Ofcourse I’d read about it for years, in fact the very moment I saw a photo of it I knew I would live in Barcelona some day, but seeing Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Família in person was something else, something awe-inspiring.

It’s an incredible interpretation of Gothic architecture and I took entirely too many photos of it. I gazed at it every opportunity I had – from our living room, from the streets and from taxi windows, from the top of Montjuic and from the balcony of Parc Guell. It’s spires twisting and turning towards the sky. It’s wild and beautiful and unlike anything I’d ever even imagined.

It all started in 2006, during my Junior year of college, when I studied abroad for six months in Barcelona, Spain – a decision that would forever change the course of my life. During those inspirational months, a group of friends and I traveled around Spain and throughout Europe. We visited seven countries and over two dozen cities. I particularly fell in love with being out of my comfort zone – losing myself in strange places and diving head first into new experiences. I rode a bus across the Spanish countryside, I celebrated Carnival in Cadiz and admired dozens of churches and castles. I spent 32 hours in London and threw an impromtu dinner party in Bologna. I took too many photos of the Sagrada Familia, rented a villa in Mykonos and experienced sensory overload at the Prado, the Uffizi and the Lourve. I ate dumplings in Prague and paella in Valencia. I explored the Alahambra, felt disappointed in Athens and sunbathed on black sand beaches in the Canary Islands and off the coast of the French Riviera. I fell in love in Paris and visited Rome with American friends, I drank too much sangria and too many cafe americanos and I relished in every moment.

Through my travels I gained a lifetime worth or memories and most importantly a desire to go everywhere and experience everything. This desire has since driven everything I do.

photo source here