Finding a New Home in Spain

When I found my way to St. Stephen’s Green while on a morning walk in Dublin, my trip was in as much of its infancy as the newborn family of cygents I found in that park.

I have traveled for nearly two months, and as my trip draws to a close, I am back in England with one week until I fly home. I again caught a brief glimpse of a family of swans while on a train skirting the English coastline, but I was shocked at how much this year’s newborn swans have changed in that time.

Change is a constant, and for my part, I find myself now claiming two homes.

One, my traditional home, is where I am headed next week, and I am beyond thrilled to see what two months of change have borne to my friends and family, who I miss very much.

The other is Spain, where I changed in ways I hadn’t thought possible.

Whether alone or with a travel companion, when you are backpacking and without the busying routine of a job, apartment maintanence, the occasional happy hour and other responsibilities, you have a lot of time to think and reflect. However, up until I landed in Madrid, I had adhered to a regimented schedule during this trip and rarely stayed in one place longer than three days. Wander the city on foot. Museum/Cathedral/Castle/Insert other touristy locale here. Attempt to “get out of the city” and do something less touristy. That slavery to the superficiality of experience was my life three days at a time.

In Spain, I took a step back from the schedule and a step toward simply living. And what I found after the pettiness of day-to-day annoyances and irritations melted away, and I was left with nothing but the thoughts that really mattered, was how much I enjoyed the company of the person I shared those thoughts with.

I’m not sure if it can be qualified as spirituality or maturity or even if it should be labeled at all, but I found something I wasn’t expecting in Spain, and even though I’m not physically in country anymore, my discovery is still with me.

I can take this feeling with me into what is assured to be a hectic period when I get home as I move across the country to start law school, and let it be a sanctuary for my thoughts. I have already decided that I will return to Spain one day, and I hope to once again be shown the breath of change between the woman I am at this moment and the woman I will be on that day.