Brock { Abroad }

Perhaps the best way to describe this city is like Amsterdam’s bitchier sister who is just as hot, but more in the ‘I can kick your ass’ kind of way. Rotterdam has chewed me up and spit me out, yet I still keep coming back for more. With gusts of salty wind, huge skyscrapers, and an impossible grind of cars, trams, and bicycles, she doesn’t give you the time to think. People aren’t strolling canals in circles, but crossing bridges with a direct destination in mind. Here, you work hard and you play hard. Any questions? If so, catch the nearest train back to Amsterdam; maybe someone up there will give you the time of day.

“The Glimpse Correspondents Program is for talented writers and photographers with a passion for storytelling and a knack for finding truly unique stories. The program is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 36 who will be working, volunteering, or studying outside of their home country for at least 10 weeks.”

Here is a artistic statement written from the prompt:
“Why you are interested in being a Glimpse Correspondent? We also want to know what issues you hope to explore and/or what kinds of cultural adventures you hope to embark on.”

On Pilgrimage:

The ability to craft stories that create a meaningful connection between author, reader, and the snapshot moments spent with people on the path makes up my life. When it comes to using my talents in a passionate way and making a positive impact on the world, storytelling is more than my medium. Storytelling is my passion. There is a Zen belief affirming that upon leaping, a net will appear. This seems a fitting statement for the story. My extremely brief life has been a journey of leaps that led me to Amsterdam. After a long and bitter cold winter squatting with circus performers in Montreal, I became a Knowmad. As a nomadic knowledge worker at The New Business School for the World, my other passion for travel is used on a daily basis.

Joining an international team of young social entrepreneurs working and learning from each other has challenged me to “combine, passion, business, and playful learning,” as our motto states. Studying process design, social innovation and sustainability, new business design, personal leadership, and international project design, Knowmads aims to “educate change-makers.”

I continue exploring my learning journey that has brought me on pilgrimage with purpose. From Santiago to Varanasi, Palestine to Paris, I view life as pilgrimage. I’ve realized now on this journey that the destination never seems to arrive. Taking this approach to heart, I find myself constantly exploring this theme in my writing while listening to the life philosophies and stories of people from all over the world.

When it comes to travel, it’s often the people that make the place. As we continue flowing into an increasingly chaotic world, there’s a certain silence in the stories of people, all over the world. I believe this creates a story in the telling that no other medium can quite replicate. In story, a voice is given to the voiceless. In telling, a much louder sound emerges. This is a sound that holds more power than any army could possibly provide. As a storyteller, I am seeking autonomy from a society that has mastered the art of fear in the unknown through mass-management and hysteria in media and politics.

As I explore myself further through my craft, I also want to explore the broader implications travel has on socio-cultural interactions and innovations. Through bringing people together, there lies a necessity for an authentic cultural understanding. Through story, I attempt to break down the barriers and stigma modern culture and society has been spoon-fed by mainstream media. Through their telling, I hope to close the border between places and their people. I believe this responsibility is the natural step that can break down not just borders within myself, but also the borders within this world.

Vs.

Good luck in the World Cup to two places I call “home!” Am I showing enough neutrality with these images?

I just took  a long bike ride through Rotterdam to say goodbye. I even took some photos of the brute beauty. The train ticket is bought. The bag is packed. I find myself yet again in another moment of movement. Read the rest of this entry »

I hopped on a plane for Europe knowing what I was passionate about and determined to find a way to make the terms on which I wanted to live my life and the the things I truly cared about work together. I ended up in Rotterdam, Netherlands a few months ago, where I first heard of Knowmads through a friend I’d made with my couchsurfing host. After putting down more and more of myself on paper, I knew it was time to take those thoughts moving. It had been almost four years since I’d been back to Spain, a year of enormous self-growth studying and living with a Spanish family in the south. A month later, I left Rotterdam to complete the Camino de Santiago, an over 300 kilometer walk through northern Spain.

I soon began to understand what Nietzsche meant when he said “Never trust a thought that didn’t come by walking.” Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Everyone!

   I am feeling much more refreshed and am happy to say that only 100 km. divide me and my conquer of the Camino de Santiago.  It´s been rough with rain, but otherwise I am having a great time! I am taking a quick internet break/picking up a better pair of pants here in the Galician city of Lugo and can´t wait to picking up the pieces of this blog once I get back. Thanks for reading out there and get ready for a new and improved blog for the new year. I´m not so good with technology, but my friend Pavlin managed to get this video up and running, so if you want to see me on dutch television, here´s your chance!

To today, everyone!

Click here for high quality video.

BBC News reports: “Children can be taught to use their imagination to tackle frequent bouts of stomach pain, research shows.”
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Perhaps the best way to describe this city is like Amsterdam’s bitchier sister who is just as hot, but more in the “I can kick your ass” kind of way. As a matter of fact, this city has chewed me up and spit me out, but left me coming back for more. With gusts of salty wind, huge skyscrapers, and an impossible grind of cars, trams, and bicycles, she doesn’t give you the the time to think. People aren’t strolling canals in circles, but crossing bridges with a direct destination in mind. In Rotterdam, you work hard and you play hard. Any questions? If so, catch the nearest train back to Amsterdam; maybe someone up there will give you the time of day.

It’s not surprising, then, that I reached the first obstacle of my trip here. Head spinning, my body lies like a rag on the sofa, my brain is fuzzy, and the television plays movie after movie, as if on repeat. Maybe it is on repeat. I’m not sure. The flu medicine is kicking in…
A foghorn drifts through the window; a bicycle bell jingles; People scamper by,
bicycle chains crank along screeching brakes as a stoplight turns red. A tram groans along its creaking tracks, crunching corners. A horn honks, a bridge erupts, some people (finally) stop. A ship churns along splashing water,
a boy ambles for his ball, a crane cranks overhead. The bridge snaps tight again, it’s rusted rotting chains back in place. The road begins to whip with wet tires.
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So, I spent a very brief time in Den Haag and realized that I needed to make a return. I heard of many interesting things I wanted to see in the city, however, something was telling me that it was time to move on to Rotterdam. Taking a tip from the family friends I was staying with, I went to a very typical Dutch town, Delft, on the way. There, I encountered a great market and bought myself a very nice leather cigarette case. Here’s the video:
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