It had been two years since I'd been back to Spain, and two years since I'd travelled out of New Zealand. Now thats a long time for someone whose caught the travel bug. One of the biggest symptoms is feeling restless. I came home this afternoon (having not had sleep since the 25th of July). The distance from Europe to NZ (or most places) is unbearable. On the plane back I could feel that little bug crawling back in. Into my constant little thoughts, it was trying hard to grow in my mind once again. "oh god, what the hell am I going to do back in that little Island in the middle of nowhere!?" 'great, you're gona live with your parents again', 'everyone is moving on with their lives but you, back to no job! Why would you want to work in NZ anyway? Go on search for jobs overseas! Maybe London? Back to Spain?". It kept whispering in my ear. But, it all seemed to wash away when we were about to land. I saw the long white clouds, I saw the endless and barren land scapes and I saw tourists gasp in amazement at where they were about to land. Thats when everything made sense. Home is heaven. Home is where the heart feels at ease. But that feeling doesn't come easy unless you make yourself feel at home from the inside out. Make the most of everywhere you are. Nowhere is better than where you are right now. And thats all you have to remember.

So anyway, Spain - mainly Madrid. I pretty much spent the whole time shopping and eating (commence operation diet or rather 'ramathan' now!). I also spent alot of time with my 'Spanish family'. Appreciating the importance of La Familia. (which ironically sounds very much like the familiar). I spent alot of time gaining my dreams back. Man I have so many. The trick now is to focus. To make goals out of them. Small goals, that stream into the big ocean that is my dreams....ok i'll stop trying to be profound now. Its just that I'm jet lagged and its 2 am and I can't get to sleep. It's during this time where I think I'm some sort of James Joyce and exaggerate my little musings on life....oh my. Can I just get to the song? Yes well. As I said, I spent most of my trip engaged in retail therapy. You know, trying to help out the Spanish economy through the crisis. H&M was a frequent haunt, and its where I first heard the song below. For the next few days, I would go on humming it only knowing that it had 'sister ...' in the chorus and that they sounded like the kings of leon when they were great. I became slightly loco. I had to find out what the song was. Emily, my great hostess, and myself would search the Internet whenever we got the chance. 'band that sound like kings of leon' -'sister by kings of leon' - 'songs with sister in the chorus' - 'H&M playlist 2012'. We were both unsuccessful. I became obsessed. On my last day I asked in poor Spanish, the lady serving me at the counter at H&M if they had a song list. She asked and they came back with 'no we just play a UK radio station'. So I went home and in the midst of packing I squeezed in one last search 'UK top 20 indie songs- 2012'. NOTHING. I couldn't find it. Then I heard it playing in Emily's room. To my surprise and great joy, she had become obsessed too. She typed in 'mary are you gona save me' (because she insisted she had heard that line), and there it was. Sister Everette by the Mystery Jets. Boy was that a Mystery! I was SO DAMN HAPPY. Best end to the trip EVER. I know it seems insignificant, but when I hear a great song, I get pretty obsessed. So here it is, the song that defined my trip to Spain, July 2012.