Post Trip Reflections

 

 

Two planes, two trains and two buses took me from Toronto to Madrid, Malaga, Granada, Cordoba and home again.

 

While traveling and exploring, eating and enjoying art, culture, history and, on this trip, one tennis event, part of me always asks myself: Why do I travel? Why leave the comfort zone of home, the familiar routines, the place where you know who you are - and step out into the unknown?

 

It’s a question I ask myself each time and I’m not sure I have the exact answer.

 

Apart from the obvious expense, travel can evoke some anxiety as you navigate foreign places and modes of transportation, getting from one place to another (especially solo) in a country where you know no one and don’t speak the language other than a few basic phrases. 

 

I do have part of the answer to my self-imposed question: I believe for me travel is about enriching my life experience, expanding my world and satisfying my curiosity. And in the process, absorbing different cultures, tasting various foods, and enjoying architecture, historical sites, art, beauty.

 

The Alhambra in Granada was magnificent and I cannot do it justice to describe it in words.

 

The Mezquita and Alcazar in Córdoba, the Alcazaba in Malaga, also fabulous.

 

The old towns with their narrow twisting cobblestone streets, like the Albaicin in Granada - charming.

 

The museums, the castles and cathedrals, the lovely inner courtyards in Córdoba: gorgeous. 

The Alhambra

 

And the food! If you’ve followed me for a while (here or on Insta) you’ll know that I’m an adventurous eater and will try most things. Food is a pleasure and the first part of my trip (which included the aforementioned tennis event in Malaga) was with my daughter who is a true foodie so there was a lot of delicious food consumed. She was with me for eight nights and then I spent the next six solo.

 

Which brings me back to the question I started with.

 

Why travel? Why not just read about these places or look at pictures or documentaries? 

 

But it’s not quite the same as experiencing these things in person. The sights, sounds, tastes, smells, language. I think such exposure expands your world, enabling you to view it through a lens other than the one you are familiar with at home, opens you to appreciating and understanding other cultures and ways of life. Travel draws us in, up close, showing us that our North American way of life is not the only way, and maybe not even the best way.

 

I was struck by the way Andalucians (in Malaga, Granada, Cordoba) love to stroll the streets in the evenings. Be it weeknight or weekend, they are all out there walking, stopping for coffee or tapas or wine, chatting, laughing. Whether it is warm or chilly or drizzly, they stroll for hours. The streets thrum with life. Granted, their weather is not our weather, but even so, they embrace their street life with passion.

They linger at outdoor tables and patios which spill out everywhere, all with heat lamps and fires. Even in the rain, they sit under umbrellas and canopies, refusing to relinquish the pleasure of outdoor life.

 

I saw one bridal couple in the rain, taking pictures, nary an umbrella in sight. She gathered up her white dress in one hand, while he casually slung her purse over his shoulder.

 

There is something enticing about that unhurried way of life, devoted to the pleasure of enjoying it and the surroundings. Time? What does that matter? A street band playing Christmas music marched through the streets, hordes happily following it through the narrow alleys.

 

The square below my apartment in Cordoba filled every afternoon and evening with restaurant tables full of people. The church in the square opened its doors around 7 pm and people inside prayed aloud, untroubled by the hum of people outside drinking, eating, laughing and chatting at high volume. Noisy enjoyment of outdoor life was neither frowned upon nor discouraged, but simply a given. An expected way of being.

 

Squares are everywhere, automatically drawing people in. I don’t know why we don’t have more of them here. (yes, okay, weather). But there’s something about a big open square, surrounded by cafes and restaurants that attracts people to it. It’s a gathering place for exchanges of thoughts, laughter, opinions and greetings. And much double-cheek kissing. Many streets lead into the square and when you arrive, you get the feeling of – ah, this is where I was headed, and this is where I should linger.

 

We don’t linger much here in our rush to get from A to B to C. We don’t saunter. But I do a lot of that when I travel: saunter, amble, linger, wander.

 

Part of travel is also to discover who you are when you’re not in your familiar territory. Who are you out there “in the wild”?

 

When I travel, I find I operate on a different level. I’m exploring, absorbing, scribbling in my journal. But I’m not going down deeper and processing it. I’m not ‘writing’ the way I would at home, other than notes in my journal or crafting a few pithy Instagram posts, stringing together words to give me the sense that I’m still capable of forming sentences.

 

But going down a level deeper? That remains for when I return home. Perhaps the best place and time for contemplation is in a familiar place (home), after experiencing the outside world. It may not be true for you, but it’s true for me.

 

Right now, I’m happy to be home, back in my familiar lair, my routines of work/tennis/pickleball/walking/writing/painting (soon!)/struggling with Spanish. But I have no doubt that in a few months, the stirrings of wanderlust will spark again, and I will be online, searching for my next trip.

 

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us” - Unknown.

The Mezquita - Cordoba

Inner Courtyard

The Mezquita at night - across from the Roman bridge