365 Days Later
When I first arrived in Spain, I had no idea that I’d be staying in the same place for a whole year. My modus operandi was running away and making sure that my past stays where it belongs. But during my stay in Viveiro, I started looking forward, actively shaping my new life.
To understand where I am I had to understand where I came from. In the past year, I had a lot of time to breathe, pause and reflect on my reasoning to why I left my old life behind. I am sure that everyone has dreams and desires of places to visit, adventures to live and wishes of how one’s future plays out and if people are in control and in a good place in life, they have choices. I did not feel like I had many choices, I could either continue the downwards spiral of living a life I cannot bare and risk sinking into deeper and deeper depression, or just dash forward towards the journey of a lifetime in which I will find a place where I can be myself, where my inner self can flourish, and I can find my destiny.
Arrival
What I realized here in Viveiro is that everything I have done since I left was nothing but fleeing from my past. Reading my very first blog entries about my plans to sail straight into the Caribbean Sea, the road to freedom, all that was still fed from desperate dreams and had no bearing. It was just the hope that I could find something there, not even knowing what I am looking for. How could I, as the
only decision I made until then was to not live like before. It is here where I, in a metaphorical sense, feel like being in the Caribbean. Where I do not feel the urge to flee from the past anymore and just stopped running. And most importantly, it is here where I was able to start looking forward, actively shaping my new life.
Becoming a Nomad
For me, a nomad is an optimistic and adventurous person who does not need to be in a certain place cause nomads are able to make any place their own. They adapt to new surroundings, new cultures and can find jobs to make a living anywhere in the world and are not afraid to put themselves out there asking for help and gathering valuable information. And this little Galician town nestled between mountains taught me exactly that.
That I love this way of life and that I can utilize my skills and trades to survive on my own and find joy in it. In retrospect, independence was what I always strived for but could simply not elevate to a level required to satisfy my inner needs. Moving to Denmark, riding a motorcycle in the weekends, buying a boat, it was just not good enough in the long run. At times, I recall myself actively creating problems just to get the thrill facing and solving them. As a nomad however, problem solving is part of the lifestyle when encountering ever changing circumstances and that goes for sailing as well. Changing plans on the fly, observing, and adjusting, that is what gives me satisfaction and energy.
Finding Passion
During my stay in Viveiro, I also had a lot of time to think about my financial future. For most people it was clear from the start that I had very little idea of what I want to do once I left in 2020. Except for me. Ever mounting pressure to make a living while still running away from something makes poor judgement of what one really wants to do.
I tried many different things, I even thought of selling art at street corners although my talent as a painter is, let’s face it, close to non-existent. I just needed to be in a different place to find my passion, I needed a pause, a reset, a breather, to stop running. And so, I started to carefully select and shape my areas of work. This blog and writing in general are my passion. I like the idea of sharing my story and becoming better at expressing myself while taking a deep dive into my psyche and memories to inspire others. But that does not make a living, it’s what it is, a passion project with potential to expand on in the future.
Be a Freelancer
To become a freelancer means to become self-employed. And being self-employed comes with a whole set of own challenges like for instance self-motivation and I think in the past months I found myself a good mix of work that keeps me motivated and excited as well as keeping my head above water. My current work portfolio consists of graphic design and creating marketing material, doing market research as well as ordinary translation jobs
for in between. It is a good mix that utilizes my professional skills, my native language as well as my long-time hobby of working with Photoshop, Illustrator, and graphic tablets. I like my jobs and wish to expand on them in the future to live as independent as possible.
Onward!
Always forward on the path! My journey has just begun. I want to see many more places, meet many more people and am excited of what the world has to offer. For the first time I feel like having the tools to build my future, a shovel to reinforce the path and a compass for directions and the one thing I needed to get those was time. About 365 Days.
I’m so happy to share with you what’s to come, I am working on quite some projects and of course there also will be much more sailing than in the past. I can’t wait to explore the Spanish coast, heading further south, visiting Portugal and the Balearic Islands until I reach the Canaries to find a place to winter.
Finally, I want to thank all of you for tagging along and your support! I am especially grateful for my loving family and friends who supported me on my journey which without them would simply not have been possible. It means so much to me.
May we meet again!
Yours,
Marco
