I received a comment on a recent post that I want to spend some time discussing here. The comment reads:
I have always loved the idea of being a mastered traveler. I have several friends, including you, who are modern hobos, seekers, and/or travelers. Part of me loves watching their adventures and growth, but the other part of me knows how lonely it can be to be a traveler. Can you be a master traveler and still have a community/home that is fulfilling, or will you always be wandering?
As of a few days ago, I can return to Europe. A non-EU citizen such as myself can only be in the European Union’s Schengen Zone for 90 out of 180 days. I was there for three months, meaning I must leave for at least three months. Well, that three-month period has now passed. At this moment, I’m in Ohio and have no immediate plans to go back to Europe. I can say, though, that the passing of this date certainly did not go unnoticed. It also brought some fresh observations and questions to mind.
The Camino de Santiago is an instrumental part, not just of my journey, but of who I am as a person. If someone truly wanted to understand me and why I see the world the way I do, he or she would have to understand the Camino and the impact it had on me.
If you’ve been following up to this point, you probably noticed the change in the name of this blog. It was a difficult decision to change the title because the previous one served me well. SoR.Shelter was, and always will be, the title under which I started blogging. However, I don’t think it encapsulated the scope of this blog well enough.
Thus, I bring you to ‘Pilgrim Shelter.’
I was reflecting recently on the former president of the United States, and I had some thoughts that I wanted to share.
I realize that my last post wasn’t exactly the most encouraging or hopeful thing I’ve ever written. What it was, though, was honest. It was difficult to put myself out there as much as I did, but it was also pretty liberating. I wrote what I felt. Continue reading
I’m back in the US, and I honestly don’t know exactly how to feel about it. Let me explain how I got here. Continue reading
The past few days have been difficult for me because I’ve really been at a loss for exactly what to do. The process of finding a job in Madrid proved to be more difficult for me than I anticipated. There are English teaching jobs in Madrid, but I had multiple interviews cancel because I didn’t have the proper paperwork. I came to Spain knowing that I didn’t have all the documents I would need to work, but I was willing to work “under the table.” This is a fairly common practice for Americans in Spain due to the difficulty of obtaining a work visa. This may have been foolish on my part, but the process was still pretty frustrating for me.
And now, full disclosure.
As I write this, I’m sitting in a hostel in Madrid, Spain. It sounds like there’s a party going on outside, which is a very real possibility. It’s such a vibrant city at all hours. Cars honking. People talking, laughing, singing. It’s also very accessible because of the great Metro system that can take you anywhere in the city within a reasonable amount of time. It’s definitely a cosmopolitan city, but one with so much history and culture. Some of the best museums in the world are located here, including the Reina Sofia, the Thyssen, and of course, the Prado. In short, Madrid is like no place I’ve been. Continue reading
