This week had a diverse set of activity. We finalized our ACA health/dental insurance enrollment and made the initial payments on those (day 325). I worked with Claude Code to enhance and formalize my language training app (days 326-331). On the touristy side of things we took a walking tour of Barcelona (day 327). JC and I also established a new morning beach routine (days 328 and 329), and went out for drinks on Friday (day 329) and Saturday (day 330).

Travel Log: Day 325 (5/18), Spain

We resumed school today with just ten days left including today. After math I went to the gym for my first lifting day there. It was mostly good, just the usual gym issues with certain people being inconsiderate. One guy didn’t unload the leg press so it was unclear for about 20 minutes if he was using it. I eventually just took it over and unloaded it when I was done. I also took 10kg dumbbells from a clearly marked spot, and someone put heavy dumbbells back in their spot. Just annoying stuff like that, but the workout and equipment was good.

JC and I submitted the ACA health/dental insurance enrollment today. Everything was as expected; a coverage start date of 7/1, and we paid the first month as well as set up recurring payments with Kaiser. We’ll have to wait to hear from Delta Dental about setting up those payments.

I did minimal Spanish work today. Just one round of Duo, one video on Dreaming Spanish, and a full round of spanish-trainer. Besides that I took a nap, relaxed, and observed a lot of chi. JC and I went for a walk in the evening.

Travel Log: Day 326 (5/19), Spain

The gym was really busy today. I had to wait for a lot of things to open up, and in some cases like curls I just improvised and used the squat rack. Maybe there’s a better time of day to go.

After lunch we went to the beach. BC and I threw the football, and then we all walked along the shore. We saw a fully nude man walking around out there which was more revolting than I thought it would be. I’m not sure of his motivation for doing that so late in the evening, past useful tanning time. It gave the appearance of an attempt to shock everyone, and it certainly shocked AC.

After dinner I spent some time talking to Claude about spanish-trainer enhancements, as well as using that for a cover for the “are you looking for a job” question when we get back. We were originally planning on telling the truth to those who ask – that we have enough passive income to pay for our lifestyle. We are getting more uncomfortable with that though. As an alternative I’m exploring using the combo of paid subscription capability on my language app in combination with a tech consulting website as a cover for what I do. I don’t intend to make money from either venture, but I can honestly say those things provide enough money to support our lifestyle, which is $0.

Travel Log: day 327 (5/20), Spain

Today we went on a field trip and did a walking tour of Barcelona. We had to meet the tour group over at foot locker which is about 30 minutes from our Airbnb.

Our tour guide (Filipa) was great. She was really energetic, a good story teller, and very knowledgeable. We started by walking through the old part of the city, and then took the subway to the new part of the city. We saw a lot of great old structures from the days of Rome, as well as newer buildings by the few major famous architects working in the area in the early 20th century.

After all that walking we lounged around the condo until dinner time. We went out to eat at an Italian restaurant called “Buon Appetito”. The kids had pizza, I had a Calzone, and JC had ravioli. It was all very good, and all of the crusts on the pizza and calzone were soft and tasty. They also gave us free limoncello shots.

While we were at dinner someone from our insurance company called us. When we got home we called back but nobody answered and we left a message.

Travel Log: Day 328 (5/21), Spain

JC and I woke up pretty early, at least for our Spain schedule (around 9am). We decided to go check out the beach and get some early morning sun. It was great walking there; sidewalks not busy at all. The beach was also relatively empty. We made our way down the boardwalk over to the gym area, and we sat on the built-in seats and just people watched. It’s less weird than it sounds because the seats are 20-30 yards away from the gym. This might become a new morning routine.

The gym (my gym, not the beach gym) was really busy which was disappointing because I thought the traffic might die off later in the week like it typically does at every other gym I’ve been to.

We called AAA again and got a hold of the person who called us about our homeowners insurance. We explained we’re moving back into our house and that we’ll have a car purchase as well. She is having an agent contact us, and I’m not sure why she couldn’t just handle it. I’m excited to get these quotes to see how they fit our budget.

Travel Log: Day 329 (5/22), Spain

JC and I were up before 9am again today, so we had coffee and then went to the beach again. This time we walked on the sand toward the W hotel to the south. It was nice because we could dress for the beach and get a tan. As we walked we realized that was the area where all the nude people congregated, and morning was the time for that apparently. We saw a handful of fully nude dudes, a couple fully nude women, and many topless women.

This was our last full day of regular school. Next week starts the fun final week where there’s less academics and more entertainment.

The gym was full yet again, even after going an hour later than usual at 1:45pm. I was able to get through my workouts steadily though. When I went to do tricep extension, I had an awkward encounter with a couple dudes. I saw a guy who was using that walk away, so I went over to it. Just as a courtesy I asked the guy on an adjacent row machine if he was using it, and he said he was (all via motions). He said perro (but) and pointed to the opposite side. I said gracias and moved that pulley up to the top for the tri-rope and then walked across the room to get the rope.

When I came back another guy, again on the adjacent row moved it back down and indicated he was using it. I gave him the thumbs up. First guy then made a motion that made me think he was letting me work in. I went over and put down the rope with the intention of putting it away later. He was standing to the side as if it was my turn so I started adjusting the weight. Then he said something I didn’t fully catch, and came and grabbed the rope on the ground and motioned to follow him. He took me to a different side area that had two puly machines I could use. The whole situation was stressful and awkward, but the dudes were both really nice.

JC, BC and I went to the grocery store later in the evening. We got a lot of stuff and it was over $90, which is our typical run now. During checkout I had some spanish victories. I clearly heard the checker say “quieres una bolso” (do you want a bag), and I think I was so excited I understood it that I answered in english with a “no thank you”. Then she indicated there was an issue with the eggs, and she said “aberto”. I again was excited to understand and said “ah, they’re open”. At that point she tried english and said we could exchange. I went and grabbed another pack and that was that. I need to force myself to say Spanish words.

For FAC BC picked Captain America. Before that JC and I went to a bar just across the street toward the beach. It was a really fun bar with tons of people and a schedule of events. We’ll definitely head back there soon.

Travel Log: Day 330 (5/23), Spain

JC and I went running separately today. She ran outside at the park and I went to the gym. My run was a little better this week but I still ran at a very slow 9km/hr until the final half k when I turned it up to 10km/hr. I’m not sure if I’m really that much slower than I used to be when I ran on treadmills prior to the pandemic, or if it’s just treadmill differences. That was only six years ago and I was running at 7.5mph, but here I’m running at 9km/hr which is only 5.6 mph.

JC, BC, and I made a trip to the grocery store and got a lot of food. We are going through a lot it seems like, with a full two bag grocery run every few days which costs around $80 each time. It might make us happy to get back and pay US prices.

I worked with Claude for a couple hours getting changes ready to rebrand the spanish-trainer app to live at yesalittle.com. It’s already grown beyond Spanish only so the name no longer fits. The changes will include allowing speakers of other languages besides english to learn phrases in another language. This at least lays the groundwork to allow that.

JC and I went out to a beach bar which was fun. We had drinks and a few different tapas dishes. I got surprisingly hammered after a couple beers here and a few there. They were all pretty big though. I felt a little sick before bed, but only briefly.

Travel Log: Day 331 (5/24), Spain

I worked with Claude chat and Claude Code for several hours today getting the changes in place for yesalittle.com, and deployed the app live at that URL. The AI assisted development is such a crazy advantage for anyone wanting to build a product. I could have built this with my own brain and hands, typing the code manually, but it would have taken me a couple hundred hours across a couple months. With a $20/month subscription to Claude, I would estimate I spent about 25 hours of my time building it.

We all went to the beach today to get some sun, play football, and relax. Initially we started off going toward the quieter part of the beach, which is also right beside the nude area. The nudity was out of control this morning, and largely fully nude dudes. We pivoted and went back the opposite way towards the sports area with the gym, and we stayed there.

In the evening I worked on Spanish using my usual trio of Duo/Dreaming/Yesalittle. We watched half of a documentary about lions as a family.