Today, we’re introducing The Edit, a new monthly series from Faraway Life — a curated collection of places, flavors, experiences, stories, and thoughtful finds that we believe are genuinely worth discovering.
Each month, we’ll curate a different collection of things we consider truly special. In our monthly Edit, you might find destinations, restaurants, recipes, color inspiration, books, cultural finds, and much more. It’s not a shopping list, but more like a shortlist of beautiful and interesting things that can make life feel a little richer and more meaningful.
The October Edit (the first in our new series) takes you from the nostalgic last days of summer in New England to the gilded hallways of a Newport mansion, before heading all the way back to the West Coast, where apple harvest season is in full swing at an organic apple farm. We’ll finish our very first Edit with a color recommendation – one that might just inspire your daily outfits, interiors, or creative projects!
Let’s get into our first Faraway Edit:
The Place: Nantucket
There’s something about Nantucket that feels particularly right as summer gives way to fall. The crowds begin to thin, the weathered gray-shingled houses seem even more beautiful against the changing landscape, and the island settles into a slower rhythm. Come for the beaches and quintessential New England scenery, but leave time to wander without much of a plan. Notice the old houses, the harbor, the cobblestones, and the hydrangeas slowly fading from their bright summer colors.
Why it made the edit: Nantucket reminds us that some places become even more interesting when their busiest season is over.
The Museum: Nantucket Whaling Museum
If you visit Nantucket and want to learn more about its history and its importance in the whaling industry, then the Nantucket Whaling Museum should be on your itinerary. Its collections tell the story of Nantucket’s maritime past and the whaling industry that shaped so much of the island’s history. Add to this a well-curated gift shop and a mesmerizing view over the city from the top floor, and you will have yet another reason to stop here.
Visit the Nantucket Whaling Museum
The Taste: A Lobster Roll at CRU
New England and lobster rolls are almost inseparable. The elevated simplicity of a buttery roll filled with delicate lobster meat tastes like perfection! One of our most cherished Nantucket experiences was stopping in the harbour at CRU, just before sunset. We’d order a lobster roll (always cold, Maine style!), a glass of champagne, and then settle in for some people watching while waiting for the ferry back to Boston.
Worth ordering: the lobster roll & champagne.
READ MORE: Romanian Apple Pie Recipe
The Book: Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies
A History of America in 11 Pies uses one of the country’s most familiar foods as a way into American history, exploring the people, places, ingredients, and traditions behind it. It sits right at the intersection of food, culture, travel, and storytelling, which makes it exactly the sort of book that belongs on our shelves.
Best paired with: a cup of coffee, a slow October afternoon, and perhaps a slice of pie.
The Seasonal Stop: Gold Ridge Organic Farms
This October, we visited Gold Ridge Organic Farms for the Heirloom Apple Festival, and it was such a memorable experience! We toured the apple and olive orchards, tasted at least 10 different apple varieties paired with delicious cheeses, took cooking classes, and even got to pet Olive, an adorable black goat!
Why go now: apple season is one of the simplest pleasures of fall.
Find out more about Gold Ridge Organic Farms
The Gilded Mansion: The Breakers, Newport
If Nantucket represents understated New England beauty, The Breakers is very much the opposite. Built for the Vanderbilt family in Newport, Rhode Island, the mansion is an extravagant display of Gilded Age architecture and design, inspired by Italian Renaissance palaces. But don’t just walk from room to room looking at the scale of it all. Look up. Look at the ceilings, stonework, windows, decorative details, and craftsmanship.
Worth discovering: sometimes excess itself tells an interesting story.
The Early Find: A Cozy Advent Calendar
Yes, it’s October. And yes, we’re already thinking about Advent calendars. Part of thoughtful shopping is finding something you genuinely like before December arrives and everything becomes a rush. A cozy Advent calendar feels like a small promise of slower winter evenings ahead. Consider this permission to prepare for the season a little early.
The Color: Hydrangea Purple
And finally, a color. Not the bright purple of peak-summer hydrangeas, but that dusty violet they take on as the season changes, somewhere between purple, mauve, faded blue, and brown. We noticed it everywhere in Nantucket, and it somehow feels like October captured in a single shade. (#9B83AD is the color code if you want to use it in your creative projects).
Hydrangea purple: our color of the month.
That’s a wrap on October’s Faraway Edit – a collection of places, flavors, and little discoveries worth sharing. Here’s to staying curious and finding inspiration in unexpected places. See you in the next Edit!
