10 years... What happens next?
This time I'm back even sooner, after only 6 months since the last digital letter to the universe (aka blog post) I'm yet again in an airport, life is slowly getting back to what it was pre-pandemic and so is travel, so surprise surprise, my blogging memory is returning too! I think a few years ago I mentioned how airports make me reflect and think a lot about life and everything that happens, that I'm sad, grateful or excited for. Here we are again, more importantly, here we are after 10 years exactly (give or take a few days) from when I moved away from my home country, Romania, and took the biggest leap of faith in myself and the universe making it all happen! It's been a heck of a ride and it brought an immense amount of things, people, places and knowledge I never even dreamt of. Last night, coming back with some of my friends I made through some miraculous match of fates, we were discussing life and youth and doubt and how everyone says your 20s are your best years, but that's not entirely true! This is philosophy in an Uber in Berlin at midnight 101, so bear with me here, because we thought your 20s are actually the most stressful and challenging decade of your life, maybe you just finished school, maybe you got a job or two or three, maybe you are following your dream or making ends meet, maybe you're a carer or maybe you are a digital nomad, the issue is in our 20s none of us know what we're doing (ok fine, the majority of us), we're trying to figure out life and work and love and family and friends and we always think we are doing worse than everyone else, we doubt our decisions, we fear committing to a risky path or we regret where we end up. You don't really really know yourself, the world, what you want from life, work or love, and it's hard, so hard! I'm half a year away from my 30s and looking back at my 20s I did share with my friend that I had the same struggles, nothing was ever perfect but nor does it have to (learnt that the hard way) but I'm ok with that now and I'm grateful for every single moment, good, bad, happy, sad that brought me here, because I finally know who I am and kinda where I am going, so now the real fun begins! On the other side, your 20s won't be all bad, you'll have maybe more freedom to take risks, try out stuff, quit stuff, make mad break stuff, go all in and full on or walk...run from what you recognized is bad for you, so all hope is not lost, they won't suck as much as my previous statements make it seem.
Now, there's another thing I realized, I've been writing my traditions anthology of Romania for a long time and it seems to not make much progress, so I thought, instead, I'll make my virtual letters to the universe in an anthology, put it out there for the world and give it a go, published author (indie and for free) has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? So maybe, if you're reading this not on my blog, it's already another dream come true!
As far as life updates go, well a lot happened in the last 6 months, I'll try to summarize it all in a few bullet points (the product manager in me speaking now), we'll do this by months:
- April, I did manage to go back home to Romania, it was a lovely break and got to see everyone, as well as been there for my dad's passing anniversary, which was lovely, to finally celebrate his life with my family, unfortunately, that was also the last time I said goodbye to my maternal grandmother, it was bittersweet as I knew deep down it was our last goodbye. I couldn't make it back for the funeral, but I did buy all her clothes and accessories for her to take on her last journey from the UK, so I will always be with her in spirit and she with me!
- May, was a quieter month on travel, but was very intense at work, preparations for summer and recruiting more people, as well as some events and speaking applications!
- June on the other hand, that was a whirlwind. My Expert Engineer program started, guess where, in Dallas, Texas, yup in 40c+ temperatures and I was there for two weeks. It was amazing but also exhausting, though my highlights include the food there, seeing my manager and team in person after years of working together and the Dallas Modern Art museum, highly recommend 💓
- July, this was a fun month, but with quite a bit of travel, my sister, brother in law and nephew came to visit us and stayed for around a week, we did a lot of fun things but mainly enjoyed being together, it was amazing, and two months later he still keeps asking when they're coming back next, guess he loves Scotland, or us, whichever works 😅 This month was also the moment of truth for my graduation and my niece's one, which of course happened in consecutive weeks, so we went to London and then Bath for each of them. It was an emotional time and I did feel bad that my family couldn't attend again, after the fiasco last summer, but they saw me live thanks to the wonders of technology! My ceremony was in Bath Abbey, and was great but am grateful it's my first and last that I'll most likely take part in during my life, PhD programs are scary stuff.
- August came and this was a slightly less busy on the personal and travel side, but very demanding from work, where I started onboarding my 3 new hires, yes, I am officially a manager, internal screaming ensues everytime I mention this 😱. I hope to be a fabulous and supportive one, so putting a lot of thought and energy into their onboarding, growth and clarity of roles & strategy, especially since they are split between the UK and US, a bit more on that later. We took a mini-vacation to the Highlands, to go on the Jacobite steam train experience, yes the Harry Potter one, and can totally recommend the first class tickets with the high tea, excellent investment. We really needed a holiday with everything happening and a quick getaway to nature was what we needed, the weather was glorious and we even swam in a waterfall, the Witch's Cauldron, but I'd say it was more like an ice bath instead, totally worth the cold though.
Here we are, in September, and the fun won't stop, actually it's getting turned up to 11! To end August and start the new month, I'm here, in Berlin with my awesome TMBers enjoying our student competition winner's trip. It was for 3 short days, but what a brilliant, action packed 3 days it's been. From an epic Kytes concert, hanging out at UFA and RTL Audio, to dinner at Cecconi's in Berlin, everything was stellar, especially the people, old and new, that were with us along the way 🎉
Having this trip, remembering the last 10 years, celebrating my achievements and being surrounded by exceptional people, I'm grateful, humbled and proud of who I've grown into and where I'm at. If the next 10 are anything like the past 10, I'm in for another fun but challenging ride, though I think as you get older it gets easier so I'm looking forward to enjoy my 30s, work hard and use everything I learnt in my 20s!
Love and light always xx
Alex
