(Barcelona, ESP) - Moving into a new hood especially in a new country can often be a daunting task. Yet traveling extensively over the last seven years to various parts of the planet has proved to be a necessary gamble in finding the right combination of cultural stimulations. I knew my search was over when I finally took refuge in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, Spain — a perfect union of relaxation, madness, warm summer beaches, and soft winters.

As a cosmopolitan city, Barcelona grew in international stature, largely from the 1992 arrival of the Olympic Games, and has been thriving ever since. Steeped in grand festivals, rich foods, and music all wrapped up in Gaudiesque art nouveau, this colorful city manages to attract all sorts of people inclined towards these cultural interests. Thus the city has become an extremely unique and creative hub.

Time was what I had plenty of when integrating into my new neighborhood, the Gracia district of Barcelona. Gracia, meaning “grace” in Spanish, is one of the most popular sections in the city. Built as an independent district in 1626, the Gracia has a real feeling of community pride and was built with the idea of encouraging a social network, as evidenced by its many public plazas, open bars, green patches, and outdoor venues. It also happens to be home to a large community of artist, musicians, movie houses, and young families. Most notably, the Gracia district is known for its street parties, especially the Gracia Fiesta, a yearly event which occurs in the third week of August (a six-day party binge).

It’s this fiesta that really made me love the neighbourhood and decide upon it as my home. With streets of hidden galleries, bars giving eight-bit music concerts, poets assembling on roof gardens, young chefs opening new types of eateries, and local designers pushing out their season collections, the Gracia has a lot of its own sub-cultures lending their creative juices to making the barrio a very unique place to live.

It was not hard to assimilate into this culture; with friends from South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, Russia, Guatemala, and Venezuela, to name a few, the Gracia attracts a lot of ex-pats to its streets. A constantly rotating circle of friends is something I’ve experienced in the past and at the risk of sounding cold, have grown quite accustomed to. My life is a series of tenuous social connections that are constantly at risk of falling apart and slowly being rebuilt; especially now that I’m dwelling in a city like Barcelona, where all the fly-by-nighters regularly pass through airport arrival- and departure gates. I sometimes wonder whether my time will come and I’ll be the one throwing a farewell party with my friends in the city.

Living here now, it’s easy to forget about wanting to travel to other places, as it more or less has everything I need at this moment. This also gives rise to the fear, "Could this possibly be my last stop till the eventual rat race catches up with me?" I wonder if I should I just cut to the chase and end up in an easier place I’ve fixed for myself. Yet I’m back out again, regaining the hunger for doing my own thing and traveling to new countries while I still have a chance to see them. Then I wonder, "Am I just meant to stay put?" Time will surely have an answer for this too. For in the words of John Lennon: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

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Photo Credit: Tatjana Buisson