Oh hey!
Been avoiding social media because I've been doing some thinking and reading about the negative psychological effects.
Been thinking mostly along the lines of: If I post, am I just making people unhappier? Myself unhappier? Am I portraying my life as way better than it actually is? Etc.
So some negative and positive thoughts.
Traveling solo is super fun, but it can also give you whiplash as you jump back and forth between awesome aesthetic experiences and then pseudo-crushing loneliness. It's hard to make friends in a new city when the rules and language are unclear.
Also, I thought Manhattan was fashionable... Dang. Barcelona is a whole new level. So many places in the city are full of dressed to the 9s people. Even the high school kids look like they are judging you, even if you're wearing a suit. It's got the be the right kind of suit... And shoes.
I straight do not remember the last time I was so culturally isolated/intimidated. Maybe Brooklyn?
I think perhaps this happens to me every time I travel and then I just forget about it after. Like Finland was huge for me, but on reflection, there were a lot of "wow this meal would be more amazing if I were sharing it with someone" moments.
Like I have a picture of some culturally significant dish, but no picture of the people who weren't there with me.
Do let me know if this happens to you while travlin solo too.
ANYWAY.
There are scads of positive things and many of you asked me to keep you posted. So... The conference went well and I met a host of cool new people in AI including a couple possible AI ethics collaborators.
And the upshot of people dressing well is that the whole city feels like a movie set. People have dinner on the sidewalk. A dozen languages being thrown around. Awesome architecture.
I even accidentally ended up at a festival where people were playing music on the streets and dancing. There were black balloons and sales and .. oh it turns out it was a black friday party... so... well I'm glad I didn't know that at the time so I could walk around mystified at this "exotic" event.
Maybe everyone knew this but me, but it turns out there are two languages here and a political struggle. Barcelona is in Spain but doesn't want to be. It's in a region called Catalonia that speaks Catalan. As early as ... I think I heard last year they voted for their independence and the vote "passed" but Spain just stopped it and sent tons of police into the area. So it's a sore subject for many.
I ended up in a square where they were playing music and singing in Catalan. There were older folks holding hands and dancing in big circles like it was Fiddler on the Roof. Groovy.
Finally... at the conference, we went to a Flamenco dance and music performance. I was moved by how much passion the dancers had. It's hard to describe, but it was beautiful.
Gonna post some pictures soon when I'm back to the internet more regularly.
Hope you're all well!