2022 goals

Back in March 2021, I decided to join the eco-community called Catfarm, and it reminded me who I truly am. I looked deep within and re-discovered the purpose that has been guiding me throughout the years: to provide a sustainable future filled with hope and meaning.

But when I glance at my current situation and the destination I’m heading to, I don’t feel satisfied just yet. How I want to build this future has yet to be within hand’s reach. I need clear goals to aim for: this article is a brain dump to structure my objectives and the path I want to take over the next few years.

Living in an ecovillage so far

Now that I have lived in an ecovillage, I don’t see myself going back to moving from one Airbnb apartment to the next. Even if it comes with hardships, I love living in a community.

The problem is, Catfarm won’t be a place where I can live full-time anytime soon. It’s a transitory community where people get to learn about alternative lifestyles and experience life-changing moments they wouldn’t anywhere else, but it’s not a place to become self-sufficient or provide a sustainable future. We can only get a glimpse of it. Spending Winter in Catfarm is already quite the challenge, so living in a world deeply affected by climate change seems unimaginable here.

I only accepted this fact last week. But it’s fine, and it doesn’t mean I must sever my ties with Catfarm: quite the contrary, I believe it’s going to be part of something much bigger.

How to provide a sustainable future

Even though I talk about finding a place to settle, I’m a nomad at heart. I cannot be fixed in one location for too long without going mad. I believe it’s a strength for an ecovillage dweller: because I’m not attached to a single location, I can adapt anywhere.

In fact, my idea is that we, Catfarm residents, can’t settle in a single place: we need to cultivate a resilient network of communities spread all over the world. Not a network like the Global Ecovillage Network, a true community of communities with trade agreements. We must seek self-sufficiency, but we cannot live in a closed bubble.

Living as a digital nomad for 3 years now, there is one recurring question that keeps popping up in my mind: where is the best place to live? None in my opinion. We are beings that are constantly changing, forever in movement, and I believe that’s how our lifestyle should be designed as well. We must explore. We must try as many alternatives as we can, and share our findings. This is the only way for us to find what truly works, for a better future.

That’s why I came up with the following goal: to create an eco-community in Sweden by 2027, as part of Catfarm Education’s network.

A nomadic community

The general idea is to have a few terrains across Europe with mobile shelters, moving according to the seasons to leverage weather conditions and reduce carbon emissions. Bell tents, vans, sailing boats… you name it. Sweden in the summer. France, Spain, or Portugal the rest of the year. Ideally, the locations would be close to the sea, to perform lengthy trips by sailing boats, and close to Eurovelo routes to increase local mobility.

My goal can be broken down into the following two objectives:

• To own a livable plot of forest land in Sweden by 2027.
• To gather a crew of 5-12 persons willing to commit to be on-site for at least two years by 2025, to kickstart gardening and building projects.

In a world affected by climate change, some countries will have it way better than others, and I think it’s primordial to invest in them as soon as possible. Scandinavian countries are obvious choices with plenty of natural resources and the freedom to roam. I lived in Sweden for a year and I loved my time there, hence the country choice.

The second objective is still quite blurry to me at this stage. I need to elaborate more on my vision of the project before finding the right people to embark on this journey with.

The first one implies a monetary condition. From what I gathered online, I’d have plenty of choices to own a few acres with 50,000 euros. How should I go about raising these funds then?

Saving 50,000 euros by 2027

In conclusion, my main objective is to save 50,000 euros by 2027. And to do that, I broke it down into two sub-objectives:

• To secure at least 1000 euros in monthly recurring savings until 2026.
• To generate 5 income sources by 2023.

For now I only have one income source, which is Embarque, the company I work for as a technical writer. I can reach the first objective by making a full-time income of $1500 per month from technical writing by the end of Q1 2022. Meaning I need to work 3 hours per day as a freelancer, or write 10 articles per month. I’ll reach this amount at the beginning of next year.

I also want to generate four more income sources over the next year. My priority is Embarque but I also want to work on projects related to sustainability, entrepreneurship, and web development. I start the day with Embarque, fulfilling my desire to master marketing and technical writing, and I leave some time for community life at Catfarm and the development of side incomes.

The website you are currently reading is one of them. It’s where I talk about my personal lifestyle, showcase my art, and write essays. I don’t do SEO and focus on daily short-form content. I use it to regroup my thoughts, kickstart conversations, and nurture new opportunities through serendipity. I monetize it by redirecting you to Embarque, where you can hire me.

My next three projects will be out sooner or later. I can’t say much about them, except for the fact they each address a niche interest of mine.

Follow my journey on Revue

If you’d like to follow along as I progress toward my goal, I publish a new blog post here every day. Tomorrow I’ll be detailing my writing process, with the hope to give you some insights on how to become a better writer yourself. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to find out what happens next!