Alex in motion

August is just as lovely as July; the days are still very warm and long, with over 14h of daylight, and the evenings are fresh, sometimes requiring a long shirt and jeans to be cozy. I’ve settled into life here quite comfortably, and have even picked up a few small contracts to keep my mind occupied.

The first is to develop an e-commerce store for Stefan’s business partner in Lichtenstein. It’s been while since I developed anything myself, but really need the cash to supplement my dying travel budget. Plus it’s good for me to keep up to date on the latest technologies. The second is to help a local web development agency. They produce lovely designs, but not all of them are very usable. So I make recommendations to improve the overall user experience, resulting in a website that’s much easier to use. Both these contracts can be done remotely, so they will allow me to work while travelling.

In terms of online services, Poland is still several years behind North America. As such, there are many opportunities to be found, and Stef and I are trying to setup a business. We agreed it would be relatively easy to copy a successful business from Canada and paste it in Poland, and that’s exactly what we are discussing. Although progress is slow, if things go well, I could have the passive revenue stream I’ve always been aiming to achieve.

Work aside, Stefan is doing his best to convince me to stay in Poland long term. He’s trying to find me a nice Polish wife, something my mom would love to see, and is generally going out of his way to make me feel comfortable and appreciated. We still train at the gym together 3 times as week, and spent many evenings drinking wine and laughing at each other.

We’ve also spent many afternoons at the “mobile office”, which means bicycle rides along the river that cuts through Warsaw. While in Montreal, there was many sunny and warm days where I would kick myself for having to go into an office all day, longing for a majestic motorcycle ride instead. Well, I’m finally living that experience here: when it’s cloudy or raining, I’m usually working in an indoor office. But during sunny days, I either setup my laptop on a restaurant terrasse or ride the bicycle with Stef. 🙂

Several years ago, I was in Tuscany, driving along some of the most dazzling landscapes ever witnessed. I wanted to accelerate through the tight curves in the low-powered rental car but my girlfriend at the time was afraid and kept asking me to slow down. Then several high-powered motorcycles zoomed past, and I promised myself to return one day on a motorcycle. Well, that day has finally arrived!

A few weeks ago I met a charming Polish girl named Weronika. She’s a motorcycle chick, and we’ve had several days trips around Warsaw. At one point she mentioned she’s travelling alone on a 3 week motorcycle trip around Europe, including Italy. Without hesitation, I invited myself. We leave on Sunday, Sept 4th, head down to Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and along the Croatian sea (although I’ve seen the coast before by car, I’m eager to re-experience it by moto). Then we head west through the Italian mountains and down to Tuscany, before heading north again through Germany and Czech Republic. This is a dream come true! Since Stef’s Yamaha R6 is much too sporty, I rented a 2010 BMW R1200GS Adventure. It’s designed for very long trips, and even comes in my favourite colour, red.

Last week I was invited to Runmageddon, a boot-camp style race similar to the Tough Mudders or Spartan race. It was a 6km course with 30 obstacles such as running through tires, climbing ropes, slopes and walls, jumping over bags of hay, trudging through thick mud and dense forests. Although not in top shape, I was up for the challenge and joined thousands of fellow masochists for the event. Stef and a friend came to cheer for me; Stef called me a “pussy” and a “slow fucker”, while my friend encouraged me with “you can do it, don’t give up!”.

The event was extremely well organized, with a huge field, tents for post run massages, grilled meats, ice cream and hot showers. I completed the race in 1 hour and 20 minutes, which I think is a decent time because I didn’t walk much. The only real challenges for me were the rope obstacles, as the mud made it impossible to climb. Anytime you couldn’t physically perform an obstacle, they allowed you to do 20 burpees as an alternative; I did them three times.

People keeps asking whether I’ll stay in Poland. Life is easy here, so while it’s very possible, I’m not sure how I would manage with the cold and dark winter days. Since it’s not really a choice that needs to be made at the moment, it’s not something I think about often. Time will tell. For now, I’m enjoying myself and being present.

I’ve been visiting Poland every year or so for the last decade and a half. It was my very first European destination, and it’s wonderful to see the steady and continuous growth of my grandparents’ homeland. In many ways, Poland is several years behind North American standards, especially with things like proper customer service and general efficiency. On the positive side, food is mostly locally grown and is therefore much higher quality and traditional family values are mixed with immense respect and courtesy.

The main reason why I return so often is because of my buddy, Stef. Like me, he’s half Canadian and half Polish. Unlike me, 15 years ago he decided he was done with Canada and investigated his Polish roots. Now completely settled in Warsaw with his lovely wife, Ola and their daughter, Bella, he lives the good life. So when he invited me to witness the birth of his second daughter in September, I accepted immediately and elected to stay much longer. Until now, I’ve been really happy with the decision. Settling in Poland was exactly what I needed after experiencing traveler’s fatigue.

I arrived on June 30th, a day before my birthday, and immediately proceeded north to the coast. Stef was staying at a cottage with a few good friends, and we spent several days splashing around in the sea and local lakes, playing card games, eating and drinking. Mostly drinking though (this is Poland after all!)

Stef set me up with a cozy, recently renovated and well-located apartment. Aside from a table and few over-sized chairs, the place was virtually empty, so I had to buy basic things such as cooking utensils, towels, lamps and pictures to make the place more functional and welcoming. Also, the fridge and washing machine had to be replaced, along with the thin and crappy foam mattress. Luckily everything is being reimbursed by the owner, and I just received his approval to buy a couch, coffee table, rug, new kitchen table and chairs, and office chair. Once I’m done, the place will be perfect 🙂

Aside from nesting, I had a few guests. The first was Sonja, a world traveler from Holland whom I met while in Hong Kong. She was passing through eastern Europe and had never been to Poland before. We started the tour in Krakow, visited the Salt Mine of Wieliczka, a World Heritage Site. Then returned to Warsaw to party for a couple of days. Sonja’s an adventurous and fun girl, ready for anything.

My second guest was a fellow Montrealer who is also on a round-the-world tour. Tianna is travelling west while I am travelling east, and we crossed paths once in Seoul, Korea. She also had never seen Poland, so we partied in both Warsaw and Krakow. Since we had more time in Krakow, aside from the salt mine we also visited Auschwitz. It was my second visit and it’s very sad and humbling experience. It’s unbelievable what humans can do other humans. Anyway, Tianna has an incredible history of her own which I still encourage her to write, is very easy going, and is the kind of girl you want to make laugh as often as possible.

Without routines, how do I spend my days? Well, first I wake up whenever my body tells me it had enough sleep. Usually that means between 9:00 and 9:30, but can be as late as 11:00, depending on what time I went to bed and how many drinks I had the night before. Then I make sure to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, in that order. Sometimes I get confused and eat lunch before dinner and vice versa, but I’m working on that 😉 Meals are generally healthy and I try to keep alcohol consumption to a minimum, but that’s challenging (this is Poland after all!)

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I join Stef and friend, Michal at their office, browse their WiFi for a while, and then we head to the gym. Our typical workout is a 5km run followed by 40 minutes of rapid-paced strength exercises and we walk out feeling like a million dollars.

Some days I borrow Stef’s Yamaha R6 and zip around town with a friend, but I quickly learned that Polish drivers are very hard to predict and are just as likely to make room for you on the road as they are to swerve into your lane with complete disregard. Further, the roads around Warsaw are nearly all straight, which makes for a less than exciting ride; riding is all about curves. Further, the R6 is a full sports bike, so the 8h / 500km rides I used to do around Montreal are just not possible; your arms, back and butt hurt too much after a couple of hours.

Other days Stef and I discuss business opportunities, as there are many gaps here. We don’t even need to come up with an original concept; you can take something that works in North America and apply it to the Polish market. Copy + paste = done. Maybe I’ll be part Polish business owner one day.

Lastly, afternoon naps are common, as well as time spent reading and watching movies. There are 17 hours of daylight and the warm weather is perfect for t-shirt and shorts. Overall, it’s a very tough life, and I’m enjoying every moment of it 🙂