Ep 129 - Because Sometimes You Need to Cross an Ocean to Remember What Matters

About this episode

Dawn shares her experiences of slow travel in Barcelona while Ruth reflects on the creative process through personal heartbreak.

Dawn's calling in from Barcelona, where she's living the slow travel dream with her young daughter through a nearly free apartment swap. They're doing neighborhood life, playgrounds, homeschooling, and Dawn's managing remote work across a six-hour time difference. Dawn shares Barcelona gems: the 1992 Olympics legacy, imported Egyptian sand for the beaches, Gaudí's unfinished World Heritage basilica that's still under construction, intense regional pride and dialect, a youth soccer system that puts American sports parents to shame, and Mount Tibidabo's real-life connection to Friends (yes, really). But then Ruth shares something vulnerable: a six-to-eight-week relationship that ended abruptly after her birthday. During that season, she created almost nothing. Then afterward? She wrote prolifically, turning that experience into something beautiful. This becomes the heart of their conversation: seasonality in creativity. Sometimes you're in Barcelona discovering joy in slow mornings and new neighborhoods. Sometimes you're processing heartbreak and can barely write a grocery list. Both seasons matter. Both serve the creative process. They talk about making room for joy, trusting that…

People in this episode

Host: Ruth Hetland

Guest: Dawn Trautman

Topics covered

• creativity
• seasonality
• travel
• personal growth
• heartbreak
• remote work

Keywords

• Barcelona
• creativity
• heartbreak
• remote work
• travel
• personal growth

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Gaudí's unfinished World Heritage basilica

Places: Barcelona, Mount Tibidabo

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