The Journey Begins

Greetings Loyal Readers:

The adventure is about to begin. After an intense week of work - with typical and atypical highs and lows - I am almost packed and ready to go.

• Clothing has been laundered and folded (with some assistance from Grammy)
• Trail mix has been - well - mixed and dried fruit bagged
• Books purchased and stored in my luggage, including a Spain guide book, J Kellerman novel, Silva novel and The Shadow of Wind which takes place in Barcelona
• Two seasons of 24 selected (typically this series petrifies me ... so why not watch it on my solo walk in Spain? hmmm....)
• Shoes narrowed down to two pairs
• ...and more

Readers - this is my first time traveling with only two things planned out - 1) roundtrip plane tickets booked 2) a reservation made for my first three nights in Barcelona at Casa de Billy. No train tickets, no additional lodging reservations, no list of sites to see, no pre-purchased museum passes ... I'm a new man.

My father figure has graciously agreed to take me to the airport. My flight is early in the morning (LAX to Chicago to Madrid to Barcelona - don't be too jealous), so I guess that will be about it for now.

Adios,

Zach