Rome, Madrid, Seville, Ibiza and more!

The countdown begins. I didn't think I'd have the money, but thanks to a Vueling airline sale, I will be traveling 17 of the 31 days in July. To view my July travel plans, see the list below or click on the calendar image below. Notice how I intentionally kept 3 of 4 weekends free. This will allow me to enjoy my remaining weekends in Barcelona, while traveling during the weekdays.

• Madrid June 28th - July 4th
• Seville July 8th - 10th
• Ibiza July 11th - 12th
• Malaga July 17th-18th
• Granada July 19th - 20th
• Rome July 22nd - 25th
• United States July 31st
  

Embracing Randomness

I’ve learned to embrace the randomness in life. It’s amazing where it can lead you.

One recent example led me to score a free ticket to Sonar, an annual festival of progressive music and multimedia arts. This saved me $50, provided an opportunity to meet several interesting people, hear cutting edge music and see some remarkable art. I now understand why people rank it as one of the best music & art festivals in Europe. Photos to come soon…

I’ve had some amazing experiences by putting myself in situations that allow randomness to occur. Embrace the randomness in life's interactions.

Break the Cycle

Never forget to SING

Some of my recent favorites from Hugh.

That was then. This is my now.

There was a time I packed my dreams away
Living in a shell, hiding from myself.
There was a time when I was so afraid
I thought I’d reached the end.
Baby, that was then.
But I am made of more than my yesterdays.

This is my now,
And I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around,
I can’t believe the love I see.
My fear’s behind me,
Gone are the shadows and doubt.
That was then.
This is my now.

I had to decide.
Was I gonna play it safe?
Or look somewhere deep inside,
Try to turn the tide.
Find the strength to take that step of faith?

I have a courage like never before, yeah.
I settled for less, but I’m ready for more.
Ready for more…

By Jordin Sparks

Retaining the Millennials

Today I came across this timely article which gives advice for anyone working with the latest generation of employees. It's a short, yet very interesting article.

My Mindset

My previous posts got me thinking about the “lens” through which I see the world and below are some of my life rules/assumptions that immediately came to mind.

1. Connect 24/7: Always on, always connected, always available. Privacy is an illusion
2. Multiculturalism: An interest and desire to understand cultural difference
   
3. Globalism: Because the world is so connected, it’s always getting easier make and maintain connections.
4. Continual change is the norm….
5. New experiences triumph over more “stuff”
6. Fail…a lot: One must fail rapidly to rapidly succeed.
7. Smaller: Bigger is not better.
8. Happiness is family, friends and a passion that gets you out of bed every morning.
9. Balance between enjoying the present and planning for the future.

Generational Divides -Technological Differences

In my opinion, the single largest difference between my generation and others is the cultural differences is caused by technology.

Computers and other forms of technology have been around since my early adolescence. I find it difficult to imagine life without the internet and email. The idea of using a typewriter and looking up information in a encyclopedia is laughable. I’d just launch Microsoft Word or search with Google.

I first started using computers in school for educational games. A few years later I received a Packard Bell 486 from my parents for Christmas and discovered American Online (AOL). It became an addiction. At this point, the internet and my computer is a central hub in completing many of my daily responsibilities.

In general, this has been a good thing. Like everything, technology does have its downsides. My dependence is easily revealed in my inability to quickly solve arithmetic problems mentally and my extremely poor spelling. It’s clear that I’m far too dependent on calculators and computer based spell check. In fact, my one and only fear in my previous job was being called upon to be the “scribe” in front of colleagues during a brainstorming session. I would have rather talked 1x1 with the CEO of our company. As the saying goes, “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. At the same job, many colleagues would often ask me for help with something on the computer after 30 minutes or more of futile effort. A few clicks and 2 minutes later I would be done. I’ve listened to many of experienced colleagues talk about the fast pace of change “these days”.

Will I utter those same words 20 years from now?

Generational Divides

Because I was born between 1980 and 2000 (1982 to be exact), I am part of what demographers label the “Millennials”. Other labels given to people born during this period include the Internet Generation, Echo Boomers, Nexters, Generation Y, Nintendo Generation, and the Digital Generation.

Like all generations, we have a completely new perspective, a different set of values, new experiences and an extremely distinctive work ethic. In my opinion, the generation gap between the older Millennials just entering the work force and the Boomers already entrenched in the work force is the largest it’s ever been. The divider will grow even larger as the younger Millennials begin to enter the work force in 10 years. Hell, I already notice significant differences between myself and younger members of the Millennials.

Over the next week, I will post my thoughts on this topic. Tomorrow is part 1 where I’ll discuss the technological differences.

Suddenly I Don't See

Hillary Clinton is selecting her presidential campaign song via vote on her website. I'd link to it, but I don't want to make you puke.

Anyway, the current front runner is "Suddenly I See"by KT Tunstall. Are people not listening to the lyrics? The first refrain of the song goes like this:

Her face is a map of the world
Is a map of the world
You can see she's a beautiful girl
She's a beautiful girl
And everything around her is a silver pool of light
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it
It makes you calm
She holds you captivated in her palm

Well there you have it. Hillary is a beautiful girl that will calm and captivate us by her silver pool of light.

Another song in the top 5, "Every little thing she does is magic" by the Police, is equally absurd. Because remember, every little thing Hillary does is magic, everything she does just turns me on, even though my life before was tragic, now I know my love for her goes on...

Uh huh. I can envision the commercials already. Please excuse me while I go puke.

The Real Windows to the Soul

Pretty random post, but this is the type of stuff I find intriguing.

As the old saying goes, "the eyes are the windows to the soul". True, yet I think an persons personal space (room/house/apartment, etc) create a much more vibrant and detailed image. Honestly, what’s better than going over to someone’s house and looking at their stuff (or lack their of)? Nothing. Whether you realize it or not, you directly or indirectly send a message with every item in your house. The stuff that people put on bulletin boards and their refrigerator is especially interesting.

What does your stuff say about you?

A Much Needed Update

A combination of things has caused me to not update with any meaningful content recently. First, I'm a bit bored of sharing my daily happenings and assume that many of you are tired of hearing of them as well. Going forward, I think that I'll post more random thoughts or otherwise interesting activities and events. Second, I've been busy having way too much fun. What has kept me busy?

• Mom, cousin and family friend (Debbie) visit
  
• Spanish studying (sloooowly)
  
• Beach and other summer craziness. Summer is here and in full force.
  
• Parties. There is no lack of them and often too many to choose from. This past week I was at two particularly crazy parties on the rooftop of Hotel Axel in the center of Barcelona.
• I currently have friends in from Rome and NYC and have been extremely busy playing host all night and day.
  

Later this month I'll be heading to Marrakech Morocco with a big group of friends. I'm also planning a visit to NYC the 14th-20th of August. Feel free to email me if you have any tips or suggestions for either cities.

That's about it for now, although more to come soon...

Pounds & Politics

The British Pound and the Euro are simpling killing the U.S Dollar. Right now it takes 2 dollars to receive 1 pound. Ouch. The last time the exchange rate imbalance was this bad was back in 1981.

Between the exchange rate and current political environment, it has to be one of the most difficult times for a U.S citizen to be living in Europe.

Yet somehow I cope. Maybe it's the beach or the weather or the lack of a job or maybe it's all of the travel. Yes, somehow I cope. ;)

Time...

...is going by way too fast. My constant desire to to make every minute count often leaves me feeling like I could always be doing more, regardless of how much I'm doing or how fast I'm going.

I've recently been thinking about about how much (little?) time I have left in Europe and it makes me a bit sad. Other than seeing friends and family, the thought of going back to the U.S is not an exciting one. I've had so many defining experiences which left me with a lot of amazing memories. In many regards, soon all I'll have left is memories. Right now I can say I live in Barcelona. Soon, I'll have memories of living in Barcelona and traveling Europe.

I need to allow myself to relax and always enjoy the "right now" vs. worrying about what is next. I will focus on enjoying the time I have left as I know that new, better memories are waiting to be created.

What a weekend

This weekend was one for the record books. I saw Tiga live at Razzmatazz on Saturday, among a lot of other craziness that I won't discuss in detail.

I started my Spanish classes today. I walked out of the class feeling a lot more stupid than when I walked it. I have a lot to learn...

Now it's time to catch up on the sleep I didn't get this weekend.

Fun times ahead

I booked a Marrakesh trip and added Budapest in addition to London. It's going to be an extremely fun summer. My current plan is to arrive back in the U.S in late July or sometime in August before my, gasp, 25th birthday on the 20th. Damn, I'm getting OLD!

Visitors
Mother visiting: April 21st-30th
Anyone else???

Travel
London: April 12th-16th
Marrakesh May 26th - 30th
Budapest: June 6th-11th

Concerts
Bloc Party at Razzmatazz in Barcelona: May 15th
Scissor Sisters in Barcelona: April 25th

Other Craziness
San Juan Beach Party: June 23rd

In case you forgot...

Behavioral Finance

I've always found behavioral finance, especially the psychology of utility to be extremely interesting. In economics, utility is, "a measure of the relative happiness or satisfaction gained by consuming different bundles of goods and services".

What would you do if you were given $25,000 today? Would you spend it? If yes, how would you spend it? The answer reveals a lot about what you value in life and how you feel about money.

You can read more about behavioral finance here.

Emotional Time Warps

Why is it that there are moments throughout our life that come and go with little or no significance while others become eternal memories that can be easily recalled with remarkable precision?

I was recently thinking through my most powerful memories and wondered what made them so special. They vary greatly, but one thing common throughout all of them is emotion. Extremely strong emotion.

Most of my significant memories were formed using mental connections during moments of powerful emotion. These moments always have a linking agent that can instantly produce the exact emotion felt in the original moment. The linking agents become triggers. Like most people, my most common triggers are music and scent. For example:

• Dave Matthews Band takes me to La Crosse, WI (due to my brother), Alpine Valley and many great high school memories.
• Several songs take me back to the discos of London’s Vauxhall district. I can remember the exact disco, my location in the club, who I was with, what I was doing and I physically FEEL the same feelings when the connections were formed.

Time warps do exist. Go ahead, close your eyes and allow yourself to be whisked away.

Alive and Well

No, I'm not dead. I've been very crazy busy moving into my new apartment. Yes, I'm moving out of the apartment I just moved into. I lived there for less than 1 month. Basically, the guys I moved in with ended up being un poco loco.

I'm moving most of my stuff into the new apartment tonight. Will update once things settle down in a few days.