How I picked my study abroad destination out of necessity and learned to love it
Two years ago I had almost no interest in going to Spain.
I fell in love with the idea of France while sitting in Madame Petrasko’s high school French class; but once I got to college I knew if I was going to spend my time learning a language it needed to be something more practical. And the far southern tip of the west coast isn’t the most Francophone-friendly place.
I’m not sure when it hit, but slowly over time I started to get excited about Spain.
It began to feel like a good idea after I hosted a girl from Barcelona last July. We became friends and instead of feeling like I was going off to a country selected because I wanted to be practical, it felt like I was going to the beautiful place that my wonderful friend calls home.
Summer bliss and sunshine kissed
That coupled with friends who spent the summer and the fall in Salamanca and Barcelona and a French ex-pat for a boss that is passionate about Madrid, my feelings about Spain began to grow.
It’s all about building a connection with your destination.
Because honestly I think I could be happy in Croatia or Kansas if I had enough of a reason to be there.
Travel is about throwing yourself in a new location and soaking up what it means to be in that little patch of universe at that moment in time.
This can be done anywhere with the right mindset.
