If you are lucky in life, you have people surrounding you that are incredible writers, artists, sportsmen, lovers, wisdom-holders, tear-wipers, travel buddies, team-players; or in other words, you are lucky, to be blessed.
The last year of my life included many compelling milestones, voyages, reconnections and plain happiness. I do say, I am a little nervous about maintaining the wonder and amazement of it all, it´s a challenging task to renew beauty.
On one hand I don´t want to sound as if I am bragging; on the other hand, I do want to remember these wonderful opportunities and in the digital age and time we live in, my thought is that one day, someone will look back at this document and think ´this was what the average person was doing in 2013..´
So without further adieu, in no particular order except the way that my memory processes, here are some of the tremendous opportunities I luckily had in 2013.
Born to Run: I ran my first marathon in 4 hours 6 min in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. It was a sunny day, there were over 45,000 participants and the city of Amsterdam took me under their wing as if I was one of their own. (I suppose it doesn´t hurt that my blond hair and blue eyes gave the overall appearance I was Dutch). 2 of my favorite people in the world were there: Lisa Rivera, one of my best friends and traveling running partners extraordinare, came in around 3 hour 45 minutes, bless her ironman heart and steel legs; Andrés Manso, my partner followed me around Amsterdam using planes, trams and cabs to make sure he could give me a clap and a thumbs up sign while I struggled through all 42 km, particularly the last 4 km. Overall, I am not sure how I feel about more marathons. I do know I prefer trail running in the end but we´ll see. Sometimes it´s hard to resist the idea of a trip to a new place all in the name of running a marathon.
Oh the places that you´ll go: I reached 50 countries, it´s only a little less than 1/3 of the countries in the world but I am well on my way. This year, I travelled to Ireland, Belgium, Senegal, Japan, England, The Netherlands, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovenia, The Philippines, Greece, Czech Republic, France and to Menorca and Santiago de Compostela within Spain. Being in Barcelona makes it easier to conquer Europe and more difficult to get to more exotic destinations such as Africa and Asia, but it is in my blood to be in these less frequented places of the world. In El Nido, Palawan, I was touched by the sense of community set to a backdrop of the Jungle Book meets The Beach. In Cap Skerring, Senegal, I got my groove back in a hip hop club surrounded by gorgeous chocolate men and women. And in Mostar, Bosnia, I had the privilege of listening to Ahmed, our Croatian-Bosnian tour guide, who had lived for ten years in the US, who shared multi-level perspectives on the past, present and potential future of his country and the extensive Baltic peninsula. In the themes of books, I take this quote from Augustine of Hippo to remind us "The World is a Book, those who do not travel read only one page."
On the Road: Finishing the Camino de Santiago has been a 2 year process. In the end, it turned out to be one of the most spectacular experiences of my life. This year, I had the pleasure and challenge of finishing the last 200 km with my mother. My mom was a trooper the whole time, trying to force a smile on her face and ignore her blistering soles. In the end, I was blessed to have an assortment of friends and family around us. Andrés made the journey from Barcelona and our two friends, Albert and Aleix, arrived in Santiago the same day as my Mom and I. My Dad also arrived to Santiago and before I knew it, I was surrounded by love and accomplishment on the road. I cannot recommend this journey enough to people who like to walk, meet people and be at one with nature. The Camino will always be a part of me, in my buckling knees and warming my heart with one fond memory after the next.
Of course there was much more, just like more is yet to come. But no one has time to read through all of my ups throughout the year, and everyone should know that there were also many dark and twisty moments throughout the year. It´s why roller coasters are fun and often compared to life. They wouldn´t be fun without all the ups and downs. You often have to look back at the ride and remember the, whoa and wow, all at the same time to really feel the pleasure of the journey. I hope to read more people´s reflections and thank especially my Barcelona community for being expressive and ready to inspire by regularly blogging. One of my many goals this year is to do just that, blog and write more, there´s a lot floating around up there that might provide a little wisdom or at the very least some humor and empathy. And to finish in some more famous words provided by William W. Purkey, an old favorite and something wonderful to live by in the year to come and hopefully many more.
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”
The last year of my life included many compelling milestones, voyages, reconnections and plain happiness. I do say, I am a little nervous about maintaining the wonder and amazement of it all, it´s a challenging task to renew beauty.
On one hand I don´t want to sound as if I am bragging; on the other hand, I do want to remember these wonderful opportunities and in the digital age and time we live in, my thought is that one day, someone will look back at this document and think ´this was what the average person was doing in 2013..´
So without further adieu, in no particular order except the way that my memory processes, here are some of the tremendous opportunities I luckily had in 2013.
Born to Run: I ran my first marathon in 4 hours 6 min in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. It was a sunny day, there were over 45,000 participants and the city of Amsterdam took me under their wing as if I was one of their own. (I suppose it doesn´t hurt that my blond hair and blue eyes gave the overall appearance I was Dutch). 2 of my favorite people in the world were there: Lisa Rivera, one of my best friends and traveling running partners extraordinare, came in around 3 hour 45 minutes, bless her ironman heart and steel legs; Andrés Manso, my partner followed me around Amsterdam using planes, trams and cabs to make sure he could give me a clap and a thumbs up sign while I struggled through all 42 km, particularly the last 4 km. Overall, I am not sure how I feel about more marathons. I do know I prefer trail running in the end but we´ll see. Sometimes it´s hard to resist the idea of a trip to a new place all in the name of running a marathon.
Oh the places that you´ll go: I reached 50 countries, it´s only a little less than 1/3 of the countries in the world but I am well on my way. This year, I travelled to Ireland, Belgium, Senegal, Japan, England, The Netherlands, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovenia, The Philippines, Greece, Czech Republic, France and to Menorca and Santiago de Compostela within Spain. Being in Barcelona makes it easier to conquer Europe and more difficult to get to more exotic destinations such as Africa and Asia, but it is in my blood to be in these less frequented places of the world. In El Nido, Palawan, I was touched by the sense of community set to a backdrop of the Jungle Book meets The Beach. In Cap Skerring, Senegal, I got my groove back in a hip hop club surrounded by gorgeous chocolate men and women. And in Mostar, Bosnia, I had the privilege of listening to Ahmed, our Croatian-Bosnian tour guide, who had lived for ten years in the US, who shared multi-level perspectives on the past, present and potential future of his country and the extensive Baltic peninsula. In the themes of books, I take this quote from Augustine of Hippo to remind us "The World is a Book, those who do not travel read only one page."
On the Road: Finishing the Camino de Santiago has been a 2 year process. In the end, it turned out to be one of the most spectacular experiences of my life. This year, I had the pleasure and challenge of finishing the last 200 km with my mother. My mom was a trooper the whole time, trying to force a smile on her face and ignore her blistering soles. In the end, I was blessed to have an assortment of friends and family around us. Andrés made the journey from Barcelona and our two friends, Albert and Aleix, arrived in Santiago the same day as my Mom and I. My Dad also arrived to Santiago and before I knew it, I was surrounded by love and accomplishment on the road. I cannot recommend this journey enough to people who like to walk, meet people and be at one with nature. The Camino will always be a part of me, in my buckling knees and warming my heart with one fond memory after the next.
Of course there was much more, just like more is yet to come. But no one has time to read through all of my ups throughout the year, and everyone should know that there were also many dark and twisty moments throughout the year. It´s why roller coasters are fun and often compared to life. They wouldn´t be fun without all the ups and downs. You often have to look back at the ride and remember the, whoa and wow, all at the same time to really feel the pleasure of the journey. I hope to read more people´s reflections and thank especially my Barcelona community for being expressive and ready to inspire by regularly blogging. One of my many goals this year is to do just that, blog and write more, there´s a lot floating around up there that might provide a little wisdom or at the very least some humor and empathy. And to finish in some more famous words provided by William W. Purkey, an old favorite and something wonderful to live by in the year to come and hopefully many more.
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”
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