I wanted to write about the end of summer, the recent gloomy days, and how to get inspired for the next chapter. I somehow managed to inspire myself while writing one of my recent article, my new motto “F*ck it, let’s do it ! ” aka do not let fear (of failure for example) dictate what you should do or not do.

You probably noticed a new layout of my blog, I felt the need of change but to be honest I kind of clicked too fast on this design and I did not know how to go back, so I just adapted to it. 😆 Please do not hesitate to comment on this article, giving me your thoughts about it. 🙏

I want to say that it’s not gonna be like in the movie Yes Man ! where Jim Carrey says Yes to absolutely everything which put him in difficult situations (spoiler alert 😅). It’s definitely going to be more purpose and goal oriented.

Btw, today is the day of the national flag in Ukraine, 🇺🇦, according to Wikipedia :

Since 1992 Independence Day of Ukraine is celebrated on 24 August.
According to the official version, on August 23, 1991 — after the failure of the putsch in Moscow — a group of people’s deputies brought a blue-yellow Ukrainian flag into the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada. The consecration of the flag was conducted by the priest of the UAOC Peter Boyk. The Decree of the President of Ukraine, L. Kuchma, “On the Day of the State Flag of Ukraine” No. 987/2004 was tied to this event, a corresponding picture was painted on the wall of the VRU, and this flag, like a relic, is solemnly kept under glass in the VRU museum. The next day, Ukraine declared independence.

Getting a stable position in a company I like

I totally enjoyed being a freelancer this year, it was a great way to work with the “distance” between my work and myself as a person. I mean that I would work as a company, and use my skills to provide the best service I could to my clients without being implicated into a new kind of family, with new colleagues etc.

I am definitely a sociable person, but I appreciated greatly this other kind of working organisation, and all the extra responsibilities it comes with (declaring your income, paying the company taxes, doing your own accounting etc..), basically all the duties that comes with running a company. I was my own HR and it was great.

I must say this U-turn to a more stable employee job, is most likely linked to the fact I am in a stable relationship for the past two years, and we feel the need to go to the next step anytime soon. It will come with moving back to France and one of us has to be the first one to step-in in order for the other one to follow. Yes, for the first time in my life, it’s not only about me but about US.

Coming back to Paris by bus & train

Wow, I am still tired today, it took me about 19h door to door to come back to Paris this time. I left my apartment in Wroclaw at 5 am and made it to Paris’ apartment at almost midnight last night.

I wanted to give it a chance, to reduce my carbon emissions with all those travels. I went by Flixbus to Berlin, then took a ICE train to Mannheim in Germany, and then switched to another train to Paris. I was so exhausted that I just could not walk anymore after the last train, and decided to offer myself a G7 taxi ride home, at least it was an hybrid…

I would do it again, I was never bored to death during this journey, and I allowed myself a long change in Berlin, to have lunch with friends over there. I would say that I organised my journey as a state of the art expert traveler, taking my time.

I could enjoy a nice roast of pork, braised in oven and crisp outside with Bavarian cabbage, dumpling and sauce, with nice alcohol free white beer. 🤤 We went to Augustiner Am Gendarmenmarkt, which is a nice place in the very center of Berlin. I would say prices where perfectly fine, and give how many locals where having there business lunch around us, it was definitely a place to recommend.

About carbon emissions

I don’t drive a car, and almost always use bus transportation when available or train, and of course plane for long distance. I always have in mind that I am emitting carbon and other polluants when traveling. I have always been keen to sort of compensate it by investing in trees and reforestation.

I can only recommend you to join our community of Tree Nation : https://tree-nation.com
They support a lot of different project, and you can chose to spend some money on whatever tree they plan to plant in different places. I found out about this organisation in 2013 when I subscribed to The Economist.
I have invested in a bunch of trees in Burkina Faso and Tanzania over the last ten years (and I hope they were planted 😅).