Jun 14
Flamenco wasn’t on my list of things to see in Spain. But when a performance unexpectedly started at lunch one day in Madrid, I suddenly couldn’t imagine having left the country without seeing this.
It’s been a few months now since I hung up my hiking shoes for the last time, but I was reminded of my questions about what it means to be a pilgrim again this morning after reading a powerful commencement speech by Nipun Mehta.
My time in the village of Åre, Sweden, was supposed to be about skiing, but what I found myself exploring with as much energy as the piste was the Swedish cuisine of the Jämtland region – from savory reindeer meat to tangy cloudberries.
Some journeys feel more like a poem in their brevity, in the way they leave you with not so much a discernible storyline as a collection of images – fleeting impressions that stay visible in your mind long after you’ve left. My time on Mallorca was just that.
Talking sixteen hours a day was hard for an introvert, but despite the many “brain traffic jams” (as one Spaniard put it), there was a flow to it all that felt pretty darn close to magical.
I’ve been grateful to feel at home in Madrid, to not only have my own room again, but a desk to write at and an armchair to read in, all while sounds of the city and afternoon sunshine waft in through open windows.
It’s only my fourth day on the Camino de Santiago trail, but already I can feel it happening–that strange process whereby what I’m doing now becomes all I’ve ever done; as though I’ve always been walking through rural Spanish countryside.
Lately, I’ve started to laugh at myself more–finding the humility to admit I won’t always have it together or nail a new activity the first time I try it. I couldn’t have done so soon enough.
I was recently invited to a Swedish ski resort called Åre. The region’s alpine landscape promises to be a world away from Stockholm’s cobblestoned streets—but it’s a world I can’t wait to explore.
It’s been over a year and a half since I first walked the streets of Denmark’s capital city, so when I got an invitation last week for a bloggers’ meet-up hosted by VisitCopenhagen, it only took two seconds to reply.
Hello! My name is Candace and I'm a traveling writer, photographer, and sketch artist. Four years ago, I fell in love...but with the world, not "the one." This journey has taken me from a pearl farm in the South Pacific to a rickshaw run across India. The Great Affair is all about seeking inspiration, opening yourself up to the world, and falling in love with the adventure it offers. I'm glad you're here!
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