Globetrotters Writer Spotlight — Jason Newton
Travelling the world while living in Granada in Spain
Hi Globetrotters. My name is Jason.
I love to travel because I’m curious about experiencing other people, places and cultures, but primarily because it somehow feeds my soul.
But you don’t even have to go too far to ‘travel’.
I find that walking to my favourite local place for coffee is not only a necessary morning function but also a wonderful thing to do and even something that can give you new insights into people and sometimes, what it is to be human.
My number one travel activity Walking around and bumping into a bar, place, food or person that makes you feel happy. And that has meant many things but often ends up with me chatting to someone I’ve just met over a coffee or food in my latest favourite place such as Bar Alberto in Madrid.
I come from a small town near London, England. After living for 20 years in London, including a two-year stint in the north of Italy, my wife and I decided that it was time for a change, so we moved to Granada in Spain in 2014, and this very week (3 Jan 2024) we celebrate our 10th anniversary here!
I work as a CV/resume writer. This was something that I started as Covid hit and almost four years later, I still enjoy helping people move forward with their professional lives. Until then I had been an English teacher as many native speakers do when they live in a foreign country.
The best place I’ve been is Japan. We went on a two-week trip in 2013 and it is easily the weirdest, most wonderful and most beautiful place that I have ever visited. Tokyo is certainly full of all the futuristic stereotypes, but as a whole, I loved the beauty and tranquility that somehow exists alongside all the chaos of uber-modernity. I can’t wait to go back one day.
In my spare time, I like to write songs, record and release albums and give tapas tours to tourists in Granada, all of which combine my love for music, food and showing people around my adopted hometown.
My top travel tip A combination of preparation and leaving it down to fate. Part of my travel experience before we go is putting together a list of places to see, not just the standard sights.
But I try not to be driven by the list. Whether we go to places on the list or not, I like to think that fate brought me there that day.
We came across one of my favourite bars (Ae Forcoe) in Venice because we had to dash inside the nearest door after getting caught in a thunderstorm.
If I could live somewhere else, I’d live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I haven’t been yet, but it has always fascinated me as it’s far away (for me in Europe) and is an interesting mix of Hispanic and Italian cultures. And what’s not to like about a place with tango, wonderful food and beautiful-sounding Italian-esque Spanish? Having said that, after several years of living in the south of Spain, I don’t ever see us leaving here as we love it so much.
My favorite way to travel As many people have said elsewhere, slowly and as intentionally as possible. I don’t like rushing anymore. Fortunately, living in the south of Spain, it’s kind of in the local blood.
Three lessons I’ve learned from travelling (and living in a foreign country):
- be grateful that you can indeed travel
- everybody may initially be different, but very soon, you see that people across the world are, if not the same, very similar
- sitting down to have a drink, enjoy the sunshine and appreciate the moment on your own or with someone else is often the most important ‘sight’ to see
Thanks for reading. See you in Medium-world!