In 2017 I left North America for the first time. With the exception of Canada and Mexico, I had never been anywhere outside of the United States. I was long overdue to get lost in a foreign city, wandering down unfamiliar streets and imagining what my life would be like if I lived there. I had set-up a few “fare alerts” through various travel sites and when a cheap flight to Barcelona popped up late night, I booked it on a whim.

Upon learning that I was FINALLY taking the trip I had been talking about for years, my best friend from high school bought a ticket as well. (Side note: nothing can test a 20-year friendship quite like spending a week together in a foreign country…but don’t worry, we made it).

Barcelona was everything I had dreamed of and more. As this isn’t a travel blog I will spare you the details of experiencing the sights, sounds and tastes of La Boqueria or enumerating our afternoon at the mountainside monastery of Montserrat but I will say that I definitely left a piece of my heart in that city.

Before I left, I bought this little painting off an artist on Las Rambla.

For about $15 U.S. dollars, I brought back my own little slice of Spain and every time I look at this painting I am right back in Barcelona.