Bajai Life Camp 16.25: Day 476
City Park Hotel
Tuesday September 25, 2018
Barcelona, Spain
26.06% journeyman

Travel Tuesday

I don't really need to leave here until 13;00. Check out is 12;00. I don't really mind hanging out at the station. I should at least eat before I travel. Only the one place I've been I'd go back to. Maybe I'll store my stuff and walk in the other direction... Or what the hell, get to the station, eat down there get it over with. I have trail mix.

Got some pushups done this morning. Which reminds me, I felt I was pulling higher the last time I did pull ups. I'm imagining myself getting over the bar. I feel it coming. I may have to jump over a few times... but I think I can eventually get it.

I think my best exercise comes from carrying these bags around and walking with them. Sometimes climbing stairs. Being lost with this load is truly a fitness challenge. So far I'm okay. Next year I'm looking to lighten the load.

I'm being priced out of Madrid. All my favorite spots that I caught on sale last year are now full price. YIKES!! Double the price in some cases. So maybe I leave earlier, or visit Burgos. Two hours north of Madrid and hotels within my range. Worth it to shoot up there, come back here to roll... I mean, fly out.

Idea. Not a plan, just yet.

Watching people queue up to board the train thirty minutes prior. This used to be me. I don't want to be these people, so I am practicing chilling. However, I can feel my breathing increase and my heart rate increase. This is anxiety. Like maybe I will miss out on something. But this is unfounded. I have a reserved seat. The train goes directly from Barcelona to Madrid... as I was writing the the queue began to move. I went to the back of the line and was seated, luggage stowed in a matter of minutes.

The travel anxiety has decreased a lot, but this situation proves it's still around. This time I took the opportunity to feel and understand it. I think that's a step in defeating it.

Let's go!!

So the woman sitting next to me on the train is allergic to peanuts. How do I know? I took out my trail mix and she said something, in Spanish. "Pardon me," and pointed to my bag, (of nuts.. couldn't resist). At first I offered her some... nuts... Then I figured out, even without understanding what she was saying that she was allergic. I cannot enjoy my trail mix because someone next to me is allergic!

This is one of those mixed feelings moments, when I have to allow compassion to trump the annoyance factor. Indeed the ratio between my desire to munch on peanuts and her health... maybe her life, isn't even calculable. I don't feel the least bit guilty about being annoyed at my inconvenience. But I'm not mad at her either. Normally I'd be curious as to how people develop these allergies, but I have an idea, which I'm probably wrong about. But I don't think she'd be able to tell me if I asked her.

This is my shadow side. The "me first" side. I see you. I feel you. I acknowledge you. My compassionate side is quite easy to embrace. I know right from wrong and I believe in karma, in the pop-culture context of the idea. But it's not the fear of punishment that makes me do right.

I just do it, because it's the thing to do.

Siesta and Go

I think I've hit bottom when it comes to places to stay in Madrid. I'm underground in a place that's a cross between a submarine and an orphanage. I was suspicious when the photos were all of the surrounding area. Nothing inside, but the price and location were right. In fact this might be my pre-session spot. It's literally next door and underneath the pick up point.

TGI Friday's

I needed an American dinner tonight. I couldn't see myself eating baguettes. This is today's meal other that the pre-travel salad. I'm good. Chicken breast burger, grilled, with bacon and fries. And a Guinness.

I figure carrying the bags was my workout, but I want to go to the park. Maybe a few pull ups before I go back. I'll lock up my back pack, pull out some clothes from the ruck and call it a night.

Trying to gauge #1. Don't want to lose my mind alone.

Hostel time. I set myself up for success. Let's see how I sleep. Night 1 of 3.