This quote sums up my attitude about travel and life, in general.
Maybe I have this attitude because I had breast cancer in 2005 and thought my life was way more limited than I anticipated (I’ve been in remission for close to 13 years, yay!!)
I grew up in housing projects and low-income apartments. The furthest I traveled before the age of eighteen was three hours away to San Diego, California. But I read a lot of books as a kid and envisioned the places I read about: England, France, Spain.
I worked a lot, mothered three kids as a single mom, and had neither the money or energy to do any travel overseas except once and from then on I was bitten by the travel bug.
So I say all this because I’ve returned from traveling in Spain and Portugal.
These two places were on my bucket list because my DNA results listed these two areas in my ancestry.
I’m 51% Native American (North America which includes Mexico) with the rest Italian, Greek, and almost a quarter from the Iberian Penisula (Spain and Portugal).
It’ll sound strange, but when I traveled to Mexico, specifically the pyramids, I felt a tug in my heart as I stood on the pyramid of the sun. A lot of people may feel the same sensation after all the pyramids are a wonder, but besides the ‘tug’ I felt like I’d visited before, in another life and time.
When I travel, I’m sensitive to similar feelings. This emotional reaction, “I’ve been here before” has happened in Florence and Sienna, Italy, and in Lisbon, Portugal.
I don’t know what to make of this experience but I’m eager to travel to Greece now and see if I ‘feel’ anything.
I took tons of photos in Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona, Lisbon and share them on my Instagram account: m.alvaradofrazier . I have a link on the right-hand side of this blog. Let me know what you’ve been up too by following me and I can follow you back.
My summer travels are over and I’ve tried to get back to revisions on my novel. I find myself working around my daughter’s cat, Heidi, most mornings. (She missed me).
I hope you’ve been able to travel or enjoy your backyard this summer. I’d love to see pictures!
alvaradofrazier.com 
Sounds like you had a great trip, it’s wonderful when you make those emotional connections to places. I’m waiting for my DNA results at the moment so I’ll be interested to know if they have any similarity to some of the places I’ve been drawn to!
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I hope you blog the results!
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Hi nice to see you’re enjoying retirement.. had the same pull at the the pyramids, we must be related!! Keep writing..
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I’m glad to hear I’m not crazy about the “pull.” Thanks for stopping by!
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Always a pleasure to read your words. So much truth and light. Happy travels.
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Ah, yes, typing with cat. It’s harder to manage than predictive text. And honestly, talk about not understanding how a plot works–they’re hopeless.
On the other hand, not even the best writers I know have fur. Or can purr.
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Love your attitude about life in general, Mona. And Coehlo’s quote very much too. So happy that you enjoyed your trip this summer. Beautiful photos that you took. The bridge of course caught my eye. Was the architect who designed the Lisbon bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge Portuguese?
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The 25th of April Bridge (Lisbon) was constructed by some of the same group of architects and engineers for the SF Bridge (as I remember from the Hop On Hop Off audio tour). The group in Portugal used Portuguese engineers.
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Hello! I couldn’t agree more about your attitude towards life, especially the quote from the amazing Paulo Coelho. He is the author of one of my favorite books, The Alchemist. Either way, I enjoyed your post. I’ve been to both Portugal and Spain, and they are fascinating countries! Thank you for sharing!
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Your travels always impress me! I really enjoyed Gaudi’s creations when I was in Spain as well–so innovative!
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So envious. Portugal, (I am Luso-American) is at the top of my to-do list and I am determined to get there. THe last year I even think about moving there!
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Go soon before more tourists find out and start flocking to the place. My sister’s going in Oct and got a great deal. Since you’re Luso-Amer there’s a treasure trove of info for you to discover!
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Interesting how you feel that “tug.” I have often felt that in “spiritual” places across the globe. I know the feeling. Also, so inspired by all your traveling!
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Thanks, Tina! I’m hoping I can get to Greece too and see if the place pulls at me.
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