I just flipped a coin to determine where I’m sleeping tonight; do I get the tent or am I sleeping in a hallway of the hostal. I’ve won the floor space, if you consider it a win. Despite being told I had a space here tonight I arrived to discover it is full, in fact over flowing. Somehow the need to be in Esporles on this given night has struck the traveling community and the hostel is filled to capacity. Joan has been calling other places trying to correct this oversight and I’m grateful for his efforts, but the floor is just fine with me. I’ve done my fair share of camping in wet tents, on slanted ground, in crowded sights, and high winds. The floor will be a luxury default. I hope Joan believes me. Our exchange was in spanish and while I can get along, more nuanced conversations are still out of my reach. I’m constantly curious what I’ve actually communinicated, but they smile and we laugh, which is the universal equivalent of “It’s all good”. 

Today had all the elements of a typical solo travel day. Highs and lows, moments of pure contentment and others of questioning. I am struck by the quote “where ever you go – there you are” which has come to mean that I am with myself – the good and the bad – all the time. Today I got to wrestle w

my personal demon of not listening to my gutt. I wonder if that is how I ended up in the coin flipping arrangement. It’s an old habit, at this point ingrained like a pavlovian response; I have a decision to make, my gutt weighs in and then the brain does everything it can to talk me out of following it. The mind is a powerful tool and often ends up dominating only to later discover what I sensed turned out to be true. *sigh* Life never stops giving me opportunities to learn. 

My friend Kathy reminds me that traveling is a low stakes arena to practice doing things differently. I am game to embrace this advice. Traveling certainly does provide opportunities for self awareness, maybe it will be a place for this bud to bloom.