The People You Meet in Amsterdam Coffeeshops is a series of candid conversations with coffeeshop patrons about life, cannabis, and everything in between. In our fourth installment, Chris tells us how she sold her business, home, and vehicle, and bought a one-way ticket to Italy.
Hometown: Baker City, Oregon
Age: 44
Cannabis preference: Open-minded; hat-tips to Bubble Gum and Rick Simpson Oil.
Met at:La Tertulia
(Karina Hof for Leafly)
Leafly: What are you up to?
Chris: I actually just sold everything: my business, my home, and my vehicle. I got a one-way ticket to Italy, and then I came to Holland for a retreat. Then with the snowstorm, I got stuck in Amsterdam. I mean, stuck? Amsterdam is so horrible [laughs].
Where in Italy were you?
Napoli, and then to some hot springs off an island.
How did you decide to go there?
Just following my intuition. That’s the message I got: “Go to Italy.” There’s three things I’m working on. I have a bit of a hip challenge, so I’m healing myself. I love natural hot springs, and the area where I came from has a lot of them. And I want to find my right livelihood, so I’m really just trying to open myself up to what I’m gonna do next.
Have you been to this coffeeshop before?
I’ve never been here. I actually came because I looked up “female-friendly coffeeshops.” And they have crystals, so I was like, I gotta go there!
How does the Dutch cannabis culture compare to what you’re used to?
It’s weird. For one moment, I felt like I shouldn’t be going in here, like I’m less-than for going in here. I mean, in Amsterdam, weed is pervasive—when I got on the tram last night, it reeked of weed. But in Oregon, I would say the vibe is much more open, and I love how it feels.
I visited my family before I went on this big adventure. They live in Kansas City, and god, it’s clamped down there. It’s way under the radar and people are paranoid about it. In Oregon, it’s really getting to that area where it’s more like alcohol. It’s not a big deal, but people aren’t just smoking it anywhere.
Your journey just began, but is there one thing you would like to have or to have experienced a year from now?
That I am actually sharing my gifts with the world, the things that I think are—[sighs] it sounds like I’m just using all these trite words, but—my light. I was a construction worker for 13 years, and then I was a framer in Alaska, and I owned a clothing boutique in Oregon, but none of that is really who I am.
I’m a minimalist. I want to work, but I really want it to be something meaningful that helps people love themselves more and see the world as a friendly place. And then hopefully, when I’m in a good spot, I look forward to having companionship, having an amazing man that can meet me where I am.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Lead image: Karina Hof for Leafly.
