First of all, I’m relaunching the blog, which is now part of LODLA’s collaborative playground community. This is a series about true nomad experiences, not only the “Instagramable” part of it.
If you’d like to share your honest experience, feel free to contact me at: connect@wwwweb.eu
Please join an authorization to publish your story:
Feel free to use formats you feel comfortable with: Podcast, video face cam, or text : pick your poison.
To give you a starting point, here’s an example: yes it’s me interviewing myself, so what ??
We got 20V100 here, who recently released a movie called The Wind. Previously, you also released a new E.P with that enigmatic collective called mdrt. Maybe you can tell a bit more about that:
The Wind
The Wind (mostly in french) talks about my experience as an entrepreneur, artist, and nomad over the past few years while building the LODLA project. As a musician, I’ve split my work into different parts and personas—Jarvislain, Gufftmachine, and mdrt. While making this EP, I felt like every part was blending together in an interesting way, so I decided to create a kind of band/collective composed solely of myself—fitting for an EP about loneliness. Since then, I’ve released a full album as Jarvislain, which feels like my first real album. It’s called Modoru.
Now it appears that you didn’t come empty handed. So there’s an extract from that new album and also, that podcast, mixtape, what it is ?
The podcast
theLostTape is a series of remixes, most of them have never been published. It illustrates well all those different parts and sides of my work. All put together it creates something fun, I think. Now it’s mainly a tribute to the 90’s, the music that was played on radio during that time, a bit of fun about it, video games and more. It’s a snapshot. There are some rehearsals, raw experiments, it’s also conceptual, just a bit, just enough.
Now, can you talk about the context in which you’ve produced Sozinho, one track of the Modoru’s album, the surrounding, whatever you see fit:
“I’ve been traveling since 2021, now. All along the way, I felt very lucky. Even during more unhappy moments. I’ve been in amazing places. I’ve met extraordinary people, from all over the world, and from a lot of different social backgrounds: investors, digital nomads, students, teachers, nurses, workers, coaches, waiters, entrepreneurs, sales people, from political backgrounds, etc…
About Sozinho
Sozhino is a Portuguese word, it sounds a bit like loneliness, but in my opinion, it’s deeper than that. It’s hard to describe a feeling. I felt it many times during that trip. It’s a major part of those experiences as a nomad I believe. Sometimes I’ve been very alone, renting a flat all by myself. Sometimes I lived in a very big Andalusian house with more than 10 people. Still.
“Everything is just for a moment. It’s ephemeral, just passing.”
And it’s not only about the digital nomad lifestyle, life’s like that. But as a nomad digital, everything goes faster, you know. In a regular lifestyle, going for vacation, for summer, for instance. So you’re visiting places and meeting new people. When you’re a digital nomad you do that, but almost every day. Every day there’s new people in the kitchen. Every day you visit a new spot. Especially when you are working. Spending so much time on a computer, it’s necessary, you know, to walk, to do something. You can’t stay all day long in a room.
From time to time I felt very lonely. And it’s also poetic and romantic, but it’s really a strange feeling because I wasn’t really, for the most part. And sometimes I felt maybe too lucky, like that moment. I felt so happy, really happy, you know, fulfilled somehow. And it’s strange because you are like, “Oh my gosh, it was so good. How can it be better?”
Loneliness can be good too. It’s an opportunity to think, to hear ourselves, maybe to grow up a little bit. I’m not complaining, like I said, it’s a blessing to discover so much on a daily basis.
About traveling
I’ve been mostly in Portugal and Spain. In Portugal I went to Lisbon, spent months there. Then I went to Peniche, Cascais, Sintra, Setubal, Costa de Caparica, which is also Setubal, I think. Some people think it’s part of Lisbon, which is somehow, because it’s so close, but yeah. Anyway, then, I went to Spain, I spent almost a year in Sevilla. I also went around Madrid, in Barcelona, and in a small, very small town. between Sevilla and Barcelona. On the way from one place to another I’ve made a few stops in Andalusia, most of it: Vejar de la Frontera, spend a week there. It’s beautiful.
About freelancing
Freelance work is ok, when it works. I’ve made the mistake to bet on one single platform and at some point it went really bad with a project who basically completely destroyed my profile. So I went from The top 10 to the darkness in just one review. Then it was really hard to find a new project on that platform. And… Months after months, I started to have money issues.
About volunteering
Paying the rent was starting to be very hard too. At some point, mixing together a few things in my head, I went volunteering. It helped me to keep some savings and I was also working on a city farming project. I thought it could be an opportunity to dig deeper, learn some techniques, like drip watering and… It appeared to be a very good experience too. I had three of them, and I’ve met very inspiring people, trying alternative ways of life, and I’ve learned a lot of things about permaculture and plants and vegetables and vegan cooking, children’s education, myself.. It was the opportunity to meet people I wouldn’t have met in other ways, that was inspiring.
I spent a week with a very very good vegan chef. He was a genius, I’m not exaggerating, he was making very very very good food. I’ve never eaten that well, including in official restaurants.
“Don’t put all your filters in the same synth :)”
About the set up: downsizing
I had many desks, and actually one of the best I had was during that volunteering period. A gigantic desk, in a palacio. I lived in a palacio for a month, a typical Spanish palacio a family was renovating (still is) while working the land around.
I had regular desks. Tiny desks. Now I really put it in my top priority list. A good desk. It’s very important. And a good chair. It’s very important too. Or a spacious table will also do.
I had to drastically reduce my belongings to be able to travel lighter than I was traveling in the beginning. I started to do what’s called downsizing and, two years after I have to say now I don’t miss anything. I can live with a few shirts, pants.. I’m really living in luxury because I have four different swimsuits, I think.
My setup is a 14 inch laptop with a very good screen. It’s quite an old laptop, maybe it’s 9 years old. My best investment ever. It was a gamer laptop in its glory days, so it was very powerful at the time and it still is. Sometimes I find it quite painful to use the 14 inch screen for graphic design, so I’m thinking of buying an external screen. Still, I’ve made many projects with that; graphic projects, print projects, logos, posters, banners, covers. Everything we can do, in the graphic and web design area.
I’ve learned to work only with my phone. I’m doing project management, I’m taking notes, recording vocal notes. Editing some documents.
I’ve also done some copywriting on my phone, on a long bus trip. I don’t take planes anymore. Just using the phone allows me to work even when I’m doing something else like walking, hiking, visiting and taking a break.
About consistency
Staying focused might be hard from time to time. Especially when I was in Lisbon, I was in Alcantara’s neighborhood, which is very close to the riverside. It is very chill. So, I was going for a walk every day, or for a run, and… There were always people here chilling, eating food smelling so good or having a drink and when you are just taking a break, like to get some fresh air. Maybe chilling a bit along the river, but just like for a moment, not for hours.
It’s kind of hard to go back to “normal” life and not stay longer, you know. It’s possible, it’s just moments when I needed to remember that I was already very lucky to be there, and if I wanted, from time to time I could go on the terrace and order something, but not every day.
It’s getting a bit of a routine, in the little things, so, doing a bit of fitness, and taking a shower: it sounds insta-cliché, but it makes a difference. Finding a lifestyle, a good lifestyle, like an active one, one that suits us gently. Not going into the mess because nobody will say anything. There’s nobody. There’s no witness. But, day after day, month after month, things can turn bad. It’s a matter of balance. Because also, with so many people around, and opportunities to do something, to visit, to party, it’s also nice to sometimes just go for it.
Same, not every day, but sometimes an iced coffee trip can turn into ordering beer after beer after beer, in the middle of the day and it’s also nice. Just not every day.”
You can watch The Wind (mostly in french) here: https://avecunv.com/cine-club/
Modoru is free to listen here: https://moderatorstudio.bandcamp.com/album/modoru
If you’d like to share your honest experience, feel free to contact me at: connect@wwwweb.eu
Please join an authorization to publish your story:
