Castles in Lisbon

Sunsets, castles and green wine. Portugal has been an adventure. A cycle emerges once one travels longer. You notice a pattern. A writing in the sky. The check ins, the check outs, the walking tour and the bar crawls. You start to know what to expect. You form habits and you skip steps.

It could be called the curse of the experienced traveler, to become less intrepid over time. Your brain adjusts and associates parts of the travel life to those of the one back home.

Logistics becomes work - a necessary evil to get to the next picturesque event. The next dinner, the next engagement at a bar.

The happy hours and good parties of everyday become the people that we meet. The travelers with the best stories. The girl that intimidates you at first but ends up being a soulmate.

At the end of the day, I think we look for surprises.  A break from the norm. A different perspective. I am now convinced that it usually comes from people that we meet on the road (the context for the conversation).

You could probably put me in a cardboard box with the right set of people and I will have the time of my life.  I wonder if those people would be as amazing in a business setting as they are at a funky club in an abandoned apartment complex in Lisbon.

Put another way, do we always need castles and sunsets to make us curious, giddy and happy. Obviously it helps, but do we meet awesome people more frequently when you travel. Or do average people become interesting in the wake of this stimulation.

May be will never know. Until then - more castles!