After our holidays in Korea, Shana left to go back to the US. On my end, I had an extra week in the country, so I decided to visit Busan for the weekend. You can watch the latest vlog below:
Busan is a charming city located as far down south as you can get. It’s famous for its fish market, its harbour, and its film festival. Oh, and let’s not forget Gamcheon, a small colourful village that will bring back to mind the Cinque Terre in Italy.
Overall, it’s been a great trip, albeit a short one. But just a few days later, I would fly to Australia, for a month!
Before I get started, I just wanted to remind you that I’m doing a digital catch-up and Q&A on Periscope on Monday (tomorrow).
I’ll be online at http://periscope.tv/itibz – all you have to do is come on there to watch, or signup/login to be a part of the Chat, say hi, or ask any question about my work or this trip around the world!
As I’m writing this update, I am in the train back from Busan, in the south-eastern coast of South Korea, all the way down.
Traveling to/from Seoul is easy thanks to a really convenient and fast train system. Taking this trip all the way to the other side of the country takes only two and a half hours.
Busan is the second biggest city in the country, and know for being a big fishing town as well as hosting a popular international film festival.
[caption id=“attachment_2958” align=“alignnone” width=“1965”] Jeanne Moreau, in 2001[/caption]
I’ve tried the local fish cakes, traditional delicacies that the city is known for, and I’ve also gone to a street food market located around the BIFF Square (Busan International Film Festival).
I also visited the gorgeous Gamcheon Culture Village, a small village overlooking the sea, on a hill, with very colorful little houses. You’d almost junk you were visiting the Cinque Terre in Italy.
Finally, Shana happened to have a friend visiting the Busan area too, and we ended up spending one evening together, having dinner and discovering the boardwalk and beachside by night.
All in all, it was a short-but-sweet trip to Busan!
Earlier this week, I went to watch the brand new Wonder Woman movie. Except rather than go to the nearest theatre I could find, I saw that Seoul hosts one of the best and biggest screens in the world —apparently it was also manufactured inFrance, but I digress.
In addition, something else triggered my curiosity : a showing of the film in “4DX” — something I had vaguely heard about before.
So what is 4DX? The future of blockbuster movie entertainment.
The 4DX experience starts with bigger, larger seats, and a 3D movie. Where it goes beyond however, is that the seat tilts, depending on the action of the movie. When the camera hovers above a big landscape, your seats kind of rocks along, looking down. Or if someone jumps off a cliff, your seat gets inclined, just as if you were jumping with them.
There is also wind blowing in your face at certain specific moments (in my case, the camera was facing the barrel of a gun, and when the protagonist fired, air was blown straight in my face, I could almost feel that bullet being fired), or gentle breeze on my legs, when the camera goes around a more natural landscape.
And when a big explosion occurs on-screen, additional strobe lights on the side of the screen start flashing in your face.
The point I’m trying to make, of course, is that 4DX ishugely immersive, and is not an experience that you can replicate at home.
Coming out of that screening, it feels to me that the future of blockbuster entertainment lies in real experiences, whether a movie theatre that lets you order food & drinks, or that offers a new level of immersion in the story and its action.
It jostles your seat, which is larger and more like something you might buy at Brookstone than your typical movie theater seat, and sends you bumping along as Vin Diesel and his Furious co-stars race through the streets of various global metropolises. When the camera tilts, the seats often tilt with it, and an early set of shots of the blue ocean waves is accompanied by a gentle rocking motion that made me a little sleepy.
Every so often, little puffs of air burst by your face to accentuate, say, gunfire or a big explosion. On your 4DX armrest, there’s an option to “turn water off,” but Fate of the Furious is not an especially wet movie, so I did not get sprayed once. But other effects are also possible: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn has promised “snow and bubbles” for his film when screened in 4DX.
All of this is meant to draw viewers into the movie, by making them feel like part of the action. The Fate of the Furious is a junky enough film that I didn’t mind bouncing around like I was on a Tilt-a-Whirl, but for my first viewing of the movie, I found the whole experience a little distracting. If it had been a better movie — like many of its predecessors — I might have been actively annoyed at having the experience interrupted by my seat suddenly trying to make an escape (or maybe if it were better, I would have been even more drawn in). But I also can’t deny that the whole experience is fun. I just don’t know if I’d want to do it more than a couple of times.
My only gripe with the 4DX experience, is that it’s meant for Blockbusters, but having to grip your seat during big action set pieces was a bit distracting. During Wonder Woman’s last act, there were a few times when I wished they could have toned down the movements a little. If only so that I could focus on the movie, and not on the prospect of seeing my popcorn fall out of its box.
But I really do hope to treat myself to more 4DX movie screenings in the future!
Oh, and Wonder Woman, the movie itself? It’s great! Go see it!
If you’ve been using this as your password manager (and you really should), you know that it can be scary to travel and think about what would happen if your device got lost or stolen. Now, you can choose a specific vault, for example your Work Vault, and activate Travel Mode, and the passwords will be removed (temporarily) from your device(s) until you deactivate Travel Mode.
Here’s what Apple obviously — obviously — should do:
(…)
In other words, this should all work as it does on iOS. The Apple Music app on macOS would be the same as the “Music” app on iOS (which is also confusing given it has the same logo/branding as iTunes on macOS).
Apple really needs to find a way to unbundle iTunes into more manageable pieces of software. There is no reason why our Macs still come bundled with that huge, sluggish and clunky piece of software.
Over the past ten days, I’ve gotten to discover multiple facets of Korean life, its food, its lifestyle, and its culture – both old and modern sides. And I’ve been loving every moment and every day.
I do not actually know a lot of close friends who have been to Seoul before – I know that a former friend studied there, and that the lovely Ashley & Jon, two good friends from Brighton, met here in SeoulI believe. They still look fondly on this time!
So, for what it’s worth, I just want to point out that South Korea is criminally underrated.
Similarly to Shanghai, people here say that “they don’t speak English very well” – except that here,they do know the basics:in Shanghai, I had some trouble getting understood when asking for water. So as a foreigner, it gets much easier to chat, ask for directions, or order at a restaurant.
In addition, I’ve tried to correct my earlier mistake of not learning basic phrases – so I now know how to say Hello, Chiken, Beer, Thank You, Sorry, and a few other useful phrases.
But let’s get back to Seoul itself. The city is more spread out than Paris, as a point of reference, but holds a population of similar size: about 10 million people.
So far, I’ve had a lot of different food – but being solo most of the time, I haven’t had the chance to try a real Korean BBQ – a wrong that will be corrected next weekend, when I get some company, and a very special visitor for a few days.
In addition to the food, I’ve been lucky enough to meet up with a contact who’s here as a foreign student, and he introduced me to his group of friends: a mixture of Koreans, mixed Asians, and westerners. These folks actually took me out last Sunday, for ChiMek (The contraction of the words Chicken & Mekju – the latter which stands for beer).
It was essentially a picnic by the river Han, which flows through the city. You sit down on the grass, and order from one of the many vendors and takeaway places who offer different variety of fried chicken. From there, they took me out drinking, eating some more, and later, to my very first karaoke! That evening finished at 5:30am, and we waited for the very first metro: I got back to my Airbnb at 6am, on a Monday morning, haha!
Besides that, I was incredibly surprised and excited to discover he local coffee scene: see South Korea is actually a bigger coffee drinker than the USA, and there are coffee houses everywhere. Starbucks and other chains are here, of course, but you can also easily find indie coffee houses that roast their own beans —something else that’s right along my alley.
So I’ve been working from coffee houses from times to times, to get a breath of fresh air. The rest of the time, I’ve been in my Airbnb, living with a family of four, who have been very kind and helpful to me. The children are very cute, if turbulent at times, and it’s definitely a unique experience to live with them and witness Korean life first hand!
This past week, I’ve focused on my work, of course, but I also went around the dynamic Hongdae neighborhood, just two metro stops away from my neighborhood of Gongdeok – this is a small student town where you can find a ton of shops, coffee houses, bars, restaurants, but also ANIMAL CAFES!
That’s right: in Wednesday, I’ve actually hit a Raccoon cafe, a Sheep cafe, and a Meerkat cafe! This was an incredible and amazingly cute experience, and you’ll be able to watch all of this in the latest vlog (see the first link at the top of this email!)
That’s already a handful, and I’ve got many more Korean adventures planned before leaving this country, so stay tuned for another post in a few days/weeks.
First of all, I wanted to thank those of you who’ve shared some good vibes, of friendly messages and support. As I’m writing this, I’m in my Airbnb, in Shanghai, for a few more days, before hitting my next destination.
But first, let's talk about this past month in Shanghai.
It’s definitely fascinating to be in this city, so far out of my comfort zone, and learning to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable” as I tried to explain it to some of my friends, recently.
This past (almost-) month has been very interesting. I’ve definitely felt outside of my comfort zone, in a different culture, but especially more so when it comes to being unable to rely on my English, or speaking with the locals here — in Shanghai, people will only speak English in the touristy and expats area. And even then, it remained a fairly basic exchange, for the most part — not quite a conversation.
It’s also a city where, strangely enough, expats and locals rarely mix. There’s no animosity or conflict, but each enclave seems to live separately from the other.
It’s been hard to keep my vegetarian diet here. First of all, because I do not speak the language. Thankfully, my friend Lincha wrote a line of text, in Mandarin, that I can show when I go to restaurants to look for someplace that will accommodate my diet.
But the biggest challenge has been because I couldn’t get myself to tell my Airbnb hosts. See, they’ve welcomed me into their homes and offered me so much food during this entire month. They cooked breakfast for me every morning, and took me with them on a road trip with their friends and family. And the last thing I wanted was to offend them or put them in a bad spot, feeling like an asshole of a tourist, and refusing their food.
In any case, this has been a great experience, and I think that my blog posts and vlogs reflect that properly.
Thanks again for reading all the way to the end! I’m gonna start packing for my next destination — it starts with an S.
The point, then, is that European elections are increasingly no longer about principally European concerns like the size of welfare states.
They are about issues that affect the broader stability of Europe and the global order — which America has a huge stake in. As a result, center-left politicians like Obama feel entitled, maybe even obligated, to involve themselves.
It’s taken me some time to find a decent enough internet connection to upload this new vlog. After a busy week catching up on work, I spent the weekend exploring other areas of Shanghai!
After a busy beginning of the week, I’ve finally gone out this tonight, for drinks with friends.
Last week, I caught up with my friend Lincha whom I’d met 6 years ago in San Francisco. She’s now in Shanghai and I got to meet up with her and her boyfriend Matt. We also met some other people, local Shanghainese as well as expats.
Then, after a busy week for everyone, We went out for dinner in a Dim Sum place, and then to a local expat bar held by Louis, a New Yorker who’s been in SGH for 16 years.
I left Dubai on Tuesday the 11th of April, and landed in Hong Kong for a three-hour layover at 5am. Needless to say that once I made it to Shanghai around mid-day, I was incredibly tired.
It was an easy process to go through passport check, grab my luggage, and go leave the airport. On my friend Rodolphe’s recommendation, I was going to get in the city not using the Metro but the MagLev, the Magnetic Levitating train that goes up to 480km/h.
It was rather inexpensive and very quiet and efficient to get inside the city. And it honestly didn’t feel like it was going that fast if I’m honest.
As I arrived at the station, I found a taxi pretty fast, and despite his lack of English, I was able to show him my Airbnb hosts' address and instructions.
Once I got to the flat, my host, Rena, showed me around and her mother, whose flat I’m staying in, had made some dumplings.
Because although I’d originally booked a different flat, Rena’s one, she informed me that, considering the longer length of my stay, there was a better place available at her parents'.
The dumplings were delicious by the way! However as a vegetarian I was conflicted – since starting my dietary change, I hadn’t touched meat– that was back in early January. However the food was ready and I didn’t want to offend my host, so I ate it all, and enjoyed it.
To be honest, if I have one or two extras after almost 4 months, I don’t think it’s going to be too big of a deal.
After lunch, I thought I’d try and rest a bit, to make up for the lack of sleep on the plane, as well as the couple of hours of jet lag.
I woke up around 4pm and left less than an hour later, on Rena’s recommendation to check out The Bund, the infamous Shanghai boardwalk.
As I arrived, I noticed more and more people, overall, including a few locals, but mostly a lot of Chinese tourists and foreign tourists alike. On the ground area are global chains like Subway, Costa Coffee and Starbucks.
I guess that's when you know you've hit a central or touristy spot.
I’m not sure how best to describe The Bund. In the evening, between 6pm and 9pm, the lights are on, on all a multitude of skyscrapers and towers, and it illuminates the bay with beautiful lights. You’ve probably seen it before, in movies, pictures, or documentaries. All the people walking around are taking pictures, selfies especially, despite the cold evening breeze.
I walked around the area for half an hour, and it was a great way for me to feel a bit more relaxed after a hectic 24 hours of travelling from the Middle East over to Asia.
As I finished my tour of the area, I decided to walk back to the Airbnb rather than jumping in the same metro I’d used to get here. I had an offline map on my phone, and all around, it took me about an hour and a half. Even though there weren’t a lot of things to do or see, it felt great to unwind, and get a good sense of the different areas of the city.
As I moved away from the city center, the street got quieter, some even dustier as some builders were hard at work on a new metro station, or a new skyscraper. In a similar vein to Dubai, Shanghai seems to be constantly in a state of evolution. Something echoed by a few friends who have stayed there before and learnt that their favorite bars and restaurants had been closed since their last visits.
My flight from Nice took off around 1:20pm. It took me close to three hours to arrive in Stockholm, where I had just over an hour to wait, before boarding on my flight to Dubai.
Even being on the plane, it still didn’t quite hit me that I was leaving to be on my own for 9 months, until the end of the year.
During that first flight, I took the time to write a long articles expressing my thanks and my thoughts to those around me. I guess I was inspired.
However, what surprised me in the best of ways, was realising that Norwegian Airlines has free in-flight Wifi onboard. Definitely a great perk, and to be quite honest, it was the first time I’ve ever had access to Wifi on a plane.
During the 6h45mn flight to Dubai, I only managed to sleep for about 45mn. However I did try to rest, anticipating some solid travel exhaustion after 12 hours of traveling from Nice to Dubai.
The Passport check and Visa formalities went actually really fast, and I was able to get my luggage quickly, at the baggage reclaim area. My friend Nimit picked me up around 3am, we caught up in the car, and headed to his house directly.
Day Two
After a short night, Nimit and I woke up around 11am and he took me out for a drive in the desert. We drove halfway around the country, which, in reality, represents about 45mn on the road. Nimit’s friend Shabaaz went with us, and had brought an Indian breakfast wrap for us!
We went to this place called Barracuda, which sits in between two different beach resorts, and is actually a liquor store. Although, calling it a liquor doesn’t quite make it justice — this place had the most amount of alcohol I’ve ever seen in one place. And since selling alcohol is only authorised with a specific license, a lot of people tend to come to this store.
Once we got back, we ended up chilling at Nimit’s house for the rest of the afternoon, being both pretty tired from the late night we had before, in addition to the blazing hot climate at this time of year — we’re talking around 37 degrees (celsius), in April, during the day.
Later this evening, Nimit’s friends, a group of about 12-14 people, came over to his house and we had a nice and friendly gathering there until the wee hours of the morning.
Day Three
On my second day in Dubai, we started the day late and went straight for a breakfast sandwich, at around midday. Then, it was time to hit our first event of the day: Middle East Film & Comic Con.
That’s right: it just so happened that Comic Con was going on during my stay, and being a self-professed pop-culture nerd, the opportunity was too good to pass out on.
We spent the early afternoon going around the different stalls, looking at comics, retro-gaming stands, merchandise and geeky apparel. And I even took a picture with the Ninja Turtles, and more importantly, with the #1 community of Star Wars cosplayers: the 501st Legion!
Once we left Comic Con, Nimit took me to another local attraction: a place called Global Village. To try and explain it, Global Village is an outdoor space that looks and feels like an amusement park — but although there are a handful of rides, the real goal of this place is to have different sections, divided into smaller villages, meant to represent different countries from all around the world. There are dozens of countries, and each section has local stalls selling everything you could think of, from clothes to food and including souvenirs, kitchen ustensils, or even spices. I’ve never seen anything like it!
Later that evening, we went back closer to the center of the city, and headed towards a middle-eastern restaurant that Nimit and his friends often go to. The food was absolutely delicious, as expected, to the point where I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to have some falafel from anywhere else in the future.
The fourth day of my trip happened to be on a Sunday —which is also the beginning of the week in the Middle East, which means that Nimit went to work today. On my end, I had some time on my own to explore the old historic center of the city.
The day started with a quick indian breakfast at home, with Nimit’s parents. The food was delicious and the Chai (tea), nothing short of amazing. It was nice to take some time to get to know them and their family a little better. They’ve been very accommodating and friendly so far and I’m really looking forward to sharing some food with them later in the evening.
Breakfast being over, Nimit’s dad dropped me in the Historic Center of the city, and I started walking around the old town. In the middle of this megalopolis, it was quite relaxing to walk around the small streets, hiding from the sun, and making the most of the fresh breeze.
I started by going to a local cafe that doubles as an art gallery —and later stumbled upon the Coffee Museum. Needless to say that, after another short night, having two different coffees in the span of half an hour was a great way to start the day.
On my way back from the old town, I stopped by the Dubai Museum, which starts as an outdoorsy space, and later takes you underground, telling you about the story of how the city came to be, and its development up until today.
I stayed for about an hour, learning about the Bedouin lifestyle and the type of things that the local population used to do, back in the day. And later, I took Nimit’s recommendation and walked around numerous local markets. At this point, I was close to the river that reaches around the city, and got on an Abra — the local “water taxi”, to cross over to the northern bank. From there, I reached the Spice Souq and later the Gold Souq, moving from a place selling spices to another where local street vendors were selling jewellery and watches.
After a late stop to pick up a quick lunch, I took the boat back to the south bank and stayed at a cafe for about an hour and a half. Having spent most of the day outside, walking between a blazing hot sun and the shadows of the old town, it felt great to take some quiet time to resource over an iced coffee and a freshly squeezed fruit juice.
While taking some time to recharge, Nimit suggested that I check out the recently opened Etihad Museum, so I headed towards the area to discover a building that had such a beautiful architecture and interior design. The Etihad Museum is dedicated to the contemporary history of the country. The collection of things on display is rather small, however the place gives a good idea of the creation of the country in 1971.
Back then, the 9 Emirates were independent, however when Britain left in 1968, they decided to unite and form a country. But at the last minute, Qatar and Bahrein decided to remain independent. Hence the current state of the country, which unites 7 different Emirates. It was absolutely fascinating to hear about it — I personally had no idea that the country was so “recent”.
The day started late – and yet earlier than in the previous days. I picked up a banana on the way out of the house, and grabbed an Uber to take me further south, about half an hour away, to head to Kite Beach.
Nimit recommended it because it’s is a really nice beach, but much more importantly because it’s a great spot from which to see the Burj al Arab, the iconic landmark that overlooks the seaside.
He also recommended that I check out a place called Madinat Jumeirah, which looks like an old middle eastern madinat but is actually a mall-like complex with resorts, shops and restaurants. Walking from Kite Beach to Madinat Jumeirah took me over an hour and allowed me to get in the other side of the Burj al Arab.
I walked around, as, in typical fashion, it is gigantic by European standards –just like a small village. I also took the opportunity to grab some lunch and another iced coffee before heading to the next destination.
Upon Nimit’s recommendation, I went to check out Alserkal Avenue, an industrial complex made of a multitude of warehouses, repurposed completely to accommodate hip coffee houses, art galleries and design stores. In my book, we refer to it as heaven!
I stuck around for about two hours, taking my time to browse through every single place. From the different art galleries, to the sneaker store (The Good Life), or the (Happy Studio), all the way to the local coffee house that had benches, chairs, hammocks, and even a levitating bed (Spill The Beans.) I even had time to get on the phone with S. while enjoying their home-brewed Mint Lemonade.
After another Uber ride, it was time for the main event of the day: getting to the top of the tallest building im the world, “At The Top” of the iconic Burj Khalifa.
After a quick process of obtaining the pre-booked tickets and queuing up to get through security, we finally got to the elevator.
At a rate of nine meters per seconds, it took us seventy seven seconds to get to the one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth floor, where we enjoyed the sun. On Nimit’s recommendation, I had booked tickets for 5:30pm, in order to be able to get a proper shot of the sunset. In the end, I’ve stayed for over an hour to capture this ephemeral event properly, in all it’s natural beauty.
As I left Dubai late on the sixth day of my trip, I looked back on a short stay that was exactly what I needed — some time away, without focusing on work, where I explored a new city and region, with friends and alone. I’m really grateful for being able to catchup with Nimit after 6 years since we last saw each other, in San Francisco.
His family and friends were all incredibly welcoming and made me feel great all week long. And I’m really excited to have had the opportunity to mix both touristy things with more authentically local experiences.
As I leave the Middle East, I look forward to more adventures on my own, over in Shanghai. But you’ll read more about this very soon!
13:45 — 25mn into my flight between Nice and Stockholm. In the air to reach the Swedish capital, before a connecting flight to the first destination of my trip, in Dubai.
Shoe Dog
As I’m writing this, I’ve just finished a book entitled "Shoe Dog" by Phil Knight. Knight is the founder of Nike, and the book is a memoir, tracing the early history of the company, from its inception in the mid sixties, to its IPO in the early eighties.
The book was on my wishlist for a couple of months, and my friend Alex gifted it to me about ten days before my departure. A really kind and generous gesture. Alex has often gifted me things even without reason, or without expecting anything in return. He assumed I’d take it with me on the trip, reading it in planes, airports, and as I crossed borders of the most eastern countries I’d get to visit in the coming months. But I had other plans.
Even though it had been a long time reading a book, even more so a physical hard copy, I decided to put in the effort and discipline to read it in just over a week. Three hundred and eighty-six pages. At an average of fifty pages per day, I should be able to do it in eight. Add one or two bonus days in case I miss it, and I should still have ample room to get it all done before leaving.
Except I’ve been pretty tired the past three days, and didn’t manage to find the time or discipline to finish it. So I sneakily downloaded a digital version that I loaded on the iPad, the same machine I’m typing these lines on, and finished the last twenty or twenty-five pages during the first minutes of the flight.
The book was a great story of entrepreneurship, passion, risk taking, and how one man and his misfits band of brothers managed to navigate through numerous hardships to create one of the most recognisable and valuable company in the world. It was obviously my type of read, highly inspirational, filled with personal details. But beyond that, I could see many parallels with my current endeavour.
I strongly believe that if you look hard enough, one can easily identify with the arts and media you consume. In this case, the first couple of chapters start with Mr Knight, then a young twenty-four year old man from Oregon, planning a trip around the world. Considering I’m typing this on a plane taking me around the world for nine months, it’s impossible not to identify.
The risk-taking and efforts needed to take this type of trip, back in the early sixties, with the political situation, and less-developed technology, forces my respect. But if you read through the book, until the end, you realise the number of fights and coincidences that occurred, some of it too good to be true, being saved at the last minute, and the number of times when the company could have failed —should have failed— but didn’t.
It is not only hugely inspiring, but also brings to mind a similar situation in which I’ve met someone very special —S.—someone who seems to have changed my view of the world, and my own perspective on how I see my world. There again, there are a number of factors and coincidences that are simply too uncanny not to notice.
Plane
I mentioned that I’m on a plane. Flight DY4322, from Nice to Stockholm, on the sixth day of April. It’s been a long time coming. After laying out my original plan last summer, putting more details into it in October, and booking my very first tickets in December, I can now say that It’s Happening!.
To this very day, it hasn’t hit me yet. S. jokingly tells me that I will start noticing it in three weeks or something. I told myself and my friends that maybe seeing the desert of the United Arab Emirates will be a strong enough shock factor to bring that to my eyes and mind.
But I just don’t know. I didn’t feel sad saying goodbye to my family, I guess I’ve always been quiet and distant in that way. But it certainly feel strange to think that the next time I’ll be seeing them will be in December, coming back home and celebrating Christmas as if nothing had happened or changed.
I’ll be in touch with them of of course, our modern technology allows that. And of course, I’m much more akin to overcharge my experiences then most of my friends or relatives. This blog, this very article is the perfect example of that.
Video
Before landing the plane, in Terminal 1 at my local airport of Nice, I took the time to grab a quick lunch. Sitting at my table, my best friend Elodie messaged me, sharing a Youtube link and asking me to open it, preferably before departing. Before leaving the country, leaving home and my friends & family behind.
I ordered my food, put the iPad in landscape mode above its keyboard, and opened it. At first, I thought she had launched a new project she wanted to talk about. But no, it was something else. Something much more meaningful, something I didn’t expect in a million years.
The video started playing. The title: “For you, my Tibz”My Tibz, that’s how she calls me when we’re texting, chatting, or talking on the phone. The video started playing, and with such a title, I thought she’d be talking, alone in front of her screen. Possibly sharing pictures or something along those lines. No, it was much better, and again, I didn’t expect any of that.
Over a seven-minutes-short video, some of my closest friends shared messages of excitement, support, and love. My parents and brother were in on this too, and left me a message. Elodie had taken the time to contact them all, across continents, from Canada (Alice) to the U.K. (Frit), to France (herself, my family, Ines, Alex, Jerome), to Georgia (S), and all the way “down under” to Australia (Eliott).
She coordinated this and put it all together, saving S.’s message until the end for the “very last surprise”.
Elodie, if you’re reading this. FUCK! You’ve killed it, this was so unexpected, and made me so happy! I’m going to try and find a way to download this video and keep it with me! I can’t believe you’ve put all this time and effort for me, to allow me to have a piece of all of you with me during the trip!
Friends
Over the past couple of weeks, as I slowly pulled the curtain over the reveal of this trip, I couldn’t have expected a more supportive response from my friends. Between sharing some tips, asking questions, or sincerely wishing the best, everyone all across the world has been incredibly supportive.
And that’s without even mentioning the ones I’ll get to meet and catch-up with during the course of this journey. Starting with Nimit, my kind friend and host in Dubai — I can’t wait to share more about this, about him, and about our upcoming adventures.
No matter what happens, if any of you are reading this, know that I can’t wait to share all of it with you, and if you don’t hear from me, or miss out on some stuff, please hold me accountable — I’ll always be available to catch up on Facebook, via private messages, or on Skype or whatever cool video-conference service the cool kids are using these days.
Family
I’m incredibly grateful to my family too. From Day One, and the inception of this trip, they’ve been supportive, full of advices and travel tips, and above all, here for me when I needed some time to think or plan ahead.
I know the past few months have been straight out weird, what with both my brother and myself moving back home — me to save some money for a couple of months ahead of the trip, and him having finished his studies and waiting to start a career in the military. Not to mention the weekends being the four of us back home again, like we used to when we were kids, growing up.
The same as before — we’re all just taking more space now. I’m glad I got to reconnect with them a lot, even though I rarely make them feel that way, give them a hard time, or don’t show it often enough. But they know. And I think they’re happy and proud too. It feels good that they didn’t try to hold me back, but rather, pushed me to go. My parents even told me they wish they had this opportunity, something I can only try to share with them once I land in those distant lands.
They probably won’t read this, but I will be sending a separate message to them directly anyways.
OSP - One Special Person
I’ve mentioned S. a couple of times throughout this post, and over on this blog before. Her importance in my life over the past couple of months simply cannot be overstated. It’s always strange and awkward to try and explain it to friends, especially to those who have only heard about this story recently.
But she makes me feel like no one has before. And the mutual respect, connection and yes, blossoming love that we both feel towards one another, is unlike anything I knew was possible. This is a story you hear about in a soapy Hollywood rom-com. And yet it happened, despite the number of factors that needed to come together for us to meet, and make it work, and be able to meet around the world like we have been doing and will continue to do over the coming months. She makes me believe, in fate, in love, in myself, and in us.
I consider myself a pragamatic, a dreamer, a realist, but nothing in a million years could have prepared me for that. And during the good times and the bad, I’m ready to face it all, to meet with her halfway around the world.
Others
Before wrapping up this post, I’d like to talk about something I’ve had on my mind and wanted to express.
A couple of friends have mentioned some things that I wanted to address:
For those who said: "Oh man, I'm jealous, I wish I could do something like that"
Go, nothing is stopping you but your own constraints and limitations.
If you're in a situation where you work and rely solely on an internet connection, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in your way. Save up for a few months, and GO!
If you're in a different working situation, with a corporate position, or a job that doesn't allow you that type of flexibility, try and see the world on your own terms. Take a break or a sabbatical for a couple of weeks or months. Or if you're transitioning between your studies or between two jobs save up a bit and GO! You don't have to do it all at once, but I implore you to leave, go see the world, get out of your bubble and comfort zone. The world has never been smaller, and travelling has never been so affordable. Want to know my dirty little secret? None of my flights have cost me more than 350 Euros so far. If you keep an eye on regular promotions, leave outside of Big Vacation Time, and use a site like Kayak, Hipmunk, or Skyscanner, it's much easier, faster, and cheaper than you'd expect.
To those who said "You're courageous to go there on your own..."
That's one way of seeing it. The other way, the one I choose to see, is the flexibility that traveling alone allows me. Traveling with others means making choices together, picking places to see and missing out on others to stand together. Traveling alone, I can choose to do whatever I want, on my own agenda. And besides, between technology to keep up with the friends back home and around the world, local recommendations of things to do, and friends or friends-of-friends to meet around the world, it won't be all that lonely, in the end.
And finally, for the ones that I simply can't relate to, the ones who are scared of being away from their family or their friends.
You're the group that I can understand but not relate to. These ties to your friends and family are not going away. And if they care about you, they will want you to go and have these amazing experiences. If they truly love you, they will want you to go and find you coming back a changed person with a lot more experience of the world. Don't wait, don't hesitate, don't let yourself be caught up in the small excuses of day to day life. Time is the one real value that you can never get back.
Going back full circle, I just want to share this quote from "Shoe Dog", that I mentioned at the beginning of this post:
“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way. That leaves us, ladies and gentlemen. Us.”
Wrapping Up
Finally, as I’m preparing to wrap up this note, I just want to emphasise something else. It may look as if my decision to leave has been coming up fast (It has!) but you should know, dear reader, that I’ve had the will to travel, and take as close as trip as I could to a proper world tour, since watching Romain Corraze’s “Romain World Tour” project. Back in 2008, nearly ten years ago, Romain graduated out of business school. And before starting his career, he saved up money, and decided to go on a year-long world tour. Back then, I caught up on his videos (we didn’t call them Travel Vlogs at the time), and his blog. Then, I participated in an early crowdfunding campaign to finance his DVD, that I still have at home and re-watch at least once a year.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world from a very young age (thanks Mom & Dad!) but this video, this project, is probably the biggest source of inspiration towards taking this trip. It’s taken me nine years in full, between thinking about it, setting the plan in motion, and executing. Life is short, but leaving an idea mature overtime can sometimes lead to the best possible outcome.
In nine years, I’ve graduated from High School and University, had an internship in San Francisco, and when it fell apart, I found another one in Paris. Talk about Bouncing Back. Then, I came back to finish my degree, and then started working. I found myself in an entry-level job, later transitioned to freelancing. After nearly two years, I can afford to take what I consider to possibly be the trip of a lifetime. These things take time. But patience is the key, trusting that the efforts and good vibes you put in today will lead to a happier life and tangible results. As you can tell I’m a strong believer of Karma.
I’ll wrap this up, at more than twenty-five hundred words, with two more things:
If you've read all the way until here, Thank You, from the bottom of my heart. I'd love to know more about you, how you came to find and read this, who you are, and what you thought about this.
Know that this heartfelt note is but the beginning of a year full of adventures. This is only the beginning, welcome, we're all in for quite a ride!
The debate also included the three other main contenders — the Socialist Benoît Hamon, the Republicans’ François Fillon, and the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon — but it was the fight between Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen that riveted attention.
Here are my initial reactions from this debate…
The Candidates:
Marine Le Pen (Far Right | Front National) — criticizing every single topic of discussion, without providing a single solution. Attacked on all sides, because her ideas are incoherent in any way, shape, or form — and because all she tried to do was trying to make viewers/supporters angry or scared — the usual racist/populist far-right tactics.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Far Left | La France Insoumise) — Master Troll of the night, he made a lot of people laugh/smile (myself included) with the way he spoke, similarly to how Trump was seen as fun to listen to during the first G.O.P. debate. However, his program and knowledge of Foreign Affairs and Economy is severely limited.
Benoit Hamon (Left of the Left | Parti Socialiste) — Fairly discreet all night, mostly pushed his Universal Basic Income ideas —which I personally think is way too ahead of its time, right now. He was in a position where he attempted to sway potential voters who'd normally look at Mélenchon or Macron. Also went on a rant against Macron in the evening —which came seemingly out of nowhere and didn't move the debate forward in any way.
François Fillon (Conservative Right | Les Républicains) — hard to state how discreet he was last night, almost avoiding the spotlight. It used to be his strategy ahead of the debates inside his own party, however this time, it felt more like him avoiding topics altogether, considering the different scandals he's involved in. In my eyes, the only program that makes sense is his conservative economic program, and even then, it remains symptomatic of this generation of people looking to the past for inspiration, rather than focusing on the future. Our modern times are completely different than the second half of the twentieth century, and I personally believe that the way we make the economy, society, and foreign affairs work needs re-thinking.
Emmanuel Macron (Liberal Centrist | En Marche) - I'm not the best judge, simply because I'm partially biased. Last night, Macron got attacked on all sides, by all candidates. When they did, he most often took it with a dash of humor, responding with "If you'll allow me, I'd like to respond — I believe this is directly targeted at me/my program." Last night was a big test for him, his first big presidential debate in the spotlight, facing other candidates. By that standard, he stayed strong, however I noticed the media, both French and Foreign feeling like he could have done a better job or could have been more aggressive and sent Le Pen packing. In my eyes, Macron is the only candidate who blends:
a pragmatic program on all fronts (economy, foreign affairs, security, health, education, entrepreneurship, etc.),
a strong focus on Europe,
forward-looking ideas,
a desire to leave partisan-issues and mix good ideas, regardless of where they came from.
Other things to note:
I'm kind of bummed that they didn't have time to talk about other subjects such as entrepreneurship, technology, and more importantly France's place within Europe. However, running at 200 minutes (3 1/2 hours long), this was already a very long and draining debate, for candidates as well as us, poor citizens behind our television sets.
Overall, this was just as I expected — a good way to display each candidate's program, values, ideas or tactics while attempting to contrast or attack their opponents' ideas.
It'll be interesting to see how the polls, public opinion, and the first round of voting on April 23rd go.
Hey friends, work is drying up after a few hectic weeks & months.
At this point, I have between 30-45 days to figure out a better solution to find something new to work on. I still have a couple of smaller ongoing missions, but I need something better.
Two avenues...
The way I see it, I have two choices ahead of me:
I can look for another mission, some more client work.
Or, I can try and cook up my own thing. Whatever that thing may be.
Client Work
This is more in line with what I already do. The idea is to look for another mission, first through word of mouth, in my network of friends and acquaintances, and professional connection.
Ideally, I’d prefer working with people that I can already reach, around me — it’s easier, pays better, and beyond that, I prefer working with people that I know, where there’s already a built-in level of trust.
When it comes to client work, my reputation is at play, and thus, it becomes easier to convince someone to work with me if we already have contacts in common who can vouch for them, or for me.
Online Course/Coaching/Mentoring
This is slightly different than focusing on a client project, but setting up an online course has been on my mind for a long time.
Since I started working, over 6 years ago, I’ve come to realise that I love educating people about how to make the most out of certain tools, or how to get started with a new project.
It took me a while to realise that I now have enough expertise to pass it on to others.Ideally, I’d like to focus on a niche that I feel:
- …is underserved.
- …I am legitimate enough to try and help.
There’s just a ton of work associated with this, and as with all projects, starting it is one thing, but launching is another beast entirely. One that requires a lot of work and polish. But the idea of having this slowly-growing passive income on the side, is enticing.
[caption id=“attachment_27” align=“aligncenter” width=“1932”] Looking for some new work…[/caption]
Decisions, Decisions...
So yeah, that’s where I’m at for now. I still have more things to think about, and a trip to Amsterdam this weekend. But the bottom line is that I’d love your input — what do you think I should focus on?
Final Questions
So, to wrap this up, I’d like to leave you with two questions:
In this case :
- what topic do you feel I have expertise on?- what is the value and what are the strengths that you feel I could bring, in offering an online course?Thanks for your help you guys!
I always have a great time in this city, but the real reason behind the trip was to see her again, and be able to spend some quality time together. In all honesty, we were just looking for a good place to meet, in Europe, and The Netherlands happened to be a cheap and direct flight for both of us.
She had been in Amsterdam once before when she was a child, with her family. As for me, I spent a week in the Netherlands last year but only two short days in the city. The rest had been spent outside and visiting other places.
Looking back, we were been lucky enough to find some rays of sunshine during a weekend when the forecast promised fairly constant rain.
Day One: Traveling outside of time and space
The weekend started with the first flight of the day at 6:30am for me. I landed at Schipol airport at 8:30am and met with S a couple of minutes after that.
Seeing her, holding her, and kissing her felt unreal at first, after spending a month away from one another. But the good habits came back quickly and naturally: talking, holding hands, and giving one another a relaxed look full of excitement, love, desire, and happiness.
With such an early arrival, and small bags, we decided to make the most of the day and started walking around the city, delaying our hotel check-in for later that afternoon.
We started with a coffee in Bocca, a coffeehouse recommended by some of my local friends. We both needed that extra caffeine.
From there, we went to the flower market, on the canals, and then walked to Museumplein, the park and museums district. Around this green space stand 4 museums, amongst which the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Museum of Design & Modern Art and Moco, a mansion-turned-Museum where they were having two artists in display – more on that later.
Museumplein is also the area where stands one of the few “I am sterdam” signs – there are a few of those located at different landmarks across the city. Walking by the sign was also a great opportunity to take a couple of pictures together.
We continued our walk along the canals and charming old buildings, heading North. As we reached midday, we stopped at Fou Fow Ramen, a Sino-Japanese modern ramen bar. The hot broth and warm food were exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries and power through the rest of the day.
As an early afternoon food coma hit us, we decided to head to the hotel to drop our bags and take a quick nap, before heading back out later in the evening.
We got back to the city around 6pm and went searching for yet another cappuccino. Then came the time to introduce S to another Dutch specialty: homemade fries with satay/peanut-sauce.
We shared a small cone ahead of dinner and went on the lookout for a nightly canal ride under the rain. A ticket with Blue Boat Company gets you a 90 minute tour as well as snacks and a drink. With the city lights along the canals, needless to say that it was as scenic and romantic as one would have hoped.
After the tour, we looked for dinner and ended up at Lotti’s, the restaurant inside of The Hoxton, one of Amsterdam’s coolest hotels. She went for a mushroom soup while I lost my mind over a plate of delicious pumpkin raviolis. There was a great and hip atmosphere at Lotti’s. Keeping in mind that it was St Patrick’s day, the restaurant/bar was filled with a mix of tourists and locally-based hip creatives coming from the office. A great blend over a great DJ-set: I can only recommend this place for the food, drinks, and local ambiance.
Coming out of dinner, it was time to go and pay a visit to Amsterdam’s infamous Red Lights District.
The funny thing about this is that photos are absolutely forbidden, which means that walking in these streets in the evening is something to experience, not something that one can picture, explain, or show to people unfamiliar with it. As such, S found herself amused and confused by the situation both at once. She wasn’t sure what to expect, which is probably the best way to see the nightworkers in their element.
Once we finished our visit, we decided to head back to the hotel and call it an early night.
Day Two: More Life
We left the hotel around 11am in the morning after a good night of sleep. We got a quick breakfast at Caffè Belmondo, nearby, just before hoping on the tram.
The program for the day was to visit museums before lunch and improvise after that. We decided to start with the Van Gogh Museum, and followed it with the smaller Moco Museum.
The first one is fairly self explanatory: a huge building exhibiting the best work from one of the most famous and influential artists of the 19th century, on about 4 or 5 different levels.
Moco, on the other hand, had two temporary exhibitions, one on the surreal Salvador Dali, and the other one on Banksy. As fans of streetart, we just had to get our tickets, if only for the Banksy one.
After educating ourselves a bit more about the Arts, we went searching for food. S was in the mood for a burger so we naturally thought about hitting the Hard Rock Café nearby. However, with a 45mn wait at 2:30pm, we decided to go elsewhere. That’s when we stumbled upon Palladium.
Palladium is predominantly a bar that serves food. However:
They also serve one of the best cappuccinos in town.
The food is actually amazing.
We were happily surprised by the atmosphere, the food, and our giant Gin and Tonics. S had a refreshing cucumber G&T, while I chose a cinnamon & orange one.
Leaving the restaurant, I wanted to show S one of my favorite places in town, that I knew she’d like, The American Book Center: a four-stories-high building with magazines, stationary, and books on books on books, all in English, and offering a variety of subjects.
One can find anything from Arts, fashion and design books, travel guides, comics or poetry collections. They also have a concept I love: “Blind Dates”: books all wrapped up in paper, without a title or author, just a 10 words description to get you to buy and be surprised by the reading material.
Once we were down browsing, it was time for more alcohol, so we naturally went to BeerTemple, an American Beer Bar sporting close to 20 beers in tap and about three times the same amount of bottles of imported brews from all around the world. As both fans of India Pale Ales, we were delighted to discover new drinks to try.
From BeerTemple, I took the initiative to take_S_ to another lesser-known landmark of the city: the public library. Located on the edge of the river, just after the main train station, the building has 7 floors with a restaurant and a terrace overlooking the city, a great place to just take a breather away from the packed center of the Dutch capital.
Unfortunately the terrace is closed until the beginning of April and we couldn’t get out. However, the final stop of the day would take us to an even more scenic panoramic view.
Right next to the Library is the Doubletree Hilton hotel, and more importantly, its Sky Lounge rooftop bar. We arrived around 7:30pm to find the place packed and it took us a couple of minutes to find a table.
Once we got there, S ordered a champagne-based cocktail called Seduction, while I chose something vermouth-based. The drinks came alongside chili-flavored popcorn, a very interesting mix. We decided to also grab a bite while enjoying this very romantic and intimate moment. We shared a plate of cheese and a pumpkin risotto, before finishing with a sweet treat consisting of a Stracciatella, Hazelnut and Cookies’n’Cream ice cream from a local Dutch store.
We took an Uber out of sheer laziness to walk and then wait for yet another tramway, and called it a night.
Day Three: Flying back to reality
After a restful night of sleep, we woke up in the room, had a shower, packed, and decided to get breakfast at the hotel before leaving. The convenience of having a delicious breakfast at the hotel, a 10mn train ride from the airport, was too good to pass on.
We arrived at the airport just before 10am and I left S at the international terminal. Her flight was a couple of hours before mine, but considering her long-er trip, it was worth me coming with her, leaving her at the check-in gate, before finding my own terminal and security stand.
Once at the airport, I had my third and fourth coffees of the day, a quick lunch, and some time by my boarding gate, to relax, catch up on some articles saved in my Instapaper, read some comics, and send a few messages with my friends. I also messaged S and we exchanged some of the pictures we took over the weekend.
Realizing our growing feelings and affection towards one another, taking our tickets to meet in Amsterdam was the best decision we could have possibly taken. All weekend long, being with her has been an intimate and timeless experience, where it felt like we were the only two humans around at times.
I mentioned previously that S travels a lot for work, and should continue to be in this situation until at least later this fall. However, with my upcoming trip starting in April, this may turn out making seeing each other again even easier.
At this point in time, there are talks of meeting again on other continents in another couple of weeks, for more adventures together, and the only obstacle to those upcoming adventures would be related to her superiors preventing her to have this time off. Not a big deal, in and out of itself.
I don’t know why my future is made of, but right now, all I know is that she’s in it.
Jeanne Moreau, in 2001[/caption]
Looking for some new work…[/caption]
