There’s a young man who often sits by the open air market called La Boqueria off the busy La Rambla thoroughfare in Barcelona, Spain. He’s probably in his 20’s, similar to my daughters, but he’s dressed in tatters and spends his day with outstretched hand and vague gaze, begging for money. He seems also to have a slight physical disability because he walks with an off-kilter gait. On the occasions I’d see him begging, he rarely had more than a few coins in his cup, and I wonder if it’s because passersby are less inclined to feel empathy for a panhandler in his 20’s than for one of the elderly homeless people who also frequent this place?

Barcelona is a big city and like cities around the globe, it has its share of both the hustlers and the homeless. I don’t know what leads people to the street, but I have to think that it’s desperation of one kind or another. I find it especially sad when I see someone so young. Whether he’s there because of poor choices or rotten luck (most likely a combination) – this young man has a very long road ahead of him.

Perhaps the thing that strikes me most about the boy at the boqueria is that if you look past the grime, he is quite striking. Up the street from where he sits, trendy global fashion retailers like H+M and Zara splash billboard-sized images of emaciated Gen Z models with chiseled features wearing baggy ‘street style” clothes, and diffident expressions on their faces - basically facsimiles of the young man I see begging. I can’t help but wonder if a forward-thinking fashion brand could scout a young person like him, help them off the street – perhaps by hiring them to model - provide some resources, and then help support them through a rehabilitation program, if the person agrees? While some of them probably have substance and mental health issues that would make them a challenge to work with, I imagine the same thing could be said about a lot of A-list celebrities to whom brands fork out millions of dollars for a collaboration. Done respectfully and intelligently, perhaps a mission-driven brand could bring better public awareness and empathy to the homeless people, whom we pass by like shadows, while also making a practical difference in someone’s life.

Regardless, passing “the Young Man” (how I came to refer to him when sharing the above observations with my family) got me thinking about how, as a digital nomad/tourist, I might personally be able to help the people I see begging on the streets of this beautiful, gritty, bustling city that has been my temporary home.

I did a little research and in Barcelona, there are well-established shelters and programs in place to help homeless folks. Some of these places accept volunteers, although during the pandemic health protocols changed some of those opportunities. Of these shelters, one also provides a list of the items that homeless people find most helpful to receive as they navigate life on the street, and this is the approach that I decided to take.

Number one on the list of items most requested by the homeless is clean socks (not sure I would have thought of that, but it makes sense, given that these folks are on their feet so much of the time). Other items include new underwear, clean t-shirts, bottled water, chapstick, unscented wet wipes, toothbrush/toothpaste, gift certificates to local groceries and fast food establishments, and Covid masks, so they can gain entrance. And, of course, blankets and toiletries.

When our daughter Katie was visiting us in Spain, she and I put together a plastic grocery bag with the above items and held onto it in case we crossed paths with Young Man again, which didn’t happen until the last night of our stay in Barcelona. We went out looking for him, toting our bag of supplies and a plastic sandwich bag of euros we had leftover at the end of our trip – not a fortune, but not an inconsequential amount, either. (We always seem to end up with extra local currency at the end of an overseas trip and we just bring it home where it sits in a drawer, forgotten!) We also had some travel-sized toiletries we’d packed but never used, and this seemed like a great way to pass them along instead of lugging them back home again, or tossing them unopened. We didn’t overthink it, as I am sometimes inclined to do. We just figured we’d find Young Man or someone else to whom we’d pass along our small but sincere gesture of goodwill.

We were walking along La Rambla admiring the Christmas lights and cheerful cafés bordering the boulevard. It had been an especially cold night the evening before, and ironically I didn’t see any homeless people out, let alone the one we were hoping to find. Just as I was starting to wonder who the heck I was going to give our bag of supplies to, Katie tugged on my sleeve and said “there he is!” Sure enough, Young Man had just walked passed us in the crowd and since he was masked, I didn’t even spot him! He must have noticed us noticing him, though, because he turned around and paused just for a split second – enough of a moment for us to hold our bag of supplies, which he nodded at and accepted. Then, I handed him the bag of euros and he looked completely surprised - bemused, really - but of course he took that, too. The interaction happened in the blink of an eye, and then we all were on our way, headed to the rest of our respective lives.

Several hours later, our family went with Katie to pick up her Covid test results that are required for re-entry into the US. As we stood on the sidewalk, guess who passed by again! Once again, Katie was the one who spotted Young Man ambling down the street with his odd, crooked gait. He still had our blue plastic bag tucked under his arm and was now carrying a big loaf of bread. And, maybe it was just our imaginations, but as we watched him disappear into the crowd, Katie remarked that he seemed to walk more purposefully than before.

Here’s the thing. I know we didn’t solve the underlying issues that led this one person to the street, and yes, it’s possible he went on to buy drugs or cigarettes with the money we gave him. But it truly didn’t cost us anything to show him some compassion, and it actually helped us to pass along the leftover currency and travel items we no longer needed, and give back in a small way to this city that has brought us such delight.

And, for that one evening, perhaps Young Man felt lucky for the first time in a very long while.

I know at a minimum, it allowed us to pause in the middle of all our enjoyment of Barcelona to enlarge our own compassion, which was a gift for us.

I believe we’ll make this a new part of our digital nomad trips - donating our leftover local currency and travel-sized items, and picking up a few things from the “most wanted” list to give away to a homeless shelter or individual with whom we cross paths in our future, temporary “hometowns”. It’s pretty simple and I’m sure other travelers have already thought of this, but it was new for me. When I travel, I’m usually rushing along and taking it all in. So I’m passing the idea along in case it’s something you’d like to try, too! Sometimes the most spontaneous ways of giving back are the best. If you have a way that you like to give back to the communities you visit when you travel, I’d love to hear it – please drop a comment below!