The first tagline of this blog was “I dream of quitting my desk job and doing this instead” (raise your hand if you’ve stuck around from so long ago).
Some of you were already here when I first downshifted and then quit my desk job, all because I knew that working remotely would allow me to go back to that nomadic lifestyle I loved so much during my youth, when I lived in London, Madrid, Dublin, and Slovenia.
I didn’t want to mimic the Instagram lifestyle of digital nomads working from a beach in Southeast Asia either; except for several months in Bristol, I basically stayed in my hometown of Rome. However, I was finally free to jump on an airplane to attend whatever street art festival was happening.
Photo by Foto Giove
Things will be slightly different from now on.
I’m moving to Amsterdam for the best job ever, something that will bring me behind the scenes of the soon-to-be-open largest street art museum in the world, and I’m so looking forward to beginning yet another new adventure, despite the fact that it will require a less nomadic lifestyle.
Photo by Foto Giove
Photo by Foto Giove
I will still attend street art festivals around Europe, and I’m even thinking to go to Miami Art Basel in December, but I will also spend some time exploring Amsterdam and the Netherlands, and building some kind of social life in a city where I don’t know anyone yet.
Photo by Foto Giove
Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself, why I submit myself to these drastic changes that necessitate trying hard to meet new people, which is not exactly the easiest thing to do in your 30s, let alone for someone as shy as me.
(I know from my vlogs you would never say that I’m an introverted person, but I truly am).
Photo by Foto Giove
From the outside, it might look insane to quit everything and leave, once again, just for the sake of adventure. (or for “perhappiness’ sake”, as I call it). To be honest, it looks insane even from where I stand, which is in the midst of piles of clothes and not-yet-closed suitcases.
Photo by Foto Giove
Photo by Foto Giove
However, what I’ve always wanted the most is writing my own story and making sure that I write a story that I love, a story that I’m proud of, not a story that someone else has written for me.
Photo by Foto Giove
Sometimes this means leaving my loved ones behind and ending up regretting all the warmth that I sacrified.
Photo by Foto Giove
But it’s also the thrill of a new chapter, the search of what inspires me to wake up everyday. It’s the courage to press ahead and to believe in what I do. It’s the serenity to accept that right now I might not have a partner, but I do have myself and I do have this little blog, which is bringing me around the world and offering me the pleasure to write about the journey. And all because I dared to “dream about quitting my desk job and doing this instead” in the first place.
All photos are taken by Michele at Foto Giove, check out his Instagram account!
