What Walton Goggins Can’t Live Without

A friend of mine opened a coffee shop in Los Angeles almost 12 years ago. He was one of the most antisocial people I know. And I said, “Why are you opening a coffee shop?” And he said, “Well, I can make people coffee and I just won’t talk to them.” It didn’t work out that way. It was only maybe 200 square feet. It was very small, which is an anomaly in Los Angeles. He had the shop and we used to go every day. And then he sold it, it passed hands a couple of times, and it landed in the hands of this Australian coffee-maker Deaton Pigot.

It’s a nostalgic place for my wife and me, since we left Los Angeles five years ago. So we go there whenever we go back. We sat outside and had a cup of coffee, and I had another cup, and another cup, and another cup. It was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had in my life. And we take coffee very seriously in my household. So we started using Tectonic coffee. I’m not going to sit here and go through the flavor profile of the Shift Blend that we use. There’s some chocolate in there. I think there’s some raspberry. It is something that we have on preorder. As soon as we run out, we hit the button. I, like so many other people who are coffee drinkers, go to bed at night thinking about that cup in the morning. I wake up and I have two cappuccinos, and these are the beans that I use.

We had a little pre-Christmas holiday party, and a friend brought this wine and he just looked at me when he handed it off, and he said, “This is good.” And I took him at his word. I didn’t drink it that evening, but had it over the holidays with my wife and a few friends. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I was so blown away. It isn’t cheap, but it’s like $75, so it’s not some exorbitant amount of money.

I haven’t had the opportunity to order five more bottles because I’m about to go out of the country. But it’s the first thing I’m going to do when I get back. I just can’t stop thinking about this bottle of wine. I’m the kind of person that when somebody else is paying, I will share a $300 or $400 bottle of wine for sure. But when it’s me … there are beautiful wines out there for $25. This particular bottle of wine is something that I have no connection to other than how much I enjoyed my benign inebriation from consuming it. I don’t give a shit about the notes. It’s like, how does it make you feel? How great was the conversation that surrounded it? I have a drink every night. It’s the greatest thing in the world, sharing a glass of wine with my wife or friends. Or alone by a fireplace. It’s the best. And this particular bottle of wine just really stood out to me.

You know … whatdon’tI like about it? First and foremost, I’ve been traveling as an actor for 35 years. And I usually had just a leather bag. In the last couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to buy things of value to me and to splurge, not on a lot of things, but a few things. And one is this bag. The reason why I was so attracted to it was this job that I did in Morocco and South Africa for a number of years with this actress from the U.K., Karima McAdams, who had this bag. I looked at it and it represented every place that she had been in the world for 15 years. Her personality was infused in this bag — all the dings and the stickers and the handle, and it was an expression of her. And everything in my life is an expression of me. Everything. Nothing I have doesn’t have meaning in my life. And once I had the opportunity and the money to do it, I splurged on this carry-on. Because, like so many other people that are able to buy themselves this one bag, you have it for a lifetime. And I’ve done research on the company, and I just so respect and admire what they do. Nobody does it quite like they do.

I was invited to host a dinner by Will Welch atGQfor Canali clothing company. And it was taking place at this restaurant,Borgo. I had never heard of it. I think it had only opened recently. The evening was so special, and this was one of 20 dishes that they put down on the table, and it stuck with me. I couldn’tnotthink about this meal. It was one of the greatest dishes that I’ve ever had. Everything on their menu is as good as the dish before it. It is arguably one of the best restaurants in America right now. It’s a restaurant by Andrew Tarlow. He hasDinerandRoman’sin Brooklyn and this is his new restaurant in Manhattan. I go as often as I can. I spent New Year’s Eve there, that’s the way I rang in this past New Year.

Over the last couple years of my life, I’ve had opportunities that I didn’t anticipate. I was nominated for an Emmy for this show that I have calledFallout. And when I was working with my stylist, Erica Cloud, part of this outfit that we were assembling to attend this incredible opportunity was jewelry. Jewelry is another way in which I express myself. And I have picked pieces up from all over the world. I designed a couple of pieces of jewelry in India with some people that I met in this fucking youth hostel 20 years ago. And my wife still wears it.

Erica pulled this horse ring out of a bag, I put it on, and it fit perfectly. And this horse is symbolic of one aspect of the relationship I have with my son. I’ve been riding horses my whole life. Never had a lesson, I was just thrown on the back of a horse by the time I was 4 or 5 years old. My son began his journey in a much different way than I did, at the age of 6. And so I thought that this ring would bring me good luck. Or I just wanted to have a piece of him and his mom with me. That’s where the ring came into my life. And the ring has been on my finger, on and off, but mostly on, since that day.

I wore it on this trip to Mongolia that I took my son on this past year, this horseback-riding adventure to mark his passage to becoming a man. We rode horses across Western Mongolia for two weeks. And I broke a rib on day three. In hindsight, it was the greatest thing that happened. My son was obviously scared. It was just the two of us and the support team on this expedition. I realized that there was no one coming to save me. I had to ride out on this horse. And my son had the opportunity to help me. I needed him. And he showed up. And so this ring and how it has been a part of my life over the last two years has been very meaningful.

First and foremost, I love fashion. I have since I was a kid. And the opportunity arose to manifest this idea that I had had for a really long time. I think glasses are one of the most fashion-forward pieces of equipment that we all have. The first thing that people see are the glasses on your face, whether they’re eyeglasses or sunglasses. And for me, I love wearing sunglasses. I mean, I wear glasses from a lot of different people. I’ve been a fan of everybody fromGarrett LeighttoJacques Marie Mage— his glasses are extraordinary. And I had this idea: How can one use a ski goggle in an urban environment and make it cool, but still be useful as in the field, if you will? I collaborated with GoDaddy on this business venture and it’s been a smashing success, to be quite honest with you. Way beyond my expectations. And I think theirs too. I’m having the time of my life with this outlet for creativity. We use them all the time. During this last snowstorm, I was out with my kid and walking through our place upstate and just loving the way the world looked through Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses.