Off Shore

This shot was taken just off the coast of Barcelona. I was with eight other students I had just met a month ago. We booked 100$ round trip tickets from Italy to Spain on a whim three weeks prior. I was so stuck in my day to day monotonous schedule back home that three weeks notice seemed like the epitome of spontaneity. We walked over ten miles each day, didn’t drink nearly enough water, and slept less than recommended. In spite of all that, looking back at these photos a few months later, the moments in time I was able to capture far outweigh the hardships. We were packed into a one room Airbnb with four bunk beds, a fold down sofa bed, and two bean bag lookalikes. I remember climbing to a look out point during our second afternoon. Back home you would have had to drag me out of my house by the ankles if you wanted company during anything resembling a hike. Somehow, knowing this was an experience I couldn’t get just anywhere… I just went for it. Was I the last one to the top? Yes. Did I care? Not particularly. To be honest, the view wasn’t anything I haven’t seen before, but the conversations we had have stayed with me over the months. We talked about our family’s, what we missed from home, but also what we didn’t miss and how we’ve changed. We stayed there as the sun set, which I know sounds like the cliched beginning of any teen movie, but it was refreshing to be at exactly the same stage in life as the people around you. We were all out of our comfort zones, experiencing new things on a whim with virtual strangers, and knowing I wasn’t alone when I felt scared to try something new was a very comforting feeling. I still see some of my friends from that trip around my college campus back in California, and it’s weird. I agree that travel can bring out the best in people, but also the literal worst. You’re tired, dehydrated, and probably on the verge of getting sick every other week. I can count on one hand the number of people who have seen me hit rock bottom back home, yet you put nine study abroad students in a cramped living situation in a foreign country and you get the perfect recipe for rock bottom. The people I traveled with over my four months in Italy saw me at my very worst, no doubt in my mind. Yet, they were also there for the biggest personal growth period in my life so far. So, I guess it’s weird, seeing people linked to such a pivotal point in my life just passing me by on a college campus. Maybe I’ll draw on some of that change and get in touch with the people just behind the camera when I took this shot. On a small sailboat as we ate Lays potato chips and staved off sea sickness. I won’t share the names of the people I shared Barcelona with this past October, but if any of you end up reading this I’d like to say thanks. Thanks for allowing me to experience something new with you, and for supporting me when my nerves made an appearance. Thanks for being spontaneous, or as close to it as we could get. Thanks for being open minded and funny, always filling the time between flights and trains with unending laughter. Thanks for being there while I learned about the world, and let the world teach me about myself. I decided not to edit this photo because I want to share my favorite memory’s and they’re the ones I refuse to change.