In addition to being a maker and creating my natural products from scratch, travel is another passion. I have been fortunate to do quite a bit of traveling in my lifetime. Whether it was educational, missions-related or vacation, seeing new places is a great experience.
Since last year I have wanted to get back to Spain. It has been nearly twenty years since I have been. I tried to make it happen in 2024 but ended up canceling, at a financial loss, due to some anti-tourist sentiment in the news. In June 2025, I saw a low-price ticket on Going, a travel app. I snagged it but because of last years’ experience, decided not to reveal that I planned to go until the last minute. A few weeks ago, I let my family know that I would be spending a week in Spain doing some solo adventuring.
So, as I share this with you, I am sitting in a Starbucks in Madrid. I am having a great time rediscovering this city. In another life, I used Spanish daily but have only used it sporadically since changing professions. This trip is allowing me to navigate the city in Spanish through city tours, conversations with Uber drivers and attending a church service. I even helped an old lady get a basket that was stacked too high for her to reach in a local LIDL, European supermarket.
During my last trip to Europe, a girls’ trip to Portugal, my friends and I learned to navigate public transportation and enjoyed using the train and bus system in Lisbon. However, since this is a solo adventure, my approach is to use Uber to my first stop of the day, walk to wherever I want to go next and then take Uber back to the hotel. I have gotten lots of steps in over the last several days. The most was 14,000, on Sunday when I walked from church to Puerta del Sol to see the Christmas lights.
The only thing that I have missed since being here are the green vegetables that I try to eat daily at home. When I order “Verduras” here, I may get a few green peppers, tomatoes and maybe a few carrots but not much else. I have enjoyed paella, a calamari sandwich, a chocolate covered churro, sangria and more since being here.
Tomorrow, I head home to Virginia. I look forward to spending Christmas with my family but am grateful to have had this pre-holiday adventure. I will definitely share some photos with all of you on my social media soon.
