Month: October 2015

Spain: One month in Madrid.

/ Cara Meglio / 2 Comments

Hola chicos!

Today is October 26th, which means we’ve been here in Spain for just over a month.

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The past four weeks have been incredibly exciting and also mind-numbingly mundane at the same time. Sure, we are starting our lives over in a whole new city, country, continent and culture — which is thrilling! But the day to day reality of what that looks like is: finding an apartment. Obtaining a transport card. Opening a bank account. Applying for a residency card. Choosing a cell phone plan. Setting up WiFi. Purchasing a trash can. Doing a month’s worth of laundry. Etc.

I will go into more detail about some of those little adventures in future posts, because I found it really helpful to read about other people’s experiences before we arrived. But for now, I’ll start with a general overview of what we’ve been doing and observing and feeling.

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An End, a Beginning, and 24 Hours in Purgatory

/ Cara Meglio / Leave a comment

Leaving Iceland was bittersweet as could be. We made our way to the airport early on Tuesday morning under gray skies, with a cold rain falling and a gusty breeze. It was literally the first bad weather we’d had all week — which in Iceland is just shy of an actual miracle.

While we were sad to leave the country behind, we were more than satisfied with the great trip we’d had. The experience had exceeded all of our expectations. And we knew we’d be coming back someday to pick up where we left off.

We were also finally starting to get excited for Spain again. Though anxiety over beginning this new chapter had come and gone throughout the last week, being at the airport with our bags and plane tickets in hand, I felt ready.

Goodbye Iceland. Hola, Madrid!

But first… Norway happened.

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Iceland By the Experts: 10 Travel Tips

/ Cara Meglio / 2 Comments
Having spent one week in Iceland, we’re now experts, obviously!

 

Okay, we barely scratched the surface of this place in the short time that we were here, but I did learn a lot. To wrap up this section of the blog, I wanted to share these tips: based on things we did wrong, things we did right, things we wished we’d known before we came here, and things I wish everyone knew before they came here.

 

Here goes!

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Iceland Day Seven: Takk fyrir.

/ Cara Meglio / Leave a comment
Our last full day in Iceland, we left Akureyri behind and headed back down south to Reykjavik.
Julia rode with us as far as Hvammstangi, and we returned her to the same spot we’d picked her up at two days previous, the Icelandic Seal Center. Along the two or three hour drive to her destination, Haider snoozed in the back seat while Julia and I shared some intimate conversations about love, relationships, priorities, and staying true to oneself. One of my favorite things about travel is how quickly you open yourself up to the new friends you meet along the way.

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