🙉 As we make our way back home, I find myself wanting to push back on the familiar sights, sounds and stimuli that are returning to us, and instead hold onto the tastes and experiences that the last three months have brought.
Letting go is not always easy.
🛫 We will soon be taking off from Barcelona airport. San Francisco next stop. Starting the journey home…though I’m starting to wonder where that is right now?!
🛫 We will soon be taking off from Barcelona airport. San Francisco next stop. Starting the journey home…though I’m starting to wonder where that is right now?!
🛌 My bed wouldn’t let me get up this morning. At least that is my excuse and I’m sticking with it.
🛌 My bed wouldn’t let me get up this morning. At least that is my excuse and I’m sticking with it.
Out walking, pounding the streets of Barcelona.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Monday 24 June, 2024 Dear Friends, Welcome to my newsletter coming to you from Barcelona. Last night was noise, noise, noise as Barcelona celebrated the Summer Solstice. I am writing this at eight o’clock on Monday morning and the fireworks only stopped going off a couple of hours ago. After almost three months in Europe, I’ll be starting my journey back to Maui on Wednesday. I’ll be sad to leave.
🎆 Fireworks are going off all around us tonight as Barcelona celebrates the Summer Solstice and the lead up to the Festival of Sant Joan (St. John).
🎆 Fireworks are going off all around us tonight as Barcelona celebrates the Summer Solstice and the lead up to the Festival of Sant Joan (St. John).
Moon rise this evening near to Cadaqués.
Outdoor spaces at Salvador Dali’s house in Portlligat, Spain.
Manuel Moreale’s recent post on Celebrating Failure resonated with me. I’ve read it a few times now.
You can ingest only so many success stories before starting to feel bad for not being one of them. It’s partly why social media mostly sucks. It’s performative. Everyone is showing the best parts of their lives while the shitty moments are kept private, away from public eyes.
At times I feel as though the online world shows so much of the celebratory fun and fireworks - holding a hand up to recognize that I get sucked into doing that. But perhaps sadly, life isn’t always about celebration. There is grind, suck and failure.
If I don’t share failure or struggle, some comes from wanting to keep things private, other comes from shame.
🌧️ We are waking up to a wet morning, the first for a long time. Gentle drizzle accompanying the sounds of small waves breaking. A quick glance at the weather forecast says that we won’t be going far for the next few hours.
🌧️ Waking up to a wet morning, the first for a long time. Gentle drizzle accompanying the sounds of small waves breaking. A quick glance at the weather forecast says that we won’t be going far for the next few hours.
This morning’s view.
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Monday 17th June, 2024 Dear Friends, This one will be brief. My wife and I left Portugal yesterday and are making our way across Spain to Barcelona where we fly back to Hawaii. I hope to pull over during our journey tomorrow to add this to the newsletter - it’s just how the newsletter system works that I use. I have a window to add this initial letter. I’m sitting here in Madrid with a bunch of mixed emotions, reflecting on the last two and a half months which all started in Bristol, England with my mother’s 90th birthday party.
Do you want an ice cream? Selling ice cream cones at Estremoz Saturday Market.
The Caixa Forum, Madrid.
🚗 Starting the journey home. Driving across Spain to Barcelona to catch a flight. Writing this from a hotel in Madrid. The sounds (mainly traffic) of a busy city rumbles below. The wind blows around the terrace. A different world. Change. Reflecting on so much.
🚗 Starting the journey home. Driving across Spain to Barcelona to catch a flight. Writing this from a hotel in Madrid. The sounds (mainly traffic) of a busy city rumbles below. The wind blows around the terrace. A different world. Change. Reflecting on so much.