As the Spanish bean of the team, I have known from close experience what hospitality means and what it brings to our everyday life. Spain receives every summer millions of tourists from abroad who are welcomed with open arms and who we take care of the very best way possible, providing them with one of the best food and drink experiences available.

However, this is not meant as a patriotic post.

When I came to England for the very first time, I was blown away by the British hospitality in pubs, restaurants, hotels and cute little coffee shops with their amazing homemade cakes. I was surprised at how familiar pubs could be and how you could find a pub in the less expected locations such as in the middle of the countryside. I was very grateful to walk around and hear people having a very good time with friends and family on a Sunday in a nice pub, in the garden toasting under the sun or by a big fireplace in winter playing board games.

We all have been missing these little moments of joy for such a long time because of an awful abrupt pandemic.

People in the hospitality industry have been hit very hard. Many people have lost their jobs or have been left in the uncertainty of when their next income would come or when they would be called to go back to work. Most of them haven’t been able to see their work mates in person for a long time, or have had to deal with the side effects of being at home because of continuous lockdowns, when a visit to the supermarket or a walk for no more than an hour was the only thing we were allowed to do.

For all these reasons and to help Hospitality Action to get funds to help people in the hospitality sector, I am taking part in the To Hell and Back challenge where my team and I are committed to travel 535 miles running, cycling or walking to contribute towards a 30,000 mile goal between the 10th to the 18th of June.

If you’d like to show your support for the team and for hospitality, please take a look at our page here:
https://umbali.org/challenge/30-000-miles-to-hell-and-back

And if you would like to help me raise funds for Hospitality Action, please visit:
https://umbali.org/challenge/kTWK5qdiEFwNKsa9u/its-bean-emotional