Chasing the Eclipse

Composite of different stages of totality.

In early august I dropped off my pup at a local boarding facility, which always breaks my heart, and headed to the airport. I was heading to Spain to eventually meet up with my family in order to celebrate my aunt’s 80th birthday and see the total eclipse.

A bit of quiet in the Chicago airport.

The airport in Chicago almost ended my trip. Four delays, two gate changes, and tons of screaming children everywhere I turned… for those that don’t know, I picked up a bit of a sensory issue as a parting gift from my last job, and every time I found a quite place it was soon invaded… noise canceling headphones could only do so much. But, I managed to not “pull chocks” and made it to my first destination of the trip.

Barcelona:

Barcelona is one of my favorite big cities in the world, and yes, it’s a short list. I only had a day and a half in the city before leaving to meet up with my family in Madrid.

You see, August is not the best time to visit Barcelona. It’s hot, humid, and most of the city is on vacation or shutdown for construction & maintenance. Thankfully I’ve visited several times, so with my limited time I only had one goal, food. And one of my favorite restaurants in the world, CalPep, was open for business only on the day I landed.

Abejar and Soria

After Barcelona I met up the my family in Madrid and we headed to our vacation rental in Abejar, a small town west of Soria. The purpose of this trip was to celebrate my aunt’s 80th birthday, which happened to coincide with the total eclipse.

We traveled around the area, ate heartily, drank lots of Rioja, and overall just enjoyed each others company as a family vacation.

But the highlight of the trip was seeing the total eclipse. In 2024 I had traveled to upstate New York to photograph the totality, but the clouds rolled in and it was fairly obscured. So getting to see it with clear blue skies, in Spain, right behind out vacation rental, was a wonderful experience. That same night was also the Perseids Meteor Shower, but only managed to catch two meteors on camera.

Overall it was a wonderful trip, and I am very glad that I got the chance to go, but it also made me realize some things that have changed for me with traveling as I get older.