Hello everyone!

It’s been quite some time since I’ve given an update on my whereabouts, so let’s get to it.

Summer is F I N A L L Y here! The U.S. celebrated summer solstice a couple days ago, and this evening is “Sant Joan” in Barcelona – the biggest, best celebration for summer. The night is filled with so many fun activities, people everywhere, bonfires at the beach and fireworks! The entire city of Barcelona stays up all night to welcome summer.

If you didn’t already know, I am back living in Barcelona for the summer to complete a marketing & PR internship before graduating from CSUSM in December with a degree that is quite the mouthful…

“Global Business Management and Marketing, with a minor in Psychology.”

The journey to find the best fit for an internship was quite the long haul, and I quite literally worked until the last hour before I chose the right one for me. I started searching in January, and by mid-March I was up every single night excitedly checking my emails at 3 in the morning with an overwhelming amount of positive responses.

If you know me well, you know I am the most indecisive person on earth, with the exception of my mom – T H A N K S mom for passing this wonderful trait down to me! So the more internship offers and opportunities I was given, the harder and harder the decision became for me to make…

I am F O R E V E R thankful for every single company I was in contact with and the patience they gave me throughout this experience. There were many tears of both excitement and frustration shed as I went through this process. But in the end, no one could make the final decision except for me.

When I mean the “last hour,” I truly mean it. It was the very tail-end of Spring semester, and I had already committed to one company in Barcelona for the summer. But God had a completely different plan for me, and the beautiful soul that is Emily entered my life and introduced me to her company F L Y L A N C E R. 

Flylancer is an amazing nonprofit for digital nomads, freelancers and remote workers all throughout the world – hosting networking events in cities such as Barcelona, London, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Milan, Budapest, Lyon, Bali, New York, Chicago, and Manchester.

My internship is filled with everything I could ever hope for – independence, challenges, innovation and creativity. I work in an amazing co-working space known as B E T A H A U S in the center of Gracia, my home neighborhood in Barcelona. I can already foresee that this experience will provide for me everything and more I could ever ask for in preparing for my future in the international business world.

So far I have been here for almost three weeks, and I have traveled to the beautiful Spanish Island of Mallorca, the Costa Brava, and have plans to venture out more into Porto, Portugal – Valencia, Spain – Budapest, Hungary – Prague, Czech Republic – and road trip through the entire southern coast of Spain with Claire in August.

I am happier than ever – living with my amazing family – Sofia, Cesar, Pau, and Olivia – who were gracious enough to welcome me back into their home as a part of their family for the summer. Wandering through the beautiful streets of Barcelona, spending days sunbathing at the beach, and traveling on the weekends to explore new corners of the world. God has blessed me more than I could ever imagine, and I cannot wait to watch the plans He has for me slowly unfold as I continue this journey through life.

One of my closest friends from last Spring comes to visit for the weekend this afternoon (Caroline!!!), I celebrate 23 years of life at the end of July, and Claire is coming to stay with me for my last two weeks in August to celebrate her golden “19th” birthday. Could life be any more beautiful? My O N L Y complaint is missing out on my adorable little munchkin Roan as he grows and changes S O much over the next couple of months.

Thanks Mom & Dad for having such beautiful little babies – Grace, Ella, and Roan – while I am traveling the world and pursuing my dreams and passions in my 20’s.

No matter where I am in the world, at the end of the day, I will A L W A Y S put family first.

Live Courageously & Adventure On! Xx

Besos,

Madeline Alice Johnson