Living the dream

I am writing this from Vietnam, in the middle of a round-the world trip.
This is a journey with many sides to it, but in a word I am traveling to amazing places, from world-known tourist spots to secluded places some locals do not even know about. A witness to the most surprising landscapes and situations, from central India to kenyan game reserves to quiet Shinto shrines in Japan, I am often at a loss to describe what I see, and my picture are but feeble attempt at rendering how stunning and alive the world is.
Traveling for 12 months, on 5 continents, with my girlfriend. No real "work", just working on my passion, meeting passionate entrepreneurs and sharing some insights with students hungry for knowledge and advice. This might have been true at all ages, but it feels like there is no better time than today to be doing what i am doing.
When I describe what we do, people ask me "how do you balance your personal and professional lives?", or "how did you make it happen?". But I never know how to answer them. On various occasions, I sat on a stage in front hundreds of students and young graduates, eager to know my secret on making "such an amazing (and romantic) project come true". My answer is the same as that of the other speakers on stage:
- "follow your heart"
- "anything is possible, do not forget that"
- "everyday do something scary. It is bound to bring you something good over time".

So, people say that I am "living the dream".
But I disagree. I am living a difficult time, having to manage myself, my relationship, travel logistics, sponsors and stakeholders, friends... and all those people are suddenly miles and time zones away, making it more difficult to meet for a coffee or even call them iup without risking to wake them up in the middle of the night.

The dream is what you see from the outside. For now, I get to experience it only at selected moments of quietness, mindfulness and focus. Those moments are the ones that will make it a dream experience when I look back over it, after it's over.

I wish it was already over and I would have only the good moments. But I still have to go through a few travel hazards. Somehow... I'm still looking forward to it :)

business ideas #3

You know what I feel really frustrated about?

It's when I learn that there was a great event.... yesterday or last week.
When I just missed really good opportunity. When I had the chance to hear some cool new idea, to share things with people from my crowd, when I didn't know I could have been at that relevant event and find out just too late.

They say the things you regret are the ones you did not do.

What I need is a way to find out what happened at an event that did not get too much press coverage, or for which the reports and reviews are very scattered, very diverse.

Tonight there was an event about "how to plan a world tour" if you are a student looking to go around the world on an ethical, social tour. I could not go.
But I would love to get the information!! and not just from the reviews by journalists and professional bloggers, but also visiting experts who don't usually blog, and just the average attendant.

I need a "rewind" button on the events I missed, and to be able to reply them in front of me as well. I need a mash of ideas, pictures, media, that bring to life the course of the discussion.
Just like TED.com does. Only for more events, for more people, more often.

Social Networking

Last Saturday, I found out on twitter that there were some movie tickets to win. I am following the SonyPictures French twitter account. So I answered the 3 easy questions on the quizz, filled in the contact fields, and went to bed, and then worked for the whole week.
A few days later in my mail was an invitation for 2 people to go and see the movie!

Awesome feeling, and great positive example of corporate marketing on the social network :
- Sony gets it right by offering contests and game on twitter;
- the winners are hooked: i'm sure to follow it regularly now, and to participate in the next games.
- it also succeeds in generating traffic towards the facebook page,which I have now visited, and otherwise wouldn't have.

Ironic fact: I won tickets to see the movie about Facebook... thanks to Twitter :)

True, yet awesome, story!

Amsterdam - SAIL 2010

One of the largest events of old ships in the world. With ships from Russia, France, Poland, UAE, ... Amsterdam got crowded!

Bruxelles - Musée de la BD

Explication schtroumpf - où l'on apprend l'origine de la langue schtroumpf. Approximativement.

European Tour - week 1

l'itinéraire est simple. Toujours en train. Hébergement chez des amis dès que possible.
une super semaine !!! :D

Larguez les amarres

Le matin du départ, lundi 16 août, vers 11h. Contrairement aux apparences, rien n'était prêt!