How It Began, 2008
I’m not entirely sure where my desire to travel came from. Neither of my parents travelled extensively, and I hadn’t met anybody that had done a major trip abroad. I’d have to assume it came from my first taste of Europe back in the summer of 2008. I had come across a program that allowed me to teach Spanish kids aged 10–18 how to speak English. The company would cover my food and accommodation, I just had to make my way to Spain.
So I saved up and headed to Spain solo, right before my 18th birthday in July of 2008.
Having lived in Toronto all my life and only having traveled to the exotic destinations on “my side of the world,” seeing a bit of Spain was absolutely mind-blowing. The drive into the small pueblo of La Alberca, a municipality in the province of Salamanca with a population of 1105, was unlike anything I had ever seen. Completely different landscapes to that of a city. There were rolling hills everywhere, and the town itself was so small we had to get out of the car and walk our stuff up the narrow alleys into the school where we would be volunteering. When we finally did a tour of the town, everything seemed so old to me. The flats were like something out of a movie of the ancient Romans/Greeks, with stone walls and wooden boards across them, and flower pots on all the balconies.
After spending 2 weeks there, I celebrated my 18th birthday in Madrid with the Spanish friends I had met in that school taking me to local bars (legally!). A few days later and a quick flight over to Barcelona brought me face to face with the city I have managed to call my favourite to this day. I fell in love with the tradition, the people, the culture, the food, the overall way of life.
I explored the beaches, the paella bars and crazy costumes on Las Ramblas, a victorious FC Barcelona match, an intense Flamenco show, and I discovered the insane nightlife that the tequila, sangria, and Spaniards provided. I stumbled across the famous Sagrada Familia after getting off at the wrong station one night and promised to return when it opened…it reminded me of the drip sand castles my mom and I would make on beaches when I was a kid. Every time I’ve been to Barcelona (~8x now) I’ve visited this church, even if just to see the outside progress.
I was also fortunate enough to see a famous bullfight in The Plaza Monumental de Barcelona. I say fortunate because although it was the most cruel animal treatment I had seen to date and I could only handle watching less than half of the entire “sporting event”…it was a part of their traditions and culture that has come to an end. As of 2012 a law has been passed on banning bullfighting in Calaluña.
Taking all this into consideration as a teenager, I dreamt about the next time I would enter Europe throughout my university career.
So…why do I travel? What gets me out there?
This is the hardest question to answer because the response is so seemingly simple. Why not? My first major “wow” moment was walking along the Grand Canal in Venice. I realized that I was spending thousands of dollars to be walking around places that I could see in pictures. But actually being there, seeing the daily bustle of the locals and tourists, tasting the local cuisine in every country, seeing sights in person that I had only ever seen in pictures or on TV, hearing the different accents and languages, smelling whatever odor drifted through the air — whether delightful or not…these are all of the things that make me want to keep going. There is always something new to see, feel, taste. There is always something out there that I cannot find in my own country. My eyes are being opened to things I had never even thought about.
Another “wow” moment was in Koh Samui, Thailand. I was on a tour and we had stopped for lunch. After an amazing meal (where I realized how much I love lemongrass flavouring), we had our fruity desserts. I think the locals really enjoyed watching us try to figure out how to open these fruits we had never seen before. I was in complete awe trying to open a Rambutan, a bright red little fruit with soft green arms coming out of it from all sides. And then seeing the Durian fruit (a hard melon-like object with sharp spikes surrounding it) falling from the sky nearly knocking out one of our tour guides ahead…it all reminded me that there are so many things I have yet to discover.
I travel because I want to feel the unknown, not just to explore it.
