I am spending now about 10 days here in Girona. We are here for road cycling but also for a creative photo project of my partner. So we are meeting all kind of different people…young, local, international, black, trained, untrained, and so on.
First thing to experience: We have not met any unfriendly people, no matter where they come from or how old they are. It is a community of smiling and energetic people who are enjoying being here.
When you talk to the people, it becomes obvious that there is one common and driving factor for them. They want to live a life for the living and not for working.
Some of them had jobs like lawyer, consultant or sales in the past, but they decided that this isn’t the way they want to spend their lives, so they looked for alternatives and found a place like Girona. Others have decided right from the beginning, that they don’t want to get a “normal, regular” job. From the start of their working live they decided to have a job, that give them salary, but the focus is living their life. One has a 3-4 day job and when I asked what he is doing apart from that, he looked at me and said “I am living my life and do what I want to do”. Which is either travel or sport or learning or…
The city has an energy like this. People are rather friendly and open to help. With a focus to enjoy what they do. I haven’t met one person (yet), telling me that they are frustrated with their work. I am sure that exists, but it seems to be much less than in places I travelled or lived before.
And this is across ages – really young people, people in the 30ies, 40ies, 50ies or older. Last evening we talked to a waiter in a bar who looked a bit like Pep Guardiola, the football coach. So we told him. He smiled and told us that he is a big fan of Barcelona and he has season ticket in the Camp Nou – the famous stadium of Barcelona. So we asked him why he was doing this waiters job in Girona. He smiled again. The hectic and stress in Barcelona during the week was not good for him. Girona is a place where he knows everybody and everything is within a 10 min walk – all relaxed. And during the weekends he is going to Barcelona to have the social connects with his friends and family there. He came across relaxed and aware.
This place seems to have something, that attracts people who wants to focus on living a good life. And to do that, they have to do some work, but they don’t need to work night and day. Took me nearly my entire life to understand that…
