Life comes at you fast.

One day I was a guest at a OneFam hostel in Barcelona.

The next, I was greeting guests, cooking dinner, and leading a night out to some of the best bars and clubs in the city.

Yup. I got an impromptu job working at a hostel for one week.

I'm Sorry, What?

Listen, I'm confused too.

The fact that a reputable establishment would entrust me with that much responsibility after knowing me for 48 hours is...

Insane?

But, if you give good energy, it always finds its way back to you. At check-in, I told the OneFam staff that I would be in Barcelona for 10 days, and it was a goal of mine to work a service-based job at least once during my travels.

Bummer they told me, because they required hostel staff to work at least a month.

At least...usually...

Turns out, someone quit unexpectedly and they had an opening from Monday-Friday.

So, my week of work, and my role as The Captain, began.

The What?

I have to credit my co-worker, Ylke, for the idea.

There had been an old Navy Captain hat lying around the hostel for weeks, and she put it on my head during my first shift.

It turns out that it suited me quite well.

As hostel staff, there were a few different shifts: working the reception for 8 hours, leading a day activity, or the party shift.

During my week of work, I was assigned the party shift Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

My naivité as to what that entailed led me to throw myself into the work and I never looked back.

The Party Shift

It's all fun and games (literally) until you realize you have to cook dinner for ~20 strangers by yourself.

For those of you sending a prayer to the 20 poor souls who had to eat my food, I'll leave you with a picture of my first dish.

If you're wondering what that is, so am I 😂.

After stressing about dinner for multiple hours each shift, things would get better. I organized drinking games for the guests to pregame the night's festivities.

If you've ever thrown a party, you know how it feels when people start arriving, but the energy isn't there yet.

It's terrifying.

Steering the Ship

I wish I could say that it was my commanding presence that caused people to rally when I was on party shift.

In reality, it was just the hat.

People loved the whole idea of "The Captain." And I loved playing the part.

Leaning into the role made my job easy.

Travelers looking to party don't need much to get things going. They're just looking for someone's energy to tap into, which is why the best hostels have really fun and outgoing staff.

Or staff who can rock a Captain's hat.

After the drinking games, I was directly responsible for getting guests from the hostel to a pre-determined bar, and later from the bar to a club.

Once at bars and clubs, people were free to do as they pleased.

But the situation was clear. Wherever the hat went, the energy followed.

The Greatest Dance Circles in the City

Part of me wishes this was captured on video at least once.

But I'm almost happier it wasn't because a video wouldn't do it justice. You had to be there.

Once I figured out how easy it was for people to rally around the hat, I would step into a dance circle to get people hyped up.

I'm not the world's greatest dancer, but I'm good for 10 seconds of people's attention.

From there, I'd just take the hat off and place it on someone else's head. Their turn in the middle.

Once they did their thing, they would choose the next person. And so on and so on.

Every night the dance circles would start small, but balloon to 20 people or more.

Every night they would have the club's full attention for an hour or longer.

Every night, people got in the middle scared out of their minds, but came out liberated by feeling like they nailed it.

The energy was so pure.

So authentic.

People were partying in the most carefree way I've ever witnessed.

Every. Single. Night.

Processing

I'm still processing.

What happened over that week should not have been possible.

Daily, I would step out of a dance circle, watch people pass the hat back and forth to each other, and think.

"Damn. Did I really start this? Again?"

Also:

"Damn. This is my job right now? Like my actual job?"

I Forgot This Was My Job

Before that week, I had never worked a traditional service-based job.

But I now realize it wasn't much different from many things I've done in the past, like running student organizations like SEED and Seek Discomfort, hosting parties and events that bring people together, and even coaching youth basketball teams.

All my service-based roles have overlapped around the idea of creating an environment that brings out the best in the people you're serving.

Selfishly, all my travels for years have resulted in me receiving the experience, not giving it.

But, as I realized in Barcelona, helping give the experience to others is its own type of experience.

Doing so carries with it so much gratitude.

Perhaps because it's the first time I've done this while traveling, but more likely because serving others brings purpose to our lives.

I am so grateful to have had the chance to give, rather than receive, the experience. And I am so grateful to OneFam for letting me become part of the Fam, even if only for a short time.

Perhaps 🤞 this won't be the end of our story together.