Growing Wings

It's finally finally here! After months of waiting and frustration the universe is done playing games with me (I mean "teaching me lessons", at least for the moment). Wednesday morning a midst a self taught yoga session I got a call. "Your visa has been approved-" YEESSSSSS!!! It felt like the first time I found out I was going to Spain or when I heard from my host family. The same scream/dance/running around like a crazy person, soon followed.


Instead of a visa pic (personal info sharing is a no-no) Here's a snap of some Tanika originals, painted for Spain.

 I was trying to stay positive but in all honesty, it stopped feeling real. Every time I mentioned "Spain" my voice got quieter, more like "Spaainn....?" But now I can shout it, full volume, on the tops of buildings or just in my house as I dance to my ever-growing "Vamos A España" playlist.


The view from the parking garage where I was shouting "I'm going to Spain!!"

 90% Chance of A Packing Storm

I have been packing.. somewhat. It's been a strategic 3,2,1 process. Pack 3 things, take 2 out, waste 1 hour on Pinterest. Repeat. My flight ticket was booked before I even had half a suitcase full. For anyone who doesn't know me I am quite the unorganized and messy living person. Needless to say the past few days have been a frenzy of flying clothes and list on lists. But the terrifying task of packing an entire life into two, under fifty pound suitcases is slowly zipping up, cased closed (pun always intended!)

Before and After the storm, completely wiped out. Never again will it be this clean.

I Got Spain on the Brain!

Like I said, lately Spain has felt very far away, was I ever going? So my usual Flamenco dancing, Spanish book reading had slowed. After holding that visa, it's amped up to 500 watts of Sonríe(Smile)!! I'm breezing through "Bajo la Misma Estrea" (Spanish translation of the Fault in Our Stars) and keep my little homemade Diccionario for words that trip me up. I now have 101.1 LA MEGA MEXCLA and 104.9 TU MUSICA blasting at all times. I kid you not, my sing-a-long attempts are to die for. I would post a video but never at the wheel (safety first kids!)

Some kids made pillows, others brought tshirts. I made name tags with some character!

Never Goodbyes

Now I'm driving with mom to Dallas, on my way to catch wings into a new life. My sister was surprisingly sentimental with the most amazing goodbye movie with our memories. I was tearing up, just like my crazy emotional mother. It was my Dad that gave me the hardest goodbye with a hug so squeezable, the kind that used to make me squirm, but this time I wanted to stay in that hug forever.

Saying goodbye to my new favorite supermarket!

Tomorrow will be the last day in the States for a year and the most daunting of all goodbyes. My mom's. We're both big mush balls so I've packed plenty of tissues and a pair of sunglasses. I'll try to post tomorrow during my layover. Assuming my words are blurred by salty tears. It's all a part of the journey, letting go to grab hold of something new. Somewhere in between I'll learn to grow wings!

World Traveler Edition 1

Travel Journalism

I have always wanted to make one of these. Pinterest, instagram, travel blogs galore are flooded with these homemade journals. They outline people's amazing travel experiences in ticket stubs, post cards, used napkins and the good ole' "Dear Journal". So I thought heck I'm going to Spain that should be enough adventure to earn a book! And I began. Like this blog it has been really hard coming up with ideas, do I write in it? draw in it? put chewed up gum in it? Yeah I found this on a Barcelona street bench woo hoo! Of all the internet trolling I had done, the advice that stuck with me the most was, make it memorable, make it worth it, make it yours. And I am so ashamed that I can't remember where I found these good words, but they definitely set me on the right track. With a few trial pages I started to get a feel for what I wanted this mixed-up-journal-sketch-scrap-book to be. So here I give you the early beginnings of "World Traveler" (Or Welcome To the Wild Mind of Tanika Santos.. the first one just seemed more professional).

Practice Page 1 : A Messy Mix Up

With this first page I just let myself junk it up and hope for some artistic inspiration to sweep up the mess. Well I did manage to junk it up. My "Pocket of Positivity" holds the secrets to happiness- kinda. I filled it will inspirational quotes about travel :D love <3 and life * (that's my figurative sun). The rest was a process of writing prettily, tearing it up and gluing it back together (another figurative image of life ;)) I'm so good at the figurative thing I even managed to give a ROLO's wrapper meaning :

Memories are like Rolo's.

We savor them.

Absorbing as much feeling, 

until it melts away.

But even when it's gone, 

the sweetness still lingers.

Flipping poetry, I know! haha only kidding :) Despite a messy beginning as I always seem to have, this page sparked some ideas for more pages to come. 

Page 2 (featuring the sweet notes from Breaking Down The Walls 2013)

This page got my juices flowing a little more. That morning I received as always a pile of college pamphlets and letters STUDY WITH US! Your future is calling! WE HAVE PAINTBALL!!! One did manage to catch my eye, not for the "bright future I had on their campus" but for the four simple words Your Journey Begins Here. It seemed like "here" meant the kitchen counter I was sitting on at the moment, here meant the anxiousness of waiting to receive my host family, here meant now. The picture, Our students travel to 32 different countries on semester long exchanges. Kaitlyn, 19 taking in the beautiful view of South Africa. They really were talking to me.

Pages in the middle : Doodles and Such

With these pages I found myself sitting outside and thinking without thinking. Some call it meditation, but really I just sit outside and occasionally draw stuff, or write stuff or shout at annoying geese. (No peaceful meditaty would shout at birds).

Page 8 : The Real Traveler Stuff

 I love these pages because they just look nice! I started on the left by drawing Spain so I could have an idea of where the cities were. (Not perfectly to scale but pretty snazzy huh?) I did some girlish travel doodles and left space thinking I'd fill it with actual travel stories. But then I got too excited! I have many lists, bucket lists, travel lists, travel-bucket lists (My favorite!) so I added some of them instead. Hopefully this will be a checked page by the end of the year because I know it'll be all checks before I kick it.

My

Pamplona 

Pages

I will have many more of these to come. They mostly outline my excitement for Spain, the city and my new life, even with some fears (shhhhh)

So that's what I've got so far. My journal is like me, an open book (there I go again with the figurative language) Hope you liked the little trip into my "Semi-artsy-definitely-crazy-mind"

See You Soon!