I spend a lot of time wishing I was where I’ve been, and longing to travel again. Every time I pick someone up from the airport I imagine I’m back in Malta, about to take off on another weekend trip.

I want my intentions of travel to be about really absorbing culture, not just for the sake of taking pictures at all of the biggest tourist spots. I have been to many places, but many of my trips were not long enough to really know its people: their culture, their history, their struggles, their pride, their way of life.

I want to travel as if social media doesn’t exist, as if there’s no one to brag to about where you’ve been or what you’ve seen. (Traveling is a matter of will, yes, but also to a certain extent a blessing. And it’s damn expensive.) Since there is social media, I want it to be used as a tool to spread not only the beauty of what I’ve seen, but the beauty of what I’ve learned.

I want to travel purely for the sake of broadening my perspective. Really absorbing, really striving to understand and be more open-minded of all that lives outside of your own bubble allows you to gain a better understanding of people in general. Even yourself.

Today’s Wanderlust Wednesday: Vibrant Barcelona. The city — through its people, its architecture, its food, its language — tells a story.