Visiting Spain right now, my first trip here ever in fact. I travel a lot but these days but rarely to places I haven’t been sometime before so this is exciting for me. The difference between being a white American walking around in a place like Tokyo and Barcelona is stark – in Tokyo I’m invisible, completely lost in the crowd and ignored by the vast majority of people around me. Socially I’m probably even seen as less than – though slightly higher than others like me because I’ve chosen to be in Tokyo. In Barcelona I’m a target. Spotted from half a block away and picked out as a tourist, someone with excess cash and no idea what’s going on – an sucker ripe for the taking. Some of this I’m sure is that I’m not as comfortable in Barcelona yet because it’s so new, so I’m walking around curious and I’m sure people pick up on that. Also, I have socks which I’ve noticed pretty much no one else does.