Today we’re dispensing with the facts. Spain is a country I feel I should know far better than I do. It was the place I took my first ever independent holiday as a teenager. Seven days in the sun in the garish resort town of Benedorm. It was messy.

I returned to Spain again two years later to visit Ibiza. It was a relaxing if not spectacular trip with an ex. We stayed in the family orientated town of Santa Eulària and mostly sat on the beach. Don’t most people go to Ibiza for the clubbing? I suppose I hadn’t yet figured out what kind of travel, or men suited me. 

The third and most recent I’ve visited Spain was back in 2016. Madrid was the perfect starting point for our sabbatical that kicked off properly in Cuba. Two nights of late-summer Madrid was wonderful, but sadly probably constitutes as my only real experience of Spain. We ate our way around Madrid taking in its sights and atmosphere. We just weren’t there for long enough to truly get the feel of the place.

This brings us back to the present. I’m hoping to visit Spain again next month. Provided travel is still possible in August - this time I’m hoping to really get to know Spain. The rough plan in my head is to start in Valencia (I’ve heard it likened to a less touristy Barcelona), and then head out on a mostly unplanned road trip north. Maybe we’ll stop off at a few coastal towns for some beaches before heading north. We may even have time to take in a little of the Pyrenees before ending up in San Sebastian or Bilbao. I’ll let you know how it goes.