I landed at El Prat airport on the rainy Wednesday night of spring break, just as the airport was closing. I’d already had an amazing few days in Budapest where I’d travelled previously. I was lucky to have spent time with some really great people from Scotland, Australia, and the US that I’d met on a walking tour before my flatmate, Jonte, arrived. The fun continued when I got to keep exploring the city with someone I knew from London.
The week of Spring break was my first venture outside of London since arriving for the semester, and so that feeling of seeing something new and exciting for the first time persisted from the moment I left Luton airport. During the night bus ride to my next destination, Barcelona, I was a little apprehensive. When my friend and I parted ways at Budapest airport this funny uncertainty about what was to come started to surface; the thought that I‘d be spending the next few days by myself in a city whose language I have yet to comfortably grasp.
The bus dropped me off at Plaça de Catalunya, and I checked into my hostel after a brisk walk through the drizzle. I slept after a day of walking and traveling, and awoke to a warm and sunny morning. This was the Barcelona that I hoped to see, and while I wasn’t sharing the experience with anyone, something felt special about being able to stay in a place with locals, and about being able to explore a city I’d only dreamed of on my own time.
It was only after I suspended any self judgement, those assumptions about who I am and how I fit in in this environment, that I felt my experience in Barcelona truly taking shape. Thinking “I’ll try using what I know”, instead of “my Spanish isn’t good” helped me improve my understanding of the language, and actually meet some people who I’ll be visiting later on in the semester. Thinking “I like this song!”, instead of “I’m not a great dancer”, made nights out at places I wouldn’t usually set foot in more fun than I could have hoped. This mindset was difficult to adopt at first, but when it started to come naturally I had no desire to leave.
By no means am I a seasoned traveller. I know now, however, that I could be. We are abroad to experience different people, different places, different cultures; to get exposed to things that unsettle us and develop who we are. Travel is an amazing way to discover and reflect. Whether you’re going to a new country or a new neighborhood, with a group or by yourself, take the time to do something strange, something that makes you curious that you’d never imagine yourself doing. You’ll be glad you tried something new.
Written by student Reid Warren
Photo credit: Reid Warren