, in my experience it’s mostly a misunderstanding.

The more I travel, the more I realize just how outgoing we are as Americans, and that Europeans generally aren’t like that. I think American extroversion catches people off guard here. But once you actually get to know people in France, they’re very warm and welcoming.

Sam, the barista we’ve bothered every single day, sat with us for an hour or two and took the time to teach us a French dice game called Yams.

We broke down her “rough” French exterior, and I think it’d be safe to call her a bonne amie.

All these coffee shops have helped us create a little slice of community in an otherwise foreign place.

They’ve also filled us with inspiration, not only for what our coffee shop could look like, sell, and serve, but for what it could become for the community in Otaru: a place for people, domestic and foreign, to feel welcome, work, mingle, and hopefully make friends they randomly text from across the world on a Tuesday when they see a slice of mortadella getting cut.

That’s what makes life feel rich to me

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This content is for informational and educational purposes only and reflects my personal opinions and experience. I am not a licensed financial advisor, tax advisor, or attorney. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.