07/11/2025
10 years already!
On November 4th 2015, I landed in Shanghai. I was on a mission to step out of my comfort zone and to try to make something happen. I had my camera, a few lenses and accessories, my laptop, and a head full of healthy delusions... Oh! And a return flight ticket for 6 months later in case things went really bad (it barely cost more than a one-way ticket, plus the Chinese customs are not fans of one-way tickets).
As you can guess, I never got on that return flight.
** This is the only photo of myself around that date that I was able to find. I know... sexy! 😎
In my head, it was an experiment.
"If I go to this exotic and strange land, it might spark something and get the ball rolling. And then, who knows where it will take me. As long as I'm getting closer to being able to live off my art or whatever my brain creates, I'm happy... wherever I am."
I thought this thing would probably last a year or two. Then, I would come back a better man. I would use the momentum, the acquired experience, great projects and new ideas to push my creative "career" back in my hometown.
I would like to say that things didn't go as planned, but I didn't really a plan to begin with. It's been a roller-coaster of amazing memorable moments, unexpected turns of events, hardships and tribulations.
I was able to reach my goal of living off my creation for a while. At times more successfully than others.
Right now... I'm at a foggy crossroad in the middle of the night, but I'm optimistic about the next 10 years. One thing I've learned during that last decade is that I'm not going to live forever, so I have to make the most of each day.
If you told me on the day that I landed in Shanghai that I would still be living in Asia 10 years later, I would have laughed. "Yeah, right!"
