Finding the Vibrancy of Life

Everyone should travel alone at some point in their lives. When you travel alone you are forced to look inwards and discover who you are as a traveler. After a rather emotionally rough year I decided to save every penny I could and follow a long-time dream to spend a month in Spain. Six months and two thousand dollars later, I arrived in Barcelona, Spain. My hands shook uncontrollably as I handed the customs clerk my passport. I stood for almost a whole minute just staring at the black-inked stamp. A sharp burst of noise coming from the PA system awoke me from my daydream. I quickly gathered myself and hopped into a taxi toward Las Ramblas, the center plaza and heart of Barcelona. As I peered out of the taxi window I couldn’t hold back the tears. I actually did it. I made my dream come true.
I arrived at the hostel, now calm and collected ready to begin exploring. The receptionist looked blankly at me and in a heavy Russian accent said, “You do not have a reservation”. Trying not to panic I scrambled to find my reservation number. She looked at the number and looked at me, again expressionless. “We did not receive this reservation request.” After an hour of arguing, explaining, and ultimately bargaining I was settled into a small all-male dorm room with eleven other bunk beds.
I spent the next week discovering every aspect of the city. I let the sounds, smells, and energy of the city act as my guide me through Barcelona’s never ending beauty. Each little street presented yet another angle from which to view the city. Each building had a certain uniqueness yet similarity which drew me to appreciate the tiny details of the architecture. I became enchanted with the Catalan culture and even took a few Catalan language lessons from a college student I connected with through a local university. My tutor told me of the Modernism Route (or Ruta del Modermisme in Catalan). I had one week left in Barcelona so I decided to tackle the Modernism Route. I began at the Arch de Triomph and let the Modernism Route take me on a cultural adventure through the city. From the spires of The Sagrada Familia to the whimsical mosaics of Parc Guell, each stop further showed how the city is vibrant with life. While standing in front of the Pedrera, the windows of this Gaudi masterpiece stared back at me like a hundred eyes. It was in that moment I was able to look inward and discover who I am as a traveler. I am an explorer, ever searching for and discovering the vibrancies of life.