July 9, 2016

trust.

It’s been about two weeks since we got back from Spain.

It feels a bit weird since part of me is still in anticipation, like it hasn’t actually happened yet– it all went by so fast, and I honestly can’t believe that it’s July now.

Being in Spain taught me a lot about myself and people around me. I became better at keeping up conversations, I learned how to really compromise, and I came to know when space was needed. I’ve written a lot about the things we did and smaller aspects of different places that I really connected with, but there was a bigger thought that struck me the other day.

Spain helped me realize that I can trust myself.

Barcelona has a great public transport system, and we often used buses or the metro to get where we wanted to go. At the start of the trip, I just followed my cousins around and let them do all the planning for how to travel within the city… but by the end, I had started to pick up how the system worked. I still relied pretty heavily on them, but I found myself tracing the different routes in my head and trusting my instinct when it came to knowing where we were going.

I realized that this translated to my life here in California a couple days ago when I hopped on a train to figure out where exactly I needed to go for a class that I’m starting this coming Monday. I had a couple friends with me, but I was the one responsible for directions.

Knowing where I was going– oh man, it was a good feeling. I think I’m a very direction-oriented person in the sense that I like to get from Point A to Point B. It’s probably why I like driving so much.

Getting places gives me such a sense of accomplishment, and it’s a certain feeling that I know I can only get when I’ve done something for myself. Without trusting my ability and instinct, I get the feeling that I would have gotten terribly lost and become a nervous wreck.

So, my biggest takeaway from traveling around in Barcelona was to not be afraid to rely on myself because I’m sometimes capable of more than I give myself credit for.

It was really a great trip.