K & L's Travel Blog

Madrid, 19 January 2024

In preparing for the trip we looked at lots of videos & blogs on Spain and Madrid. James Blick & his wife Yolanda have a useful and entertaining series, Spain Revealed. In one interview, they ask a traveler “How would you describe your ideal travel experience?” The woman answered that for her, that would be living an ordinary day in a foreign destination. 

Yesterday we came close to that. It was a colder day (upper 40’s) and raining hard. We awoke early and had breakfast, did some household chores, went out to lunch and then grocery shopped and ran errands. Late afternoon we read and then dined on Kitty’s Castilian lentil stew. A couple of evening episodes of Breaking Bad, and then to bed.

From 10,000 feet it all looks like an ordinary day, but activities that may seem ordinary at home remain elevated for us here in Madrid. For one thing, we are in a city which offers the convenience of proximity. No need to get in the car to drive to lunch when we can simply step out of our building, walk two doors down and enjoy a Peruvian feast. Still a thrill! 

Grocery shopping at the local Carrefour remains a challenge compared to the rote aisle walk at our local Ingles. And the spice store here is not like anything we have in Asheville. Every choice takes deliberation and some translation. Are those lentils? (yes). Is that prepared soup or stock? (stock). Will the trash liner fit the can? (sort of). Can we buy two individual carrots? (no). Can I enjoy a €3.00 bottle of wine? (yes).

This basic concept of weighing the “ordinary” against the “extraordinary” has helped me to think through at least part of what I love about traveling. It is these differences that keep me so actively engaged and curious, in part because I understand so little. Of course those differences also present challenges that make travel so hard and tiring. In this model of slow travel where we spend weeks in one neighborhood, the newness inevitably wears off and familiarity seeps in. But we are never “local,” we never quite “belong” in the way we might at home. And for me that tension remains a big part of the thrill, and challenge, of travel.