Wow, it has been almost a year since I have tried to do any writing on my various travels. Definitely terrible for someone who claims to enjoy writing.
In any case, my most recent travel finds me in Madrid, Spain, visiting my beloved girlfriend Erin Greene for Valentine’s Day and a much needed vacation. Erin moved out here with her college friend Annie Rennebohm, a little over a month ago. Erin has always wanted to live abroad and lead a charmed international life of travel, wine, food, etc, etc. I think the experience has been a lot different from what she expected in a number of ways, but also very satisfying in others. She will be living here for a year teaching English, perfecting her Spanish, and learning about life. And she is well on her way in all three areas. To follow Annie's and Erin's adventures, check out their blog "It's All Happening" (also linked to the right).
But I digress, this isn’t a blog about my girlfriend, I’m, too selfish and egotistical to write about something other than myself when it comes to a personal blog.
My trip started with an early flight out of Colorado Springs - caught an OTC shuttle to the airport around 4:45 am for a 6:30 am flight. I was very happy to leave COS as it was under 10 degrees for the umpteenth time this year. Anyone who knows me understands that I don’t deal well with cold weather. And I define cold as anything less than 60 degrees….
On to Atlanta for a 7 hour layover before catching a direct flight to Madrid. Luckily I had my work computer with me and was able to knock out a few emails and work on a few projects (Glen, if you are reading this, can I use that as time worked and have it not count against my vacation time? :-)). One thread that took up much of my time that I thought pretty interesting was an email exchange with an acquaintance from Brazil whom I met in Athens, Greece. He is researching programming for athletes during the Olympic Games and other major competitions. I imagine he will be trying to implement some of this programming for the 2016 Games that will be help in Rio de Janiero. 10 years ago I was life guarding at Trinity University and now I find myself traveling the world and trading emails about creating programs to educate Olympic athletes…funny how life works. When I stop and think about the random twists and turns in my life and how at each turn I’ve been able to enjoy some amazing experiences I could never imagine, I can’t help but smile and feel blessed.
Sure, I live in a dorm, have more debt than I prefer, make much less than $50k a year, have a girlfriend who lives 5,000 miles away, and experience annoyances with work like anyone else, but for the most part, I love my life and appreciate the journey I have taken. Life can always be better, no doubt, but I fully enjoy where I’m at and who I am because of where I’ve been. I’ve been able to visit a foreign country every year since 2002. Spain marks the sixth European nation I’ve been fortunate enough to visit (I think, could be more, can’t remember at the moment). But I have also been lucky enough to visit every continent outside of Australia. Maybe someday….
Back to my current adventure – I should note that this trip could not happen without the help of Erin’s mother. Ms. Martha Greene, employee of Delta Airlines, was kind enough to help me out with a “Buddy Pass” that provided a sizable travel discount to fly to Spain. And not just fly, but fly in style and comfort. Since the “Buddy Pass” essentially puts you on stand-by for flights, most open seats are likely to be Business Class….so…yeah. I flew Business Class to Spain, complete with mimosa’s, wine, fine dining, socks, my own TV set, a seat that reclines 80% horizontally – all complementary. What a great way to fly.
Fast forward 7 hours and now I'm in the Madrid airport waiting on mi novia. Haha, fast forward another two hours and Erin and I finally catch up with each other. I won't go into details as to why mi amor was late, but let's just say a “non-wild” night out until 5am kept her from being on-time. And sober. But I'm not bitter. Apparently that's the Spanish way of living, or so I'm told. :)
But no matter, now, I am finally in Madrid with the love of my life and happily enjoying the few days we have together. I haven't had the chance to explore much of the city of Madrid (I arrived Friday and it is Wednesday), so I am off to trek around and see for myself what the Spanish have to offer while Erin teaches. I always love this part of traveling, just walking around, getting lost in the moment and the urban atmosphere and seeing what interesting tales a city has to tell – almost like meeting someone new and getting lost in conversation because of the wonderful stories your new found friend shares.
I know this blog wasn't as exciting as some of my past tales. But I'm a little rusty and pressed for time. I'll defnitely make time to write more often this week and share a few photos. But for now, necesito dormir!
And with that, I bid you nos vamos!
