Coming to the end of my assistantship in Barcelona, I start to think about what the future might hold.
It’s been seven months and a few days since I arrived here and things have changed so much in what some might call a short period of time. When I first arrived in Terrassa I was excited and nervous to start a new adventure in a country I love. The first few days seem so long ago now, trying to find a place to live, organising my timetable with the schools, meeting new people.
After a couple of weeks, the excitement started to fade, however, and homesickness started to set in. It wasn’t a powerful homesickness but enough to make me spend more than a few nights thinking about family and friends back home, wondering if I should be there with them.
All that started to change after meeting some new friends and spending good time with them, practising languages, eating together and seeing new places as a group. I suppose we should never forget how important it is to have good people in your life, because they can make such a difference.
Coming back to Terrassa after visiting home for Christmas felt like returning to a second home, to a place that was mine with people I cared about. Things got even more busy and more people came into my life; new friends, romance and a whole lot of good food flowed by in what seems to have been weeks, not months.
Now, looking forward, there are some decisions to make. Should I return home to Scotland and move on with life there or try to extend my time here, perhaps make it something permanent? To travel and visit other places is one of the most fulfilling things you can do in life. Experiencing other cultures, learning about the world, it’s such an important thing to do if you have the means.
My advice from my experience so far is to travel and try new things whenever you get the opportunity. You may find somewhere you were always supposed to be.
What can we learn from travelling?