A Spanish Promise

I am hardly the one to take every sign as it comes. Infact I am quite oblivious and that sometimes gets me into trouble. But what I’m about to write about is a series of signs and probably something I should consider taking seriously. It has everything to do with my creativity and the sequences of events that have taken place to land me where I am right now. It has everything to do with travel because as you know by now, travel is an integral part of my life.

Where do I start?

To bring any new readers up to speed, 3 years ago, I moved to Sweden to study tourism (best decision I have ever made! me ), this move made me appreciate a lot of things that I had taken for granted previously. For example, the sun! After my first year, I had to consider where I wanted to go for the exchange program also known as ERAMUS. My first pick was actually Asia, this was pre-pandemic. However in the same time that I was doing my first year, corona broke out (you can read more about what I got up to then, here ), that made me think that perhaps I should stick to doing the erasmus period within the EU. Less bureaucracy and more freedom of movement. My top pick in the EU was Spain. I have always wanted to know about Spain. Its been an interest of mine for a very long time. I dont know why but it has… Unfortunately, the requirements for erasmus to study in spain are quite strict and one would have to have a considerable level of spanish language knowledge to be considered for any courses. Due to the time I had at my disposable, it just wasnt possible and i chose to forget this option. Furthermore, corona did really take over majority of my studies and I ended up taking my erasmus in Sweden anyway. Now, I know, that was never to say that, that was the end of Spain for me. 

My view from Catalonia

My view from Dalarna

What Happened Next?

Oh no. No. No. No! My uni-trio and I also always wanted to go to Spain for holiday and at the beginning of our third year, we decided that we would take a weekend in Spain to celebrate the end of our studies. This was our thinking for summer of 2022. Little did I know that by the end of writing my thesis, I would have a job offer and end up working in Spain for part of the summer of 2022. This is where I write this blog from, well, as someone who is quite oblivious, I say I am in Spain but I know now that I am in Catalonia! Until such a time I write something to explain the difference between the two, I am writing to you from Spain!

Living and working in Spain

Not only am I living and working in Spain but, I have again met people that have enhanced my thinking. I work in an international team that is comprised of people from Ireland, Finland, France, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Hungary… this is only to name a few. We have at least 15 nationalities between us and some of us are a mix, i.e, South Africa and Sweden are boldly represented by yours truly.

Listen to learn & learn to listen

Me, being the person I am, I have no qualms in taking a listen to how someone ended up in front of me. For the most part, I have stopped believing that meeting some people is a coincidence, everyone we meet is there to teach us something, maybe a for a reason and maybe for a season. In a few short weeks, I have listened to so many stories of how Spain was a calling for so many of us. Many of us had other plans to be in Spain for other reasons, mostly pre-pandemic but we landed up here for work in one of the first full seasons of tourism after corona. In our time here, we exchange ideas and thoughts and spaces – profound.

Today I share a story of a girl named Enikö. Enikö is from Hungary and like myself wanted to take an opportunity in another country. She even studied Spanish and is now living in Spain, just like me. Today, the 28 July 2022, we went on a beautiful excursion that was 1.5 hours away from where we are based. That opened up opportunity for conversation. We spoke about work, life -past and present and future. I called it a beautiful day of reflection & gratitude – carry on reading to find out why. 

Reasons & seasons

Enikö, like me loves to take pictures, and not only the selfie types but also the micro -photography kinds. We shared our interests in blogging and lamented on how tough it is to be consistent. This is one of my biggest sadnesses and weaknesses. I would love nothing more to have the time to work in the travel industry and write about it full time (Dear Powers That Be Can You Hear My Cry?). Until such a time, I work and travel for work and in my spare time I jot down a few thoughts like this one. 

The Plan

Enikö and I have made a bit of a promise to ourselves. Since she likes writing and has dabbled in blogging previously, and I do need a bit of push, we have decided to get together one hour every week to write down a few thoughts that we can hopefully share with you all. Until then, I share with you a few pictures from our day out in Spain (Catalonia) exploring the beauty and breath-taking mountains & monastery of Montserrat. A quick two sentences won’t do the excursion any justice so, you can expect a future feature – this is our very first assignment in our new challenge to ourselves while juggling work and excursions and enjoying the summer in Spain.