It’s time to take a travel pause.

I’m slightly bogged down by some short-term tasks: MBA applications, finishing my last GT class, and starting up some software work.

I’ve been back in Barcelona since February 23 and will be here until the end of March.

There are plenty of worse situations I could be in than this one.

But, the stories I can tell through my travels have slowed down. Thus, I thought it would be a great week to recap a few stories and experiences that have yet to make it into a blog.

They’re too short on their own, but together they form a nice little storytime! Here are 3 short stories since starting my trip.

The most Dubai thing ever

It would take months to do everything in Dubai.

Unfortunately, I only had a few days, many of which were occupied by my last finals from my semester in Metz.

I was frantically studying for my Computer Vision final when a couple of travelers, Joshua and Chiara, persuaded me to take a study break to grab a late-night dinner with them.

I probably should’ve continued to hit the books that night, but Joshua had rented a luxury Mercedes convertible, and riding around Dubai in a sports car seemed like the thing to do.

Dubai has highways bigger than Texas but they were mostly desolate that evening. We put the hood down, turned the music up, and sped down the highway with the humid air whipping in our faces. We played throwbacks like Stacey’s Mom and Stereo Hearts.

Life was good.

Joshua ended up getting a speeding ticket but hey 🤷🏻‍♂️ I had fun! We ate some amazing local Egyptian food and Chiara and Joshua became the first two people who answered my What Matters Most to You and Why? question. 

The openness they brought in their answers–human connection through good times and bad (Chiara) and my relationship with God (Joshua)–gave me the confidence to push forward with my quest to get answers from 100 people.

My favorite moment in Dubai was no doubt our night together.

The Most Interesting Man in the World

While exploring Amman, the capital of Jordan, a stranger offered to take a photo of me. From there, we started talking and I learned that I might’ve met the most interesting man in the world.

Gus from Australia had been backpacking for the last year. But he wasn’t your average backpacker. He started his journey in India and had traveled overland to Jordan.

That meant that he traveled through India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Iraq, a who’s who of countries that would probably give my mother a heart attack.

Wow.

Gus moved from small town to small town, setting up his tent on the outskirts of civilization or relying on strangers to offer him a bed.

As we walked through the streets of Amman, I listened, mesmerized, as he told stories of his travels:

• Receiving a police escort through an area inhabited by terrorists in Pakistan.
• Meeting a Mormon family in Iraq.
• Trying opium in Iran and subsequently getting robbed of $1500.

Throughout the whole conversation, I was shocked by how much niche Arab culture and history this white guy from Australia knew. I learned more about the Arab world from Gus than I had in my entire academic career.

The day I met Gus was the same day I chronicled in Up Close and Personal with the World’s Largest Conflict.

What a full day.

The weirdest “performance” I’ve ever seen

On a free walking tour in Venice, Italy, I was told by another traveler that a friend of hers was putting on a performance that evening. I didn’t have anything better to do, so I showed up.

It was the strangest show I’ve ever witnessed. It was a two-person act–a man reading seemingly random words off his computer as a woman contorted her body in ways that made me initially think she was imitating the man’s words.

I later decided she was just trying to prove to the audience that she was possessed by the devil.

Now, I’m far from the artsiest person you’ll ever meet. Usually, I don’t even bother to have an opinion concerning most artistic endeavors.

But, if someone tried to tell me that was a form of creative expression, I’d have to put my foot down and say they were dead wrong.

If I had to improv a performance for 20 minutes, I’m sure I could come up with something more coherent than that "performance."

Yet, probably around 50 people showed up to watch, and most, myself included, were invited to the after-party.

Why such a performance needed an after-party was beyond me. I declined the cheap wine and Cheetos offered, but I did take the liberty of talking to some attendees.

If I had to describe people with polar opposite interests from me, I’d just pick any random person from this group. I could’ve chosen the 55-year-old art critic, the 73-year-old exhibition curator, or the 61-year-old art columnist.

Or pretty much anyone else.

Imagine being in this crowd and saying, “Yeah I build software.”

I knew it was time to head out when I was talking to the exhibition curator and he told me, “The Israel-Hamas War has really divided the art community.”

The art community bro? How about the entire world?

Sometimes you need to congratulate yourself for choosing a field of interest that isn’t out of touch with reality. Meeting these people who have spent the last 30-40 years of their lives in this space was that moment for me.

Such an interesting event so far removed from anything I would do voluntarily.