Wild Swans and a trip to where they came from.
I read the book Wild Swans by Jung Chang during my very first trip to Spain. Though I had been abroad before (most of my family lives in England and I had visited there throughout my childhood) Spain was different. I was intimated by the language barrier and cultural unfamiliarity. I shied away from speaking with locals even though I had a few years of Spanish under my belt. I comforted myself with croissants and wine, focused on climbing, and stuck my nose in my book to deal with discomfort.
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