I Went Hiking at Las Cárcavas in Spain
I made so many new friends!
One of the main reasons I moved to Spain was to find my tribe—nomads my age who also loved the great outdoors. I knew it would be challenging to find that in the city, but I had high hopes. Madrid did not disappoint.
A few weeks before moving from Barcelona, I noticed a wide spread of green on the map north of Madrid. I learned then that Spain’s capital had a national park and a lot of other green spaces surrounding it.
It didn’t take me long to find a hiking group and sign up for my first hike. It’s one of the best decisions I made after coming to Madrid, though I likely won’t do it again anytime soon.
I’ll explain why!
I booked the hiking adventure on MeetUps.
I joined a MeetUp group and was one of only five people to RSVP for the hike. However, when we arrived, almost a hundred other people showed up. The two guides who organized the trip looked overwhelmed by our numbers.
I met some people while waiting for the logistics to be sorted and sat with them when we entered the bus. Our group of four stayed together for the most part. However, as our pace fluctuated throughout the hike, we broke up, rejoined other groups, and caught up with each other again.
It took two large buses to take us from the city into Patones, near Guadalajara. On the map above, it looks so far away, but it’s only 50 minutes by car. The buses took about 1.5 hours to get us there and then 2.5 hours on the way back because of other stops along the way.
The hike was an excellent way to make friends—especicially as we cheered each other on up the last difficult mile of the hike. It was entirely uphill.
Here are the photos from the trip.
I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here are some of the shots at Las Cárcavas—my first hiking trip in Spain:
Why I won’t do another of these anytime soon.
The short answer is that I don’t need to attend another big organized hike like this.
Paying for the guides, transportation, and food in the local town cost me about €70. I think it’s worth paying this when you don’t know how to get around and don’t know anyone. However, I made friends with a lot of other expats and some locals on this trip. We’re planning our own hike at a much more affordable cost.
The other reason is that quality is better than quantity when making new friends. This isn’t the only event I attended or made friends at lately. The first week I arrived, I went to a ladies-only paint and sip and met some amazing women my age from around the world. I went to a Christmas market with one of them this week and had a fabulous time.
Then, today, I met my Argentinan neighbor who lives almost one door away from me. We struck up a conversation after realizing we came off the elevator on the same floor.
Like I said, quality is more important than quantity. So now I’ll take time to get to know the people I’ve already met better. The upside to being stationary for the first time in my 30s is that I’ll have time to let those friendships marinate.
Next week, I’ll share the paint and sip with my subscribers—along with a look at my painting. There were several paintings that far surpassed mine and one that I loved best of all the ones we created.
I’ll also share my travel plans in Spain for the Christmas season. Here’s a hint: I won’t be spending it in Madrid or Barcelona.
See you then!