Solo

I am satisfied with how working remotely impacted my goals over the last years. Traveling alone helped me build my character: I know myself better, I have become more self-reliant, and overall I feel pretty confident about who I am and what I want from life.

It’s not as good as it sounds though. It feels incredibly lonely at times. When you live in a place for a short period of time, whether it is a few weeks or a month, building long-term bonds is hard. Being an entrepreneur doesn’t help either since it’s hard to divide work from life. A lifestyle of perpetual traveling makes you more appreciative of interpersonal relationships.

Something Picasso’s character said in the series Genius (season 2 episode 3) truly echoed with me : “It takes more to be an artist. The only way to be a true artist is to work day and night, to devote yourself body and soul. Do you have any idea the level of loneliness it implies? Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.”

From my experience, most people end up crushed by solitude and decide to go back to their previous sheltered lifestyle. I believe, however, that you need to think about it in terms of seasons: solitude is only a part of the cycle, you need it, but you also need to balance it with friendship and family. Learning to identify this cycle is the hard part.