Traveling in a foreign land is liberating, here’s why?

I am in Spain, first time ever, and I hit the road with my wife, Kamakshi, in Barcelona today. We are yet to see the La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell (the master pieces of Barcelona), but we did try to find our foot in the city by walking several miles.

Today was the day when we prepared ourselves for next two weeks— getting the vibe of the country, the language and the food. In short, we prepared ourselves for a liberation, the one that only comes from traveling to foreign land.

First day of travel is always special as it makes you think the most. Below are some of my thoughts that I am writing from my hostel in central Barcelona on a jet lagged night:

1. Travel makes me appreciate (seemingly) mundane things

The following lines from the song Let Her Go (by Passengers) resonate most with me when I am traveling:

You only need the light when it’s burning low

Only miss the Sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

I often take seemingly mundane things for granted and not comprehend the importance of those. The biggest of that is language. I can speak 3 languages and I communicate with every person I know using one of these. I also use language to think but the sad part is that I never think about the language as such.

Here in Barcelona, my thoughts were clouded with the appreciation for language because nothing throws me off more than the feeling that I cannot communicate with the person in front of me. English is sparsely spoken here and mix of Google Translate and gestures made our day.

Today (like every first day in a foreign land), I developed a new level of appreciation for that ubiquitous, yet rarely appreciated trait of human lives.

2. Getting comfortable with discomfort

I lived with a subtle, constant fear today — did I understand the instructions that my hostel receptionist gave me, would the next taxi driver hate me too for not speaking his language, would I be able fit in that neighborhood bar where the locals hangout?

I had read that if you find a bar that’s jampacked and dirty and loud, that’s the right place to hangout like locals in Barcelona; Kamakshi and I wanted to do it.

We found one such place today on Yelp but we were just so uncomfortable getting in. Entering that bar was as difficult as navigating the best club in town at 1am — bodies sliding against each other, people asking you to give way from all sides, and no inch left open to place your drinks. The menu and as well as the servers both operated in Spanish and both were scarce properties given the crowd.

After several minutes of analysis and use of Google Translate, we finally decided our orders. I had to use finger pointing and photo showcasing (from my phone) to order and it was hard, but I eventually prevailed. Successfully ordering drinks and food, and then eating chorizos at the bar, I felt a little victory — the one only we can congratulate ourself on. I felt great and that feeling of discomfort eased. And btw… great $4 Rose wine and croquettes.

3. Easy travel is not the best travel

After we landed, the first thing we did was to run to a Vodafone stand. A sim card was a MUST have for us. After all, how can we travel in a foreign land without all the information from web? The statement that “Internet should officially be added to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs” was written for people like me.

But as I stood in the line, I felt slight discontent. I wondered if traveling with 8gb of Internet is the best way to explore a foreign land? While Google and Yelp have made our lives easy, they have limited key parts of travel — interacting with locals, losing ourselves in the city, struggling with language dictionaries. The road to do that is still open, but I often take the easier route. I am afraid of not having public transit information at my finger tips, afraid of missing out on a Yelp recommendation, afraid of not staying connected with my family. But a part of me evangelizes the other perspective , it says that’s the whole point of it.

I definitely want to do it someday , I will do it someday — a trip to foreign country with no internet, nothing to fall back on except maps, my own words & cash. This feeling and my will power grows stronger with each new trip to foreign land. So hopefully soon…

Enough of the liberation, should probably get some sleep now. Will write more if I have more of these jetlagged nights.