There's certainly excitement when looking for a new destination. There's joy in stepping out of the routine and comfort zone. There's curiosity on how the weather might be throughout the journey, and if what was packed will suffice. To step into the unknown with open heart and mind and let the new experiences flood your senses. Traveling has increasingly become a need for me, and I'm happy and thankful that I've been able to quench it. Whenever and wherever I travel, I pack my travel journal. I try my best to write about my impressions of the new places I go to, using not only my shitty hand writing but also some really bad drawings because, why not?

While traveling around Europe in 2018, I started doing some research on how to better write about my travel experiences,... do justice to all these wonderful places I had been to, so that later, when I read about them, I could instantly be transported to them.

The idea was to get better at describing those sensations of excitement, the smells, every corner with great food, the smiles from strangers, the architecture, my slow walking pace, the many times I usually get lost in a new city and all those other little details I thought would bring me a smile in moments in which I could not travel, almost like what a book does, you know? While googling travel experiences from other people, I came across active and not so active travel blogs and quickly realized one thing... there's definitely some structure (shocking) to achieve what I was attempting to do, but more importantly (and not surprisingly) this exercise can be pretty subjective, so, if I were to write something like "Italian girl", I could instantly go back to the day, time and feeling of this sentence and think about how interesting it is when people go out dining by themselves. Anyway, the second thing I came across with while surfing the "interweb" was a poem by Gabriel García Márquez, "Viajar es" ("To travel is to" or "Traveling is"). I must confess that never have I ever read any of the books from my fellow country man (I guess I won't drink). I also must confess that I fell in love with the poem and I find myself going back to it constantly. Of all the lines from this beautiful poem, there's one that I've come to appreciate and it's perhaps the one that pushed me to start writing blog entries: "Viajar es marcharse de casa, es vestirse de loco, diciendo todo y nada con una postal"; to travel is to leave home, to dress up as a crazy person would, saying everything and nothing with a postcard.
I've sent many postcards to friends and loved ones every time I had the chance to. And I always find myself struggling with my horrible handwriting and the little space to write all the things I want to. Nonetheless, I absolutely love doing it. For me, to travel is to be thankful for what I have, for who I met along the road, for what I've learned in the journey, for the generous stranger along the stretch. To travel is to hope for the best and to keep one's head up, no matter the circumstances.
I guess traveling makes me feel like a poet...

Gabriel García Márquez

Viajar es

Viajar es marcharse de casa,
es dejar los amigos
es intentar volar
volar conociendo otras ramas
recorriendo caminos
es intentar cambiar.
Viajar es vestirse de loco
es decir “no me importa”
es querer regresar.
Regresar valorando lo poco
saboreando una copa,
es desear empezar.
Viajar es sentirse poeta,
es escribir una carta,
es querer abrazar.
Abrazar al llegar a una puerta
añorando la calma
es dejarse besar.
Viajar es volverse mundano
es conocer otra gente
es volver a empezar.
Empezar extendiendo la mano,
aprendiendo del fuerte,
es sentir soledad.
Viajar es marcharse de casa,
es vestirse de loco
diciendo todo y nada con una postal,
Es dormir en otra cama,
sentir que el tiempo es corto,
viajar es regresar.

I've always had a fascination with hiding messages. I'm glad YOU found this one and you're reading my blog! Makes me happy to think you're reading me from afar.

To travel is to keep traveling

West Coasting Part I