Where are the Eggs?
Where are the Eggs?
I didn't walk into the store expecting a new world view...
July 20th, 2023: Hey there! Long time no write. On June 27th, I flew back from Rome to Colorado after booking my return ticket only one week in advance. I’ve recently updated my blog name to “Strong Convictions, Loosely Held.” To find out why, visit here.
I also got a job working in sales at Vuori clothing in Park Meadows. If you read till the end on my “Start Here” page, I might have something special for you :)
One final comment on Europe: what a different world it is over there. This solo trip changed my life, and I definitely plan to make world travel a more regular part of my life.
That said, Colorado sunsets are still a breed of their own:
Happy Sunday!
I’m experimenting with a new format on this newsletter.
If you’re a subscriber, you’ll see two posts per week:
Thursday: a longer-form article
Sunday: a short story + any tidbits or life updates
Now, let’s jump back in time to my first week ever in Europe.
Where are the Eggs? 🍳
April 8th, 2023. Sevilla, Spain.
On April 9th, I walked into my first Spanish grocery store.
Although I was looking for eggs, I never expected to leave the store with a new worldview.
Flashback to earlier that morning.
After waking up in my first hostel ever, I met two Chilean guys cooking eggs for breakfast.
I never cooked in a hostel before, but eggs for breakfast seemed tasty.
You see, I’d been traveling for the last 48 hours straight and was craving a real breakfast.
So I take a quick walk to a local supermarket.
The second I stepped into the store, I became a kid again.
It was a food store, but everything was different. Milk wasn’t refrigerated. Pig legs were casually hanging in the deli. Everything was in Spanish.
But you know what the weirdest part was?
I couldn’t find any eggs.
I searched all of the fridges and even freezers just in case. But nothing.
I made a few deliberate laps around this mini grocery store with no success.
At this point, I’m hungry and am scrambling for breakfast.
I realized that they must not have eggs in stock.
But then I see it.
The eggs were sitting next to the pig legs in plain sight:
My first thought: these aren’t in the fridge, what the absolute fuck.
I wonder if these are safe to eat.
Out of safety, I only buy a six pack.
They ended up tasting fantastic. I had no digestion issues.
This story has nothing to do with eggs.
It has everything to do with beliefs.
You see, because I was looking for eggs in the fridge, I was blind to the eggs on the shelf. I walked past them three times as I did laps around the grocery store.
Even though they were in pink, highly visible cartons.
I wouldn’t realize it until I reflected on it further, but this shopping experience changed my worldview.
I realized that there’s more than one way to do things.
The more time I spent in Europe, the more novel ideas I got exposed to.
Eventually, a phrase popped in my head:
It’s not right or wrong. It’s just different.
This story exhibits the value of not just travel but constantly exposing yourself to new ideas.
If you don’t expose yourself to new ideas, you might be blind to beliefs you have that might not even be your own.
Beliefs that you’ve internalized from society, your peers, or your parents.
Entrepreneur Alex Hormozi calls these “unknown unknowns.”
For example, America, on some level, creates the impression that world travel is expensive. I always used to think that I would travel in my 30s after I saved a lot of money.
But after reading Vagabonding by Rolf Potts, I changed my mind.
In Western Europe I was living on under $50 a day. Compared to Eastern Europe or Asia, even that’s expensive.
This might sound overly simplistic.
But think about all those things you have that you don’t really use or need.
What if you saved that money for life-changing experiences?
Let’s just take Netflix for example. A subscription for one person is $15.49 per month, which totals to around $186 dollars per year. That right there is around three or four days worth of world travel somewhere.
This might even come off as ignorant or naive, and I get that. I live at home and am super fortunate that I don’t need to pay rent at the moment.
Still, I’m just putting this idea out there.
It’s not right or wrong. It’s just a different way of looking at things.
There’s a quote from Denzel Washington that sums up this idea perfectly:
“You will never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.”
Think about that.
You can’t take anything with you when your time is up. So why not invest in experiences when you have the health and time in your youth?
Just ponder it.
Lastly, as I finish writing this piece, I can’t help but ask myself:
If I couldn’t find eggs in an obvious pink carton, what else am I blind to in my own psychology and beliefs?
Here’s to discovering those unknowns,
- BB
PS: I’m experimenting more with this story form of writing. I’d love to hear your feedback on today’s post. I hope this was worth a read on your Sunday, but if not, that’s my ultimate goal :)
If you liked this, you’ll enjoy my daily short-form writing on Twitter. It’s where I share most of my ideas, stories, and thoughts.