Trying A New Type of Travel

I'm not sure why, maybe because I only decided I was going to take the flight about 12 hours before departure, but when I thought about what to pack for my weekend trip to Catalunya (Spain) last weekend, I kept going back to this thought of, "Just take your every day backpack, no change of clothes, and go." So as I was taking down my rollie backpack from the closet, which is by no means a large backpack, and laying out the clothes I would pack, it was no surprise that my conscience kept putting more resistance in my heart and chest with each item I picked up to pack. And then it hit me: 

Why on Earth are you even thinking of taking anything!?! You're going to be in a different city each day, wandering around the whole time, why take anything? 

You don't need ANYTHING. 

Just go! 

So in a great feat of relief, I abandoned all, left it on the couch as an act of defiance, and decided on what one outfit I would wear for the whole weekend! I ended up going away for three and a half days and three nights, with my small leather backpack that I use every day, and packed in it the following (amount of stuff can be seen above in the selfie-mirror pic):

• One extra tank top
• Leggings and a t-shirt to sleep in/use as an alternate/"going out" outfit (the leggings are psychedelic and kinda sexy)
• Three pairs of socks
• Toothbrush/toothpaste/mascara/face wash packet
• 1 pair of underwear
• Swimsuit bottoms
• Poi balls
• Kindle
• A book
• Journal/pen
• Camera
• Passport/money/ID

I didn't take my phone charger, knowing that would mean I would have to leave it off most of the time if I were to have any battery to contact my friend in Barcelona, who I'd be meeting up with on Sunday (which turned into Saturday). My phone actually died right as I was walking down the street to get to her place, and right after I was able to show the street names to someone so they could point me in the right direction. It served me long enough to Instagram a couple photos in Girona, look for a hostel/figure out how to get to it, Whatsapp my family and some friends a couple times, and know how to get to my friends place. I happily survived from Saturday afternoon until Monday mid-morning without it. 

I wore jeans, a tank top, a scarf/wrap, a light jacket, and ankle boots, and tied my denim long-sleeve button-up around my waist, and had my Spirit Hood around my neck. The outfit that I ended up wearing on both Friday and Saturday, and pieces that were incorporated every day/night I was gone. The extra tank top I took with me, I only wore during a nap I took on Sunday, paired with my swimsuit bottoms, that I wore as underwear that day as well. I borrowed a dress and sandals from my friend on Sunday, and wore them while I biked around town, but then wore my pajama bottoms (the leggings) and the tank I'd been wearing the last two days, when we went out dancing that night. My pajamas then served as my travel outfit on Monday morning, mostly because the flight left at 6:15am, and I couldn't be bothered to wear jeans at that time/to travel. Granted, when I got home, all my clothes were dirty, but I personally love coming home from someplace when unpacking only requires that I throw everything in the laundry basket. 

Normally, I don't like to wear jeans when I travel, because all of mine are quite tight, and it's not that comfortable for travel. Leggings or maxi dresses/skirts are my preferred travel clothes. But for going to Barcelona, the flight is an hour, and I knew all my other travel time (on buses and trains) would be under two hours, so it wasn't a big deal. 

This was the first time I'd ever actually brought into reality my knowing that to travel, you don't need to take a lot with you. I usually take enough clothes to change each day, and what always weighs me down are converters, books, and journals. This time, I decided I didn't want to go with a phone, and I just wanted to have complete freedom. Since I went without a real plan (no travel or sleeping arrangements booked/payed for, or knowledge of when/how/where I'd go), I didn't want to have anything holding me back. It was a weekend to just go into the world of Catalunya, with God, and without an excess of material items. 

And it. was. GOOOOOD!!

I felt so liberated to know that when I woke up in the morning I could only put on one thing, in turn wasting zero energy or time on "what do I put on today?", and knowing that I was alone and had no where I had to be at a certain time, left me with such an incredible sense of freedom. I wasn't in a rush for anything or anyone, and I was just floating around the streets, knowing I could go where I pleased, because I didn't have anything to lug around. It was a taste of the minimalist lifestyle that has left me hungry for more. (Somewhat ironically, I suppose, since it's a style of living with less.;) And where I usually am carrying around extra weight in fruit and snacks "just in case" (I'm always hungry/snacking), I didn't want to add anything to my pack, and decided to just fully trust that when I got hungry or needed anything, God would provide. And that's exactly how it went. (Except for the dark chocolate almond bar I always had with me. Whoops.)

When I decided I was hungry or wanted a snack, I'd say, "I want a banana. I want to find a fruteria (fruit shop)," and just like that, within minutes I would come upon one! When I decided I didn't want to eat in a restaurant, but instead just take my fruit lunch somewhere nice and enjoy it, God led me up and up some mysterious stairs, until I found myself on top of a hill, alone, with an amazing view of all Girona! And when I decided, okay, I'm going to find a place to sleep now, He said, "Ok, sounds good. And by the way, you're going to get a private room for the price of a shared dorm, because I want you to continue in solitude. It's what you and I need." (Read more about this here.)

View from where  I ended up having lunch

Literally every step of the way I was cared for. It was the most incredible thing to just follow my inner guide and let It show me the world I was meant to see and feel. To live fully in the moment, and not worry or plan for the next, was remarkable. It was necessary. It was perfect. It was a glimpse at how we are meant to live.

And now as I sit and write this, I have a perfect view of my closet, and I see an abundance of clothes and shoes, and while I am full of gratitude at my ability to have these things, I know none of it matters, none of it's necessary, none of it can take care of me the way living in the now and going with God can. And that's powerful, powerful knowledge to have and hold.

I highly suggest going on a last-minute, unplanned and unpacked trip. Just get in the car, on a bus, train, or plane, and take nothing more than a journal and some extra socks with you. Go with God, and live for the moment that is. The meditative freedom that it brings into the soul is so magical. It transformed me, and I'm still gathering the benefits of it all! I have become a born again traveler, and am now going to go with as little as possible always. Less is more, that's for sure!

I hope that the calm, present feeling that I have can be felt by any and all, and that you have an amazingly blessed and beautiful week! 

Blessings, Love, Light & Peace 

<3

Things I Love About: Spain

Normally lists have a number applied to them, but this list is open-ended, so I'm not going to put a number on it. Maybe after I move out of Spain, but even then I'm sure when I'm not living here I'll think of things that I love[d] about the country, and add them on when I please. First I'll give you a bit of history...

I first moved to Spain in 2009, and lived and studied abroad in Getxo/Bilbao (Pais Vasco) in the north. It blew my mind to see that there were other ways of living, eating and being, and really expanded my mentality and desires for the future. I knew as soon as I was packing up to go back home, that someday I'd move back. I didn't know how, I didn't know when, but I did know. Skip forward three and a half years, some grammatical differences, and here we are, I'm back! This time, I moved to the south (Andalucia), to the magical, amazing city of Sevilla. I'm currently writing this from my couch in Sevilla, where I've been living and teaching since January of 2013 (in Sevilla, not on my couch...). And, I am going to be staying another school year...I think.

So, in the course of the 2+ years I've spent living in this great country, I've definitely had time to notice some things. These are some of the things that have caused me to fall in love with this country:

• Life seems to move at a slower pace. If you are walking around, chances are you're going to be thinking, "Why in the heck are they walking soooo sloooowwwlllyyy?" And then suddenly the person in front of you will stop (perhaps outside a ground-level apartment window) and just start chatting, as if nothing else is going on. I gather that the point of life isn't so much to race around, make money, and get on to the next thing, but instead, it's about spending good, quality time, with people you enjoy and love. And that, I LOVE.
• That it's perfectly acceptable to eat lunch at three in the afternoon, or dinner at eleven at night. These times aren't going to blow anyone's mind, but if you try to have lunch at noon, well, they might not even have the kitchen ready for that kind of thing yet. (This one is a double-edged sword, since I'm not such a fan of 10pm dinners.)
• I love that the aforementioned lunches aren't considered abnormal if they last for more than an hour, two hours, three hours. It is so incredible to pass two hours at one meal with people. Laughing, eating, enjoying life, and very importantly, the food.
• THE COLORS. Oh my GOSH the colors in Spain are amazing! Well, it's different in the north and south, but here in the south, there are beautifully ceramic tile walls all over, potted flowers on most balconies, orange trees lining the streets, and brightness everywhere you go. So. many. flowers!!!! Definitely can be attributed to so much sun, which is another thing I love about southern Spain.
• Seeing little hoards of tiny, tiny, tiiiny (short) old ladies walking around chatting. It's so obvious and cute that they've probably all been neighbors and best friends their entire lives, and it's so cute when they're either holding each other, or holding their canes, and just shuffling along down the street hanging out. Perhaps I find this so intriguing because I'm not sure if my gypsy-traveler self will have this kind of experience in my life, as I don't really stay in places too long.
• Pretty similar to above, but I love so much seeing someone hanging out outside their friends apartment window. I sometimes wonder why they don't just go inside, but then think, it's so sensible the way they're doing it. Also, one person being in the street, yelling/conversing up to a higher level with whoever they happen to know inside. Kind of like the couple times I would call my family in the living room, from my bedroom, because I knew it was just as effective as physically shortening the distance.
• That because people tend to live in flats and not houses, they spend A LOT of time in the streets, the plazas, the squares, and at the bars. As someone once told me upon arriving to Sevilla, "Nosotros vivimos en la puta calle." Translation: We live in the f-ing street. I love, love, love how much life there seems to be here, because everyone is living in the effing streets. The outside tables at tapas bars are always full (crisis, what??), and any plaza/square there is, is usually to be seen featuring gossipers, children playing, and hanging out. It adds an energy to Sevilla that I have yet to feel and find anywhere else.
• The fact people have beer whenever they feel like it, and no one says anything, or makes a "what are you thinking" face. Many of my workmates will have a beer at the bar across the street if we have an hour w/o class, then return to teaching. Most of the time, they have two. In the States, if someone saw a teacher having a couple beers between classes, they would probably be investigated and fired. Granted, the beer down here is very low % and watery, but still...

As I said, this list will continue to grow, but for now, these are the things that jump into my mind. I feel like I'm selling it a bit short, but, well, that's what there is for now. :)

Come to Spain anytime, and ask me any questions you have, whenever you want! I'm not an index, but I think I can give you some solid suggestions! 

Blessings, Love & Light all!

Opportunities Always Knock

Growing up and entering the job market usually means hearing something about "opportunities knocking on the door" at least a couple times. We have it in our heads that when an appealing opportunity comes knocking, we should jump on it, because it probably won't be coming around again, and maybe no others will either. But I am here to debunk that one, because for one, I've never agreed, and two, now that I have long since made the choice to say, "actually, I think it will, and if not, I'll make it," and follow my dreams, I have figured out that it will if I approach it and/or want it to! I've also come to figure out that other, probably more perfect opportunities will come knocking, that will be developed by the experiences, growth, and knowledge you gain through shutting some doors, while deciding to walk through others.

When I was trying to decide if I would accept my placement to come to Spain as a language and culture assistant, I was working in Burbank/Los Angeles for the Disney/ABC Television Group (DATG); a Fortune 100 company, a highly sought-after employer, and one of the best known names around the world, synonymous with entertainment and Mickey Mouse. I had a job in a company that people could only dream of working for, and was making connections with high-level executives, directors, managers, and people across the boards. I was in a very blessed position, and on a path that many hope to find themselves on in life. I was going to red carpet events, premieres, press junkets, seeing Hollywood stars, in charge of the weekly employee electronic newspaper that's sent to thousands of people, helping with events and payment of major checks, and in one of the highest grossing industries on the planet, with one of the top companies in that industry.

Now, as much as it could seem like it, I'm not saying these things to be vain or brag. I'm saying them to paint a picture for you, so you realize what I "gave up" when I decided to stop looking for a new role in the company, and instead move to Spain, to a city where I knew no one, and a country where I could barely communicate, to make just 700€ a month, as an assistant teacher, in a high school. For these, and select other reasons, it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life to-date.

I talked to various people in my family when I found out I had been accepted, and one of the things that a lot of people reminded me of was that I currently was in a very blessed position; a position and shot that most people would kill for, and it would be wise to consider if it would be worth it to give it up just for one year abroad, in hopes of whatever growth and satisfaction I was after. (I don't think they really realized I wasn't just thinking of leaving the country for a year, but that it would be the year that would begin years of living abroad and travel.) I still remember being told that the position I was currently in wasn't an easy one to get into, and that the kinds of opportunities that were in front of me at the time, weren't the kind that would wait for me to get back. They were the kind that get passed off to the next qualified and wanting person, and would likely not end up on my doorstep again in the future. I was told that by the time I came back, things would have probably changed too much, I'd likely be too far behind the game by then, and I probably wouldn't be a good candidate for hire. And of course, I was told that it wasn't very realistic (any/all of it).

As a 23-year old recent college grad who didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life, hearing things like that definitely made me stop, and gave me something to consider. I didn't really believe anything that they said, what with my head being so hard and my will so strong, but considering that I was young and new, and they were "old" and experienced, I figured it was advice worth thinking about.

In the end, I decided that while opportunities like those don't wait on the doorstep, but instead move onto the next one, it wouldn't be the end of opportunities for me. And, clearly I made the choice to come, since I'm writing this from Sevilla, Spain, where I was placed in in October of 2012, and have been living and working since January of 2013. 

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I applied for a third year, have been assigned a different school in a different city for the coming year, and possibly going to accept the placement? Or that if I don't accept this placement and go, the other ideas I'm flirting with are:

1. Stay in Sevilla and just work in the academy again
2. Go to Lima, Peru to teach
3. Go to Hawaii to WWOOF (work on organic farms and connect with natural healers)
4. Anything else that comes to me in the next 3.5 weeks before I leave for Cali (a new idea, usually that involves a new continent, seems to find its way into my mind each week)

I know a lot of people who want to travel, want to change their lives, try something new, and move to a new place, but don't because they realize how blessed their current position is, and are fearful of not being able to regain any ground they "lose" while they're abroad or trying something different. But if there's anything I've learned while I've been abroad, it's been that so many people make the big choice to drop everything and move away. It's not as uncommon as society makes it out to be. And, even more, those people, if they do decide to return to a life similar to the one they had before, they don't find it hard to integrate and get into a role that's just as good (or better) as where they were before. 

There is absolutely no way to know what will happen in the future. We'll never know what we'll win, lose, miss, gain, have, find, or fail. But there's one thing that's for sure, if there's something you want to do and try, JUST DO IT! You'll never know what reward
s will come if you don't give it a shot! And as a quote I once read goes, "Stop thinking of what could go wrong, and think of what could go right."

Get out there and live your life the way you want, the way that makes you happy! There's only one of them you get to live, and time is finite. Don't waste it on unhappiness and dreams that are never pursued! GO LIVE BIG!

Sending charged up energy of determination and drive your way! Passing you all the power you need to do anything that faces you on this day and those to come! And hoping that you take a big chance and leap towards the life you dream of! 

Blessings, Love & MAJOR Light to all!! 

<3