TRAVEL So yes, fast forward to late May, when classes were completely done, apart from bits and pieces of the latest edition of the G-You Magazine ‘Up in the Air’. One of my bestest friends, Sara, who stayed in Portugal for uni studying Economics (random fast fact), asked if I wanted to join her and her uni friends in going down the coast. This trip was always something we’ve spoken about doing together since we had finished high school so I said I DO. Not knowing the people that were going was a little nerve-wrecking, especially for my anxiety-amused self, BUT knowing my friend Sara: she would only be with revitalizing people. After a massive quarantine, I mean massive in all ways possible, it was time for me to turn off from my, let’s say, “Glasgow duties” and “family duties”, and tune in with the ocean, friends and the book Half of a Yellow Sun (which I highly recommend btw). We stayed in three different AirBnB’s along the way which I recommend if you do this trip because 1) it saves you from moving every day to a new place which wastes so much precious beach time and 2) if you’re a big enough group like us (8-9 people) time to do things takes foreeeeever!! Other than that our plans were to wake up with at least 5-6h of sleep (great, young-adult standards we know), eat, beach, dine and drink wine! Jk, that was just for the rhyme. We didn’t actually drink much wine, we drank Super Bock (the most wonderful Portuguese beer [lots of it]) and home-made Sangria! And that was it. It was ‘simple stupid’ as one of my 6th grade teachers would say. It was beautiful and silent. The sunsets, sunrises, the conversations, and friendships that made the trip what it was, pro-
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vided all the noise I needed, and little did I know how much I needed it. There were two memorable moments, one when we were on our second beach day and all I remember was listening to the ocean with my book in my hand and feeling this immense feeling of happiness like nothing else mattered; the other time was when we were in the car listening to Father John Misty’s ‘Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)’ on our way to the beach after an intense drinking and fun night, again the same feeling of happiness which I hadn’t felt in a VERY long time. I really cannot explain the various ways this road trip healed me. I hadn’t properly slowed down for three freaking years (the rhythm at which I usually live is considered crazy for many) and before the trip, quarantine had helped me see a lot of things in hindsight. Going down the coast was definitely a sound filter that I desperately needed and yet I hadn’t realised it until I was in it. Even the music playlists we listened to during the trip reflected a part of me that was way deep under my skin, yet I had lost the will and way to listen to it these past three years. The people which I didn’t know are now friends who I know I can count on for life. My friend Sara is my sister from another mister. And the Portuguese Southwestern coast will forever be my refuge, my home and have a place in my heart.
