Margarita Robles: Language Journeys

Photo by Gagah Rizki on Unsplash If you scroll through social media, it feels like everyone is on a perfect holiday. Blue skies, European cities, smiling families, sunset views. But our summer? It’s different. Not edited, not perfect — but full of small, real moments. I’m a single mom. I’m a teacher. I’m also an expat. That means summer isn’t just a break. It’s time to breathe again. For me, rest doesn’t mean planning another big adventure. It means silence, space, and doing… nothing for a while. Just a glass of prosecco, a bit of Baileys on the rocks (not an ad 😄), a series I love, and hugs from my daughter. That’s the summer I need. Here’s the thing: I love to travel. I really do. But I don’t love all the planning behind it. Packing, checking schedules, finding where to go, what to eat, and how to get there — it often means I’m back in “in charge” mode. And as a teacher and a mom, I spend the whole year organizing and thinking ahead. This summer, I just didn’t want that again. We’ve...

Photo by Howei Wang on Unsplash If you had told me 10 years ago that I’d be travelling by bus across Europe with 50 Czech teenagers, I would have laughed. Or cried. Or both. At my school, teachers were invited every year to create and propose student trips. It wasn’t my first year there — actually, it was my fourth (or third, if you skip the Covid year) — so I decided to give it a try. I asked a couple of colleagues I really get along with to join me, and weeks later, we handed our proposal to the principal. Destination: Barcelona. I truly believe you are never fully prepared. You try, you mess it up or learn, and then you try again. That was me. I wasn’t prepared to take almost 50 teenagers by bus to Spain. But from the beginning, I knew I wasn’t doing this alone. My team — Martin, Maxwell, and me — wasn’t just a team. We were also friends, and soon-to-be travel buddies. The travel agency was picked, the trip was approved, and the response from students exceeded expectations — our bus...