Personal Journey
My life in motion. Reflections, milestones, and honest updates as I build a new life abroad.
What you can expect here: Essays, personal check-ins, and the human side of studying and moving overseas.
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My life in motion. Reflections, milestones, and honest updates as I build a new life abroad.
What you can expect here: Essays, personal check-ins, and the human side of studying and moving overseas.
Sometimes the universe conspires in your favor in ways you could never orchestrate. My birthday this year didn't just fall on a day…it fell on the eve of San Sebastián's biggest celebration, the Tamborrada, gifting me a four-day weekend and a cascade of moments that reminded me exactly why I'm here.
I spent it wandering alone through morning streets, treating myself to an omakase dinner at Kai Sushi, sipping a mezcal martini at the legendary Dry Bar in Hotel Cristina (where staff surprised me with champagne and cake), meeting friends for craft beer at Baga Biga Faktoria, and walking home along the quiet Urumea River. When I arrived, a gift from friends back home waited on my doorstep, tangible proof that love travels across oceans.
This is the story of celebrating a birthday abroad: grateful and homesick, solo and surrounded, honoring both the life I chose and the people I miss. Because pursuing a master's degree in a foreign country means learning to hold contradictions, and finding beauty in both.
On a crisp evening by the river, the Christmas market felt like a temporary world made of lights, roasted chestnuts, cider, and music. I walked through it thinking about seasonality, comfort, belonging, and how food spaces can hold you when you are far from home.
What if graduate school weren’t only about a degree, but about transforming your life intentionally? This semester, I’m at the university in Spain studying gastronomy, but every course addresses something more profound: healing, justice, creativity, and care. From sensory perceptions to ethics of business, this is what I’m learning and why it’s transforming everything.
Yesterday was my first hard day abroad. Lonely, wobbly, human. Here’s what it felt like, what helped, and how I’m finding steadier ground.
I’m moving to Spain for a Master’s in Gastronomic Sciences. Mel in Motion is my honest record of food, culture, and slow courage.
This isn’t just a career change. It’s a healing process. Here’s why I chose gastronomy as my way forward. And why food is helping me build a life that finally feels like mine.
The best birthday gift I've ever given myself came served on a wooden counter, one deliberate piece at a time, in a small sushi bar in San Sebastián's Centro neighborhood. No fanfare. No crowd. Just me, a master chef, and the quiet celebration of choosing myself.
When my birthday arrived this year, I faced a question many of us encounter while living abroad: Do I wait for the "perfect" celebration, or do I honor myself exactly as I am, right now? I chose myself. And in doing so, I discovered that solo dining at Kai Sushi wasn't just dinner—it was an omakase experience in trust, presence, and radical self-love. Here's what happened when I sat at that sushi counter alone, surrendered to the chef's expertise, and learned that the most profound celebrations don't require an audience.
Celebrating my birthday alone with an omakase tasting menu at Kai Sushi in San Sebastián taught me that solo dining isn't lonely, it's radical self-care. A personal journey through Japanese-Basque fusion, mindful eating, and the transformative power of choosing yourself. Plus practical tips for your own solo dining experience.