This is a kinda dramatic but fun travel essay assignment I had to do in college for a writing class. I figured it is a good first ever blog post because it was written right after my first solo trip, and I guess must capture my little beginner traveller thoughts better than I could look back and do now
Travel Essay
Barcelona Trip
Written Nov 20th, 2018
Upon checking into my hostel in Barcelona, I glimpsed a sign up sheet for a free biking tour of the city and hastily scribbled my name down beside seven others, snagging the last spot in the group before stumbling into bed for a good night’s rest. Too early, I find myself climbing onto my bike and securing my helmet as the summer air hit my face. This lovely morning breeze grows stronger as we pick up speed, bringing with it the smell of the nearby Mediterranean Sea, the scent of the flowers and trees that lined the streets, and the inevitable (but luckily faint) undertones of the city’s cars and garbage.
The shrill ringing of the small bells attached to our bikes cut through the noise of traffic ahead of me, alerting me that our group was at our first stop. I looked across the street and up above at the beautiful and bizarre home of famous architect Gaudi. The building resembled a dragon, with green and blue tiles like scales covering the surfaces. The windows swooped and curved, some with small balconies and odd overhangs. We all gape at the insanely creative and intricate detail across the front of the house. We barely had time to take it all in before we were all off, peddling our way across the city and towards the beach.
This bike tour is my way to see a new and exciting city, as well as to meet my fellow travelers from my hostel. Barcelona marks the beginning of my solo journey, and thus my first time being not just alone but completely independent on a trip. Maybe it was the excitement and adrenaline from this fact that made the thin layer of sweat building up on my body less annoying as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky. We passed markets grilling incredible foods, filling our lungs with the temptation to buy seafood paella or Spanish tapas.
Finally, we reached the shore, hearing it before seeing it through the sounds of the water and the people chatting on the beach. Our tour guide gave us all the next half hour to relax and talk on the beach. We quickly locked up our bikes, stripped off our shoes and socks, and began to make our way down the burning metal steps and onto the sand. Dipping our feet into the water, we all talked to each other about our travels.
“So, where are you from?”
“And who are you traveling with?”
“How long are you here in Barcelona?”
“Where are you headed after this? Where were you before you got here?”
“How long have you been on the road so far?”
“Is this your first time in this area?”
“Oh what other languages do you speak?”
“And what’s your job back at home?”
“How do you like this city so far?”
We all exchanged these soon to become very familiar questions, listening to each others’ never boring answers. Every new place I visit, every new person I meet, these same questions open up the conversation and let you get to know the others who are also spending their summer backpacking and seeing the world. In some ways, everyone is so similar. We all have a couple of months or weeks on the road, we all found ourselves in this same place at the same time, and we all are in small groups wanting to meet as many people as we can. And yet everyone is so insanely different.
One girl from Scotland is spending her every last dime on this trip before starting university in the fall. One engineer from New Zealand spent 30 hours of travel time to get to the other side of the globe. One traveller told us about her blog and travel agency and how it supports her perpetual state of traveling. One au pair tells us of all of the countries she has lived in over the past 5 years since moving from her home country of Brazil. Another woman comically describes breaking up with her boyfriend and jumping on a plane to Thailand the next morning.
We didn’t have nearly enough time there, sitting on the gritty sand with the waves washing over our feet as we chatted about our lives, before we had to head back to the bikes and the hostel. The buildings and parks passed by in a daze as I attempted to notice every detail in front of me. Seeing it all became impossible, because soon I would find that a few incredible moments would take up such a large part of my memory. The juicy shrimp that I ate on squid-ink-dyed-black rice. The view from the highest point of a park that made the hike well worth it. Playing “Would You Rather” for hours on the beach after a failed attempt at volleyball. The sangria I drank at lunch that almost put me to sleep as I relaxed in the hot summer sun. The image of my newly made friends attempting to take a jumping photo in front of the Sagrada Familia before we all fell to the ground laughing at ourselves.
Barcelona was to me, beautiful, light hearted, and incredibly freeing. I experienced independence and self dependence even as I realized how easy it was to make friends with people from countries I had never set foot in. We were all tied together by a specific time and place- the summer 2018 version of Barcelona, Spain. So after the incredible day of my bike tour of the city ended, all I could do was lay in bed that night imprinting not the details of the city, but the feeling that traveling the city had given me, in the hope that I could summon it back whenever I needed a taste of it in the future.
