Nixa, Missouri — Comfort Out of Being Uncomfortable
I enjoy visiting random places because I get uncomfortable being too comfortable.
And the guilty pleasure of travel? It’s those unexpected moments that feel like a secret, especially when you’re immersed in a small town or operating in that slightly chaotic, half-drunk state where things just… happen.
Nixa, Missouri isn’t random for me. I’ve been here many times. Which is exactly why it’s strange. Because by all accounts, I should feel uncomfortable here, but I don’t. It's a setup that shouldn’t work, and this wasn’t a getaway. It was Easter weekend with my wife’s family. Full house. Constant movement. Zero privacy.
Kids running. Conversations overlapping. Someone always in the kitchen. Someone always asking something. I’m from a small family, and this is not my natural habitat.
But somewhere along the way, it flips. A walk turns into a hike. A hike turns into something I start looking forward to. The trails around Nixa aren’t trying to impress anyone. They’re just there winding through early spring, quiet, unbothered. No pressure. No performance.
And somewhere out there, between the trees and the stillness, the chaos fades just enough. Not completely. Just enough. It works. The constant presence. The kids. The noise. The lack of structure. It doesn’t drain me. It settles me, and I really enjoy it.
Ted’s Top 5 Things He Learned:
Nixa has a ‘Sucker Days’ festival based on a local sucker fish that lives in the ponds there.
If you eat your nephew’s Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, you’re in the doghouse for 3 days.
If a local nano-brewery makes a beer that sounds good but tastes like shit, it’s ok to rename it after a body part.
When your nieces get old enough to drive, it makes the nano-breweries a lot more fun.
If your mother-in-law has some eye-doctor work done right before your two-hour drive to Nixa, her vision and depth perception could be ‘OFF’ and she may accuse you of tailgating more than you are!
Somewhere between my couch bed, the trails, the noise, and the constant presence of family… I realized something.
I was comfortable. Not despite the chaos, but because of it.
We talk about comfort in travel like it’s something we engineer. The right hotel. The right setting. The right amount of space. But sometimes comfort shows up where it shouldn’t.
In a crowded house. On a borrowed couch. In a place where you have no control over the flow of the day. And maybe that’s the real point.
We spend a lot of time pretending to like what we’re supposed to, bourbon, cigars, James Taylor music, and Paris. The most honest thing you can do is admit… not for me.
But it works the other way too. Sometimes you find yourself liking something you normally wouldn't. A place that doesn’t fit your script, in a place that, by all accounts, should wear you out.
And instead, it settles you. Well done Nixa.
Trip Quote:
“Uncle Ted, are you awake?”- My niece Finley
“Kinda,.. What do you need?”- Groggy Me
“You’re using my bag of Peeps as a pillow, and I’d like them back, please.”- My Niece Finley
