A few days before moving out, I was watching some TED talks about happiness. One of them was What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness, a research conducted by Harvard University. It has been going on for 75 years! I’m not going to describe the research completely so you can watch it for yourself here, but among all the people they studied, at the end of their lives, what brought happiness to them was the meaningful relationships they had. Not money, not career success, not their personal belongings, but the relationships they had with their friends and family.

Why am I speaking about this? Because sometimes we focus so much on university or work that we stop nurturing the relationships we have with the people around us. Believe me, at the end of the day, relationships are the one thing that will get us through. I moved overseas, and what was the thing that kept me from going momentarily insane? Connecting with my friends and family. Distance is nothing. Distance can be a mile or 1,000 miles. It’s a matter of perception. My family and friends from back home, friends I had here, even acquaintances made a difference in my emotional health. 

Never take a relationship for granted. No title (“friend”, “uncle”, “cousin” just to name examples) is going to stand the test of time if you don’t cultivate a relationship. Not just be grateful for the meaningful relationships in your life, make keeping them and nurturing them a priority. You will see that at the end of it all, those are what have brought happiness to your life. 

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Have you read about the study or watched the TED talk? What do you think of it? Leave a comment below or tweet me at @ krystel_k. I want to hear your thoughts!

If I had to describe my first two weeks in Barcelona in one word it would be: challenging. Coming from a 3.5 million people Island, this was a radical change. Public transport that my disoriented self couldn’t quite understand, bureaucratic procedures, sharing a tiny apartment with a stranger, getting lost in Barcelona centre, different food, my family hundreds of miles away. If not for a familiar face, a friend that I have who lives here (it really is a blessing!), I could have lost my mind. But I didn’t.

After the initial “what have I done? Let me flight back”, I have slowly getting used to everything and I’m happy to say I am in a much more comfortable state. I have officially started my master’s degree, I’ve made new friends, I know which train to take, I’ve mastered the art of cooking yellow rice, my inner clock has finally adapted to the 6-hour difference and I finally connect daily with my family thanks to the beauty of telecommunications, Whatsapp and Skype. I’m yet to be done with the legal procedures but hey, life won’t always be a walk in the park.

Since this has been my first time in Barcelona ever, I took the time amidst the crazy days to do some sightseeing. Here’s a recap in case you didn’t see it on my Instagram:

The Gothic Quarter

I walked around the Gothic Quarter and my old soul naturally fell in love with it. I plan on going with more time to visit it carefully.

Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia

Casa Batlló de Antoni Gaudi

La Pedrera – Casa Milà de Antoni Gaudi

View from Plaça Espanya

Antigua Plaza de Toros las Arenas – now a mall that preserves the façade of the old bulls ring.

View from the top of Plaza de Toros

Montjuïc 

A really beautiful area with a palace and historical buildings designed for the Barcelona International Exposition of 1929. It was a bit cloudy but I still made the trip up and took some photos.

Palau Montjuïc & The Magic Fountain

The German Pavilion

The Four Columns

Originally, four columns were built to represent the flag of Catalunya. Although later they were torn down by the dictatorship, they were build back in 2010.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Palauet Albéniz

Jardines de Joan Maragall

Teatre Grec (Greek Theater)

Estadi Olímpic - Used for Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics

I definitely have so many places yet to see but the best part is that I’ll be living here for a year (and who knows if it’s more than that) so there’s plenty of time! I’m feeling like I have made the best decision of my life, coming here to live and study for a while. I’m living my dream, the one I had since I was a child. It is often not when we wanted it or when we planned to, but dreams do come true in the end if we work for them. One of my favorite lyrics -because of course I always need to quote songs- is:

That lyric is the real deal. Things will eventually be right. Sometimes we just have to wait a little longer.

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On my next post…

On my next travel diary, I’ll be writing about my experience visiting beautiful Girona and its volcanic natural reserve. Stay tuned!

We all have had those days in which we just look into the distance, re-evaluate our existence, fantasize about a different life, and search on Google to see if flights to Mars are a thing yet.

Some months ago, a good friend of mine send me a meme with a message that read:

I plan on printing that out and hang in somewhere in my room because it is one of the best, most truthful sentence I’ve read. 

Let’s be real. Working a full time job (40 hours or more a week) can be exhausting. Working a full time job at an office, with fluorescent lights shining over you, a ridiculously low AC freezing your bones, where you don’t get to see the daylight may sound like a death sentence. Even if I am being overly dramatic (which I am, usually, sorry!), the truth is that we have all used our 8 to 5 as an excuse for not doing anything else in our lives. That, my friends, is the real death sentence. 

When we don’t find time to do what we love, we end up being unhappy and frustrated. Take me for example. I am the type of person who is always looking to learn something new. For a year or more I wanted to learn French, but I put my job as an excuse for not enrolling in the course. “I can’t on weekdays, I’m too tired on Saturdays. I’ll teach myself.” All that until I realize that if I didn’t learn now, it would be even more difficult to do it a few years later. Long story short, I finally enrolled in a French course on Saturdays and I LOVED it. Take that from a person who hates mornings but woke up at 7:30 a.m. on SAT-UR-DAYS to take a class. It became my favorite thing to do and what I look forward to every week. 

With this in mind I can only tell you: 

I hope that with these in mind, you can stay motivated regardless of the situation you’re in. How do you stay motivated? Leave a comment below!

I moved to Barcelona. Yes, I did. Why? The short answer is that I’m getting my master’s degree in Public Relations from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. But I think there’s much more to that. Because if life has taught me something is that nothing is black or white. There’s so many tones in between.
Isn’t it funny that for years you’re trying to figure out what is it that you want to do in life and suddenly all the answers come at the same time through the reasons you could never imagine?

Isn’t it incredible that is in our lowest moments when we often come alive? Is either climb or die. You will be amazed of the power that’s in you. You don’t know what you’re capable of until you’ve got to be the strongest version of yourself in order to survive.

So here I am, flying across the ocean and writing this on an economy class seat. Always aim at being the best version of yourself. Do it for you, do it for your loved ones. You can’t be there for the important people in your life if you aren’t there for you. Those who have given all to you, deserve the best you in return. Become that.

I think that is precisely why I’m here right now, in the middle of my way to Barcelona, almost beneath Greenland, at 11,888 m of altitude and -61 degrees C. I’m not only leaving to get my master’s degree, I’m leaving to chase the feeling of happiness, growth and success.

Are you working towards being the best version of yourself? What are you doing to achieve it? Leave a comment!

P.S. For more photos of my journey, you can follow me on Instagram: krysxc