Dreaming of Spain

So, I’m heading off on another adventure today. I’m sure you can tell based on the title of the post where I’m off to. I had visited Spain and Portugal a long time ago when I was in my late 20s for a “I-just-quit-my-job-and-before-I-start-the-next-one” break. (I used to do that a lot – travel somewhere in my break between quitting one job and starting a new one; a joke between my friends was that was really the reason why I was such a job hopper in my 20s. I don’t deny it. In the States, it’s pretty common to only get a week or maybe two if you were lucky after working a full year. Don’t get me started on how horrible it is to burn out your employees without giving them time off to regenerate.)

Back then, I traveled solo and visited Lisbon, Madrid, Seville, and the Algarve region of Portugal. I had an amazing time. I met up with a couple of Aussies in each of those locales and as anyone who’s ever traveled and hung out with Aussies know, you will have an adventure whether you want to or not. I got off an overnight train from Lisbon to Madrid and immediately went out clubbing with a woman who was in my 6-bed couchette compartment. I ended up sharing a hostel room with another woman I met on the train from Madrid to Seville. We badgered the proprietor to show us the room before we agreed and ended up with an enormous room with a beautiful sweeping balcony overlooking the pedestrian street, while other patrons were shoved into small, dank, and dark rooms at the back of the building. In Seville, I fell in with a group that attracted people everywhere we went. One night, I ended up in a basement bar learning to flamenco from a dancer who had just gotten off-duty at a tourist restaurant. I drank sangria until 4am with waiters who magically made guitars appear and serenaded us all night (sorry neighbors). In the Algarve, another group of young ladies and I suckered a male British expat to drive us all over so we could sightsee for free and then partied in the surrounding clubs until daybreak. That trip was a magical time, as you can probably guess. I was on the cusp of becoming an age where I was supposed to be mature and responsible (obviously, I’m still fighting that…) but for those golden sunshiny days, I could forget about being an adult and just be.

This trip will likely not be like that last one. For one, I’m traveling with my husband. That usually cramps the style of picking up British expats and suckering him into being a free tour guide and driver. And traveling with someone usually changes the dynamic of being open to meeting other people, because self-contained units like that just make it harder to approach others. Plus, this will be my hubby’s first time to Europe. And as the “master traveler” in the family that puts a lot of pressure on me to make sure that he experiences his first time there in a positive way. So instead of me waiting to see what the universe has in store each day, I have to be meticulous in planning where to go and researching how to get around. Because if there’s one thing that I have learned over the years, his type of temperament only can handle so much spontaneity and uncertainty before the crabbiness kicks in. Instead of me wandering aimlessly for the entire day, I’m going to have to plan lunch and dinner and snack breaks. In an odd way, I think I know what it’s like to travel with a toddler.

My husband wanted to go to Seville and the surrounding area. But I refused because I didn’t want to taint the memories that I have from my solo trip there. Instead we’re heading to an area of Spain that I haven’t experienced yet either. I figured that way, we’d both hopefully experience that frisson of being in a new place, a new culture. Of course, because the universe loves to jack with me, the area we’re going to is getting a bit restless about being under the yoke of the authorities in Madrid. Demonstrations, protests, and a referendum on independence…Wish me luck and I’m sure I’ll give a run-down when I get back.