A few weeks ago, my housemate Paige and I were just chilling out on the sofa - waiting to be paid (as per usual) and I, rather randomly, blurted out ‘So I was thinking of going to Barcelona’. The admission not only surprised Paige but also myself. I am not someone who is typically spontaneous. I love making lists, meal prepping and planning out my day. The previous weekend I had been in Castellón visiting my friend Kira and she had mentioned that our mutual friend Maz would be in Barcelona next weekend. Fuelled on a rekindled sense of wanderlust as well as utter boredom of Valencia at that point, the thought of a weekend break to sunny Barcelona began to appear more attractive. The idea of a whirlwind trip was simultaneously thrilling and scary at the same point. Paige, being the free spirit and boss babe that she is, immediately started looking at hostels and buses to get there. My God, it was really happening. For the first time in my life I kind of let go a little more and though ‘Screw it, we’re young, free and have the money to go so why the hell not’. So we reserved our hostel and booked our train. We were doing it- a last minute 36 hour trip to Barcelona.
The gothic barrio
Leading up to the trip I had an invasive cloud of doubt at the back of my mind. We’d both never been to Barcelona and I’d never stayed a hostel before so I was a little worried. But I wasn’t going alone and I would be with Paige and Maz so I needn't worry. I’ve mentioned earlier that I hate taking the train but honestly we didn’t have any issues this time- we arrived on time and the journey was a pretty smooth ride. I kept on telling myself ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ My new philosophy in life is trying all of the things that you can because you never know when you won’t be able to do them again. Life is short and if you live in fear you’ll never do anything. Now, a few weeks later, the thought of taking a train doesn’t fill me with anxiety anymore- it’s a means of getting from A-B- nothing more nothing less.
La Casa Mila (Gaudí)
When we arrived in Barcelona we were quite time conscious- our only goals were to see as much Gaudi architecture as possible (which wasn’t too hard) and to also make sure we got to party. Without having a fixed itinerary I was slightly having a mini breakdown but I also thought that it would be better to live in the moment. If you’ve seen the movie Vicky Christina Barcelona (which I HIGHLY recommend that you watch- after having watched it about 100 times myself) I felt like were playing out Vicky and Christina’s summer, condensed into 30 hours. Vicky is more grounded, sensible and practical minded. She doesn’t take risks and is always thinking of the future. Christina, on the other hand, is a free spirit, she hates being tied down and seeks adventure in the smallest things. I found that my perspective was shifting more from Vicky’s to Christina’s. Although they are polar opposites I feel like having a balance of both is good and I allowed my spontaneous side to shine for once.
Park Güell (Gaudí)
La Sagrada Familia
Main chapel of the Sagrada Familia
A few weeks after my trip, my friend Richard came to stay with me in Valencia. We became really good friends in Paris and I was super excited to host him here in Spain. We had such a fun filled weekend- I kind of let him take the wheel as it was his weekend and I wanted him to have the best experience ever. I gained so much more clarity and perspective from the weekend- we were spontaneous, heading on an hour long bike ride all the way through the former Turia riverbed, we wandered through the winding streets of el Carmen discovering new street art and typical Spanish architecture. We laughed and for the first time I felt proud to show someone around Valencia; giving a tour of your new home is always exciting but I gained a new appreciation for it this weekend. Despite all of the ups and downs that I’ve had so far in Spain, heading to the beach, watching a film with your friend- doing the little things made me block all of that out. The past few weeks I’ve been learning more to go with the flow, not take everything too seriously and that a little spontaneity might just be the thing that you need.
Living our best life on the beach (@upsidedown_travelling on Instagram)
