foreign travel experience #1

Recently, while thinking of my life (which i do quite often), I came to the realization that I've never been anywhere alone. Oh, I've been places. Growing up, we took family vacays to Maryland to visit family, Florida to visit family, New Hampshire, Arizona, California, New Mexico to visit... well, you get the picture. I think I got it in my head along the way that when you travel, it is best to go with family/ friends and to know a person when you get to your destination.

As an adult, I went to college upstate, knowing somewhere there. I studied in London for a semester and my college sweetheart came with me. I landed an internship in Alaska and a friend did too. I moved to Oregon with a friend, and finally to NYC where my boyfriend (now ex) was waiting for me.

I decided it was time to go it alone. Not only was I ready, I was hungry for it. I hadn't been out of the country since 1998. It. Was. Time. Plus, my psychic said she saw foreign travel for me in 2011. I had to prove her right so I could continue to see her.

February 2011. I have a week off from work. I do it. I book my flight to Spain. I packed my bags and got on the airplane full of nervousness and high hopes. When the plane landed, I realized that I was in a place where I didn't know a soul; and the idea of that freaked me out to no end.

Let me back up a little. Early February, I went to a bar for a girl's birthday dinner. I had met this girl once and thought she was nice and decided to go. I'm not often like that. I'm much more aloof. But I went. A friend of the birthday girl shows up. She said she lived in Barcelona and gave me the email address of a good friend of hers. She said this girl would love to show me around; that she is sweet and amazing and she wouldn't give me her email if she thought she wouldn't be open to it. I emailed the girl and got a nice response. This seemed promising, but I'm a jaded New Yorker. I am from Generation X... everyone's a flake in my mind. Turns out this girl was not.

When I got to Barcelona, I had this feeling of restlessness. I didn't quite know what to do with myself. It is a city, after all. I didn't really know where anything was. I don't speak Spanish very well (un poquito solomente) and I'm not willing to be super outgoing. And so, I wandered along. I walked around Barrio Gothic until it started to get dark. I started getting scared, my head filling with all the stories I have heard of the amazingly talented pick-pockets. Also, there are aggressive prostitutes everywhere. I decide at 6:00 that I would sit in a coffee shop, drink hot chocolate, read, write, have a cigarette, and call it a night. That's when my phone rang.

Araceli thought that sounded terribly stupid and convinced me to come meet her for tea and to go out after. After much deliberation, I got dressed and walked in the dark to some place called macba to look for a girl I didn't know. I didn't even know what she looked like. Standing there for a few minutes, I hear a girl with an adorable Catalan accent say, "Laura?" I excitedly hugged her, so happy to have someone know me! Long story short, she became my fast friend, my tour guide, my week-long saviour. She introduced me to people who could drive me on their motor bikes to sites too far out of the city, like Park Guell and Sagrida Familia. She met up with me during the day to take me to traditional Spanish meals. We met up every single night to do all sorts of things; karaoke, a squater warehouse for a variety show, sitting at a bar, eating tapas, listening to live music, and riding bikes to different neighborhoods along the beach. She even taught me how to sneak into amazing seats at the opera house without spending more than 20 euros.

From this experience, I came home feeling really content. With myself and with the universe. My very first trip on my own, ever, and the universe put into effect a series of events to ensure that I had fun and felt comfortable.

The universe does provide. And sometimes I forget that. I need these experiences to remind me of this. And so, thank you Barcelona. I love you.