SAWUSA’s Tour Coordinator Mike Spinner takes you behind the scenes as he spends two weeks in Europe with both the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup and Portugal Basketball Festival tours.
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Blog #7 - July 1, 2024
Greetings from … Connecticut!
I’ve been home for a couple of days now, but managing two tours (well, a tour and a half) was pretty exhausting. Here we are, Monday afternoon, and I am finally energized enough to get the saddle warmed up as we begin our push for the Summer of 2025!
But, before we look ahead, I wanted to take some time to reflect on my 2024 travel experience.
September 1 will mark two years since I joined the team at SAWUSA, which is hard to fathom, considering that I remember my interview like it was yesterday. To mark two years, I want to start off by offering my most heartfelt apologies to Tim Ryerson at SAWUSA:
Tim, it took me two years, and I finally understand my own job. Seriously. I am so sorry it took this long!
As my loyal blog-readers and video-watchers know, my 2023 experience at United World Games changed my life. That tour was amazing. I’d do it again tomorrow. To be honest, I really want to go back at the next possible chance. And, my same loyal followers can attest to the fact that I absolutely LOVED my time in Spain and Portugal in 2024. I miss it. I want to go back. I kind of hate Connecticut right now, simply because it is not Spain and Portugal. I miss my new friends there. I miss the families I bonded with during my two weeks there. I miss the beaches and the food. I just really loved it there, and want to go back. Right now!
But, between my United World Games tour in 2023 and my Spain/Portugal tours in 2024, something changed. Between the tours, I put a lot of thought into my position at SAWUSA, our tours, my role, etc., and during my time in Europe this year, I took a moment to kind of take it all in, and for the first time, I feel like I really understand what I do.
The biggest difference for me this year was that I had the chance to coach my sport during the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup. Our SAWUSA Girls’ lacrosse team was just an awesome group. Super young, but very talented, hard-working, and holy smokes were they coachable. So, while I was running the tour as a whole, I also got to compete a bit, and it was so much fun!
But, there was a moment that really made me think about things. The day before the Lisboa Cup started, we scrimmaged the Portuguese National Team, the same team we were going to open pool play against the next day. Leading up to the scrimmage, we had a long walk around Lisbon, that wasn’t easy. So, I kind of knew we would be a little tired, and probably a bit nervous heading into the scrimmage.
I recorded a video during warm-ups, and I don’t know if you could see it in the video, but man, I was really nervous. One of my dreams as a lacrosse coach was to coach internationally, like head coach for a national team. I never got to that height, but I knew at Lisboa that I would have an opportunity to at least go against a couple of national teams, and was just so excited for the opportunity. But, knowing my team was young and new to each other, knowing we were all a little bit tired, and just seeing the international game for the first time, I figured we’d be hurt by our own nerves during the scrimmage.
Nope.
We not only tied the Portuguese team during the scrimmage, but less than 24 hours later, we beat that same team to open the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup. We advanced all the way to the semifinals of the tournament, and our only losses were to either a current NCAA Division I college team, and the Italian National Team. How awesome was that! And, along the way, thanks to the festival-like nature of the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup, we had lacrosse players from five different countries play for us at one point or another, and our team members played for three other countries.
The Lisboa Lacrosse Cup was not a tournament, as much as it was a lacrosse experience. We played hard, battled, competed, and won some games. But, that was not the point. The point was that our lacrosse players had the experience of a lifetime. And, on top of that, the non-sporting experiences we enjoyed were just incredible. I’ll be honest, I thought Seville was one of the most amazing cities I’ve ever seen. But, then I toured Lisbon, and loved that even more. But, nothing beat Sintra. My goodness … I LOVED Sintra. And, we stayed near some amazing beaches in these incredible towns. The food was fantastic. The people were wonderful.
I could go on and on forever. At the end of the day, it was two of the best weeks of my life.
But, I also learned so much. Not about ‘the’ world, but about ‘my’ world. Rewind to United World Games 2023. It was my first tour, and my first time visiting Europe. And, I worried about EVERYTHING. If the food wasn’t hot enough, I texted Tim. If the air conditioning wasn’t cold enough, I texted Tim. If the shuttle buses around Klagenfurt were overcrowded, and we were running late, I texted Tim. I was worried that the sun was going to rise too late. I was so worried about every little detail, that – as much as I loved the tour – I was always so on edge that I never really understood the tour. I managed things, but I don’t think I ever really experienced what we had to offer.
Lisboa 2024 was a different experience. Of course, I wanted everything to go right. But, it’s international travel. Not everything can always go right. I worked as hard as I possibly could to make sure it all went right. But, I didn’t worry about it. I went with the flow, did everything I could to show our travelers a good time, and honestly, I think the tours were awesome.
That moment when I was so nervous that my team would falter against the Portuguese National team really changed me. Sure, they could have blown us off the field. But, did it really matter? We were in Portugal, staying in a hotel that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. The weather was perfect. And, we were all wearing red, white, and blue, competing internationally (if you haven’t seen my coaching attire for the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup, you might want to check it out!). We all made new and amazing friends. We ate really well. And, we had a lot of fun.
That, my friends, is what really matters. That’s why we have SAWUSA. It’s why we do our tours. Sure, we want to win. We want to go undefeated. But, if we do this right, 20 years from now, our travelers won’t remember the scoreboard the way they will remember the experiences, and the people.
Two years later, I finally understand this. It took my trip to Spain and Portugal for me to realize it, but here I am. The good news is that my career probably has 20 years remaining. I hope they’re all with SAWUSA. That means 20 more tours to lead, and hopefully 20,000 travelers lives to change.
So, Tim, I am finally ready to be really great at this job. For 2025, I am going to work my hardest to bring as many families on our tours, show them the time of their lives, give them the most amazing experience, ever, and provide that incredible moment where they represent their country in an international sport competition that will change their lives. I won’t say that I am not going to worry about the details. Part of my job is very much to worry about the details. But, I am going to just enjoy the music, so to speak, and not worry if my seats are any good.
So, I am a different person than I was two weeks ago. And, I am so thankful for it. Spain and Portugal … it was awesome to meet you. I will be back one day. Who knows, maybe even next year. My 2025 tour destination will become official sometime this fall. But, what is most important is that if you are looking to travel with us for 2025, I have so many stories to tell you. So much information to share. And, so much advice as to how to have the time of your life … without worrying about anything. As I learned first hand, there really is nothing to worry about when it comes to our tours. Whatever it is … we have it covered!
To close out this experience, I just want to say thank you. To our coaches, travelers, friends, tour managers, bus drivers, hotel staff, and everybody who worked so hard to make our European tours successful … thank you! It was an experience I will never forget.
Around 50 weeks from now, I’ll probably be boarding a plane for my next SAWUSA adventure. I cannot wait to see you there! In the meantime, it’s time to get to work to make 2025 our best year, ever!
Blog #6 - June 26, 2024
Hola Mi Amigos!
Been a little bit busy these last couple of days, so I have not had a chance to write, but it’s 1:00 AM here in Spain, we have an early day tomorrow, but I wanted to spend a few minutes keeping you up to date with regards to our Portugal Basketball Festival.
So far … it’s been amazing! I literally escorted the last of our travelers heading home from the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup tour to security, and my phone pinged that the Portugal Basketball Festival plane had landed. My hope was that I’d have a half hour to sit and grab a coffee, but it was not meant to be. As soon as one tour ended, the next began. And, we got right into it, heading into Spain for our trip to what has become one of my favorite areas of the world. The opening BBQ was as amazing as it was for our lacrosse travelers, and I had the advantage of having just done this tour, so we got everybody off to a smooth start.
By the way, for travelers for both tours … that awesome red dipping sauce they served at the BBQ is called Canary Island Hot Sauce, even though it is not particularly spicy.
After a much needed sleep, we awoke early and spent the day in Seville, and the weather was perfect! Everybody seemed to love the tour. I decided to go off on my own, and cross an item off of the bucket list, as I visited Real Alcazar in Seville, one of the most famous landmarks in all of Spain, and site of the Kingdom of Dorne if you are a crazy Game of Thrones fan like I am. I spent nearly 90 minutes exploring the palace, and it was worth it. Alcazar may have been my favorite stop on this entire tour.
What I liked most about the day was walking around the cafes, and seeing our travelers enjoying new foods. There is a NY style pizza place right next to the cathedral, and a Taco Bell and McDonald’s not too far away, and our travelers did the right thing, and ate local food. I heard only good things! If you ask me, that’s the key to a good tour. Forget about your comfort zone. Dig in and become a local for a few days. That’s how a SAWUSA tour changes your life! And I think our basketball group has embraced this.
Today also featured our first basketball practices, and I really think we have some good teams here. Great coaches, too! Marvin Johnson, Ray Maurice Edwards, and Chris Hamilton have been with us before, and really know what they’re doing. I am very confident we’re going to be great at the Portugal Basketball Festival.
Tonight’s dinner was the best meal we’ve had since I arrived for the beginning of the lacrosse tour. Just awesome!
My early impression for this tour is that we have an awesome group of kids and families. Because I am not coaching, I have had a lot more free time to mingle with our families, and I love them so far. This is going to be a spectacular tour!
Tomorrow, we have our zipline excursion, but with a twist. We’re going to start on the Portugal side, ferry our participants to the Spain side, and they’ll zip back. The Portugal side is supposed to have an awesome little town, so I am really excited to see it! We also have basketball scrimmages tomorrow, and I am really excited to see us in action. For those of you who enjoyed my coaching outfit for the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup … I am breaking it out one more time!
Tomorrow is also my last day on this tour, as I head back home on Friday. It is very bittersweet. I’m pretty sure this has been the best couple of weeks of my life. I loved everything about the United World Games a year ago. But, it was all so new, so nerve-wracking, and almost raw. This time around, I kind of knew what to expect, and was able to just relax, and enhance the fun. I’ve loved it. This experience has changed my life for the better. I cannot wait to build our 2025 tours, and I really can’t wait to find out where I will travel next year.
For now, looking forward to an awesome final day in Spain and Portugal tomorrow! Buenos Noches!
Blog #5 - June 23, 2024
Hi everybody!
Another amazing day in paradise, better known as Costa de Caparica, Portugal! The weather is beautiful, the beach (literally across the street from our hotel) is absolutely amazing, and downtown Caparica is abuzz with restaurants and cafes that are all just amazing.
From the standpoint of business, the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup came to an end today. Our men lost a close one to a team from Madrid, before notching their first win of the tournament, a 3-2 triumph over York (England) to avenge an earlier defeat. Our men’s team battled through a LOT of close lacrosse games throughout the tournament, winning once and tying three times, with a couple of close losses mixed in there. While their record did not quite show it, our team went up against some really good teams, and battled. Another goal here and there, and we finish with 4-5 wins. I think our team was as good as pretty much everybody there, and I was thrilled to watch how hard they played.
I was certainly proud of this group. Awesome kids and families, and a great team vibe around them. Ending on a positive note was an awesome experience.
Our women’s team finished in fourth place with a loss to the Italian National Team in the consolation game, an Italian team that featured several current and former Division I players. It was a battle, but Team Italy was super fast, and really good. I could not help but be unbelievably proud of this team. We have a few players who have yet to play a moment of High School Lacrosse, and they were out there battling with athletes who have ended their Division I careers, and making plays.
This team was awesome at LLC. A joy to coach. As I wrote yesterday, coaching at this event was a dream come true for me. This team made it happen, and I am eternally thankful to them for it.
With lacrosse ending early in the day, we were given the chance to experience all that Caparica has to offer, and I have to say, it was a pretty amazing day. This is a really neat beachfront town with a million shops and restaurants. For lunch today, I had a Portuguese spin on chicken fajitas, and it was awesome! From the look of things, most of our travelers hit the beach … a very good call!
Tomorrow, we visit Sintra and Belem for our final day on the tour, which I am super excited about. We’re taking a big walk into history there, and I expect to see some of the most awesome sites my eyes have ever seen. Can’t wait to share it all with you!
Time for dinner (8:00 PM – a uniquely Spanish/Portuguese tradition) … until tomorrow!!
Blog #4 - June 22, 2024
Greetings from Caparica, an unbelievably beautiful part of Portugal, where our families are resting up after a long day on the ‘lacrosse pitch.’ Day one of the 2024 Lisboa Lacrosse Cup is behind us, and what a day it was!
After attending thousands of lacrosse events during my lifetime, I have to say that LLC was the most unique one I’ve ever been a part of. Between a number of different countries sending teams, the unique playing rules, some interesting strategies, and the atmosphere, this was just an amazing day of lacrosse. Tiring, but amazing.
Our teams did a fantastic job! Our men’s team finished the day 0-2-3, but most of the games were battles. When you have three ties in one day, it means you’re that close to being one of the best teams in the tournament, and I thought our men really held their own against some incredibly stiff competition.
The women’s team that I was so proud to coach enjoyed quite a run, and the end of a run, at the same time. We entered play by far the youngest team in the event, but won three pool play games to reach the LLC semifinals, falling to NCAA Division I Xavier University. In fact, our only losses the entire day were to Xavier. Considering our youth (our team is all High School aged players), we played fantastic lacrosse. We beat the same Portuguese National team we tied in a scrimmage on Friday, and then beat teams from England and Norway. Both games against Xavier were battles. They were clearly the better team, but let’s call a spade a spade, Xavier plays in the Big East. They play together all year round. They ran their set plays, and played their best players … and we were in both games. I may have only coached this team for a few days, but man was I proud! Judging by the reaction of the Xavier team after our semifinal loss, we gained some real respect there.
Tomorrow, we play in the third place game. Sadly, this is the first time in five years that SAWUSA is not in the championship game on the women’s side at LLC. It was time for us to share. But, considering our youth and the level of competition we faced, this was a really good day. I am so proud of this team!
My most prevalent thought about LLC has nothing to do with the games and scores. Of course, I would loved for both teams to compete for championships and win tomorrow. I’ve grown to love coaching my particular team during a very short period of time.
But, LLC, like our other touring competitions, was more than just a tournament. One challenge both teams had to overcome was that both teams needed more field players to have the depth to compete, and both teams had a surplus of goalies. So, what did we do? We grabbed players from other teams, and worked out deals with our goalies.
From my team, our three amazing goalies played all of the games for the Portuguese National team, and for a British club team. They even played for those teams against our team. While that was happening, we brought in field players from the British team and Team Italy, as well as a German lacrosse player, who came to LLC as a free agent. Some of our field players also played for Team Italy for one of their games … just for fun.
The result was a cultural exchange opportunity that was among the cooler experiences of my coaching career. We not only gained new teammates, but our team made new friends. They played hard, together. There was a lot more chit chat on the sidelines than is normal for a lacrosse game. And, phones were active all over after games for photo opps. I think our team, and their new friends, gained an awful lot from the experience. I know I did. It made the day more competitive for us because our new international lacrosse friends were just awesome.
Most importantly, our dive into the LLC trade market made the tour that much better for our kids. I think our lacrosse team gained something that other, fuller teams did not because of this experience. I know I enjoyed it thoroughly.
As we have said quite a bit recently, SAWUSA tours make the sport one of the stars of the show, but the competition element is in the name of cultural exchange, and life development. Playing basketball against an Austrian team at the United World Games, or playing lacrosse against the Portuguese National team at the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup, or welcoming new teammates from all around the world, is not just about winning games. It’s about changing lives. I think I saw this during my trip to Spain and Portugal this year, even more than I did at UWG a year ago, maybe because I coached lacrosse on my tour this year. I feel, for lack of a better term, enriched because I coached some girls from all over the world today. It was amazing. I hope to do this again one day.
Our Lisboa Lacrosse Cup tour is now in the home stretch. Tomorrow, we play lacrosse one last time as a team, hopefully earning a third place finish. Then, we have a very slow and lazy afternoon coming, a well deserved break after a few busy days. Tomorrow, we also bid farewell to our amazing Tour Director – Pedro Portas – who was unable to spend our full tour with us this year. Pedro was instrumental in the success of our tour this year, and I feel like I made a fantastic new friend.
That’s all for today from LLC. More to come!
Blog #3 - June 21, 2024
Ola, Meu Amigos!
We are back in Portugal as our Spain/Portugal lacrosse tour enters the home stretch … but it also could be the best stretch.
This is my second tour with SAWUSA, and if you have read my blog posts – and watched my videos – you know already how much I love our tours. United World Games 2023, and Lisboa Lacrosse Cup 2024 have really changed my life. And, both experiences have made me want to work harder to send more of you on one of our tours. They are THAT awesome!
So, when I say that today was probably my favorite single day during any one of the tours I’ve been to, it is quite the statement. As I write this, I am getting ready to pass out from complete exhaustion, but boy was it worth it.
First, we bid farewell to Spain after a few amazing days there. Our hotel was just amazing, so it was a bit melancholy to pack up everything, and move out. It was like a really amazing chapter of this tour came to an end, and it was so much fun, it was a little difficult to move out.
But, any sadness towards our departure ended the moment we arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, the capital city. All I have to say is … wow! Yesterday, I declared that Seville, Spain was one of my favorite places I have ever visited. Well, Seville has been knocked down just a notch. I cannot begin to tell you how much I was blown away by Lisbon. Where Seville was amazing because of its culture and history, Lisbon had a completely different feel. It was like the perfect balance of old architecture and modern amenities. And, half of the city overlooks the other half of the city, so the views were breathtaking.
The only downer? The walking. At one point, we headed up an old stone staircase, and our tour manager, Pedro, declared that we have a ‘little bit of a hill’ to climb. About 250 stone stars later, we limped our way to the top. Think ‘Rocky’ running to the top of that staircase and celebrating, but with 10 times as many stairs. But, it was worth every sometimes painful stride. The views from the top of the city were just stunning. It was like looking at a postcard.
Lisbon features row after row after row of shops, cafes, restaurants, etc., and we were given some time to shop. The only thing I did not like about Lisbon was that as you walk past a restaurant, they aggressively solicit you to sit down. They literally shove menus in your face as you’re walking by, and give you attitude when you decline their ‘offer.’ It’s like being in New York City around street performers. I literally stopped making eye contact with anybody as I walked by the restaurants. Super annoying! But, I eventually found a cafe that had a menu that was in English, and a wait staff that spoke English, so I plopped down for lunch. I then enjoyed the best paella I’ve ever had. It was so good that I now want to return to Lisbon just for the paella at this cafe.
Lisbon was just awesome. To date, Salzburg, Austria has been my favorite stop during a SAWUSA tour. I’ll be honest, Lisbon is giving Salzburg a run for its money. I loved it there!
After a full day of touring, we hopped on the bus, and headed to a local university for a scrimmage against the Portuguese National Team. As a women’s lacrosse coach of 25 years, I had a lot of memories that will last me a lifetime. This game was right up there. I always dreamed of coaching lacrosse for a national team. It never quite worked out, but today, I had the chance to coach against a real national team. We played Portugal to a 6-6 tie, and really played well. I think our girls were very satisfied with their effort, and I was quite proud of them. We have a group of amazing kids on this team … our men’s team as well.
Throughout the scrimmage, I kept thinking to myself that this is the kind of moment to relish forever, and I had as much fun as anybody out there. It was a game I’ll never forget.
What a day!
Tomorrow, we have the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup, and a very tough schedule ahead. But, at this point in the tour, the results of the games – while important – won’t make or break the tour. This has been an awesome experience with some amazing families. I’ve seen the world in a way I never knew existed. I’ve made some new friends, and worked with a bunch of amazing kids. I hope we do really well tomorrow. I think we will. But, I really just want our kids to have an amazing experience out there, the same way they’ve had an amazing experience on the tour.
Time for bed! Big day tomorrow! Go SAWUSA!!
Blog #2 - June 20, 2024
Hola Mi Amigos!
Another amazing day for the Spain/Portugal tour, and actually for both of our current tours, as today was just an awesome day to be a part of SAWUSA. Our United World Games tour enjoyed a trip to Venice, Italy, and had partied into the night at the famous UWG Oktoberfest, which brought up so many good memories from last year. It’s hard to believe it’s been a full year since I was there! Yes, I miss it. But, boy, do I love this tour!
After our first practices last night, we woke up early today and headed out to Seville for a guided tour of one of the most amazing cities on the planet. I LOVED Seville. The architecture. The culture. The history. The people. The food! We literally got to touch buildings that were built during the 11th century, and look inside of apartments the not only existed during Roman times, but are still configured as they were back then. As a history buff, I could not get enough of it!
There was a LOT of walking in Seville, but it was worth it. We walked through the hustle and bustle of the modern city, and then found our way into the ‘old’ city of Seville, and both were just amazing. I really loved the ‘old’ city of Seville. There is this incredible cathedral in the city center, surrounded by shops and cafes and bars for as far as the eye could see. In typical European fashion, the alleyways were so narrow, it didn’t take much to touch both sides of the alleys at the same time.
What I loved the most is how the buildings have not changed over the centuries. Yes, there were modern amenities everywhere, but the architecture itself was authentic. It was really like a trip through time.
The highlight … Tapas! What a lunch! I am going out of my way to try new things, and it’s paying off. As a foodie, this has been a super successful tour. The best part: I will be back in Seville next week as part of our Portugal Basketball Festival tour!
As for our families, it’s been awesome. This tour is the perfect combination of busy travels, and relaxing downtime at our amazing hotel. A lot of our athletes went into the pool after Seville, and tonight the boys lacrosse team is bonding during a movie night. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know our athletes and their families.
Tomorrow, lacrosse begins in earnest. We depart Spain for Lisboa, Portugal, where we will scrimmage the Portuguese national teams! As Head Coach for our women’s team, I could not be more excited! I always dreamed to coach international lacrosse, and while this will be a friendly game, it’s a chance to do something that few coaches get to do … and even fewer athletes. Win, lose, or tie, this is going to be an awesome experience!
Earlier today, Tim Ryerson posted a bit of a PSA about our tours, and how people may or may not be asking the right questions about the SAWUSA experience. I want to reiterate how true Tim’s post is. The competition element of SAWUSA tours is a HUGE part of what we do. Make no mistake about it. But, one can compete in basketball, lacrosse, hockey, volleyball, etc., anywhere. If you are reading this, you or a relative or friend will likely have an AAU or travel competition this weekend, or a camp coming up.
Where SAWUSA is special and unique is that we have so much more to offer. I hope my team beats Team Portugal and steamrolls through the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup. But, there is nothing more important than the experiences they are having, the sites they are seeing, and the relationships they are building. On top of that, they are playing international lacrosse. I’ve been coaching lacrosse for 25 years, and I cannot compare this trip to anything else I’ve ever done in the United States. Think about it: How many of you are going to an AAU tournament, and competing against athletes who have never met an American before? For us, it is part of the program.
This is not to knock on club or AAU sports in any way. But, what we do is different and special. It’s amazing and fun. This is a once in a lifetime experience that travel sports cannot offer. Tomorrow, is going to be one of the best days of my coaching career … and this is my job to be here. Imagine what it’ll be like for our athletes, and for our families watching their children play?
This is why at SAWUSA, we work so hard to bring you around the world with us. It is truly the experience of a lifetime. If you are reading this, I certainly hope you join us in 2025!
Tomorrow, some awesome lacrosse updates. For now, it is time for bed! Buena Noche!
Blog #1 - June 19, 2024
Hola Mi Amigos!
I am writing this post a day later than I had wanted to … simply because we are having so much fun in Spain that I have not had the time to write. But, we are now well into the 2024 Spain/Portugal tour, and it is awesome! Just tremendous. And there are still many highlights to come!
My first impression of this tour is that if there is one thing I have learned during nearly two full years at SAWUSA is that I really do love Europe. Far more than I ever imagined I would, to the point where I am almost angry at myself for not visiting this continent earlier. Last year, I loved our United World Games tour, and really miss not being there this year. But, so far, I am having the time of my life during our Spain/Portugal tour. It’s an amazing experience with a special group of travelers.
I do have to say that things got off to a bumpy start – literally – as our flight across the ocean was sponsored by turbulence. It was like a Hollywood movie kind of flight where the plane shook and jerked for hours on end, to the point where I heard noises on an airplane that I have never heard before. Some scary stuff! But, during one stretch of easier skies, the staff at SATA Azores served a meal that could end up being a highlight of the tour. I don’t know what it was – the flight attendant only identified it as a “beef dish,” but, as a foodie, I have paid well into triple figures for meals at fine restaurants that could not compare to this meal on our flight to the Azores. It was absolutely delicious, and gave airline food a really good name!
The flight from Azores to Lisbon was a far smoother experience, and our tour manager, Pedro, was waiting for us at the airport with a smile.
From there, it has been smooth sailing, and a wonderful trip. Our hotel is literally a beach resort. The picture of the pool from my balcony that Tim posted yesterday was not a promo photo for the hotel. I took it with my phone when I first checked in. This is as nice of a hotel as I have stayed at, even within the United States. There is an indoor pool as well, tennis courts (where our women’s lacrosse team is currently playing), and we are a quick walk from the beach. And breakfast this morning was legendary. The weather has been a little cold, but the beach is downright beautiful.
Last night, we had our opening banquet at the Beach Club, that might have been my favorite meal I have eaten during my time touring with SAWUSA. All different kinds of meats, served family style, these incredible dinner rolls that I could not get enough of, and a dipping sauce called “Canary Island Hot Sauce” that I must find in the United States. It was unbelievable!
Today featured one of the tour highlights as our travelers enjoyed what is literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We travelled to Sanlucar de Guadiana, an adorable little town on the Spainish/Portugese border, and our travelers had the opportunity to take a zip-line from Spain to Portugal, not only crossing the border, but changing time zones as well. I did not personally partake in the zip-line, but it looked like so much fun! We’ve posted a bunch of photos already, and I have some videos to come!
Tonight, we have our first lacrosse practices. Tomorrow, I am super excited to head to Seville, which is most certainly one of the tour highlights.
I am certainly not going to engage in tour comparisons, but I will say this: I am having every bit as much fun during our Spain/Portugal tour as I did during the early part of our United World Games tour. Like UWG a year ago, I did not do any real homework on this particular tour, other than the highlights that I study to present to prospective travelers. When it comes to our tours, I prefer to be surprised, just like our travelers, to make the experience authentic for myself.
When I came home from UWG, my mindset was that I could go back there every year, never join another SAWUSA tour, and be very happy with my job. Here I I am two days into Spain/Portugal, and I feel the same way. This place is awesome! It is so incredibly beautiful and culture-laden, and the food is amazing here.
The best part: We have not started anything lacrosse-related yet. The best is yet to come! And, the lacrosse part of the tour is going to be special. I have a feeling that some of the happiest days of my life are coming during the next few days, and I cannot wait for it!
That’s all for now. Keep an eye on our social media for my pictures and videos, and I will write again tomorrow! And, if you love what you see as much as I love what I am doing, get to StudentAthleteWorld.com ASAP and apply to tour with us in 2025.
Have a great day everybody! Hasta manana!