It’s been just over a month that we are in 2017, but things fall faster into place than I can keep track of. I want to take a little moment to reflect on January and to drive my vision for the rest of the year. At least as far as I can imagine it for now.
The year started off with this most magical experience at Wild Spirit, where I had the honor to connect with all kinds of likeminds from across the western Cape. Since then I’ve been part of at least three somehow connected, but still a little separated friend circles. But I’m building bridges between them fast.
Cape Town is famous for being cliquy. It’s said that its hard to make friends here, because everyone sticks to the cliques he’s connected with already. I somehow popped into several circles and ones you are in, you are in. You meet more people than you can remember, and suddenly Cape Town becomes your city. Your tribe. I guess it’s also because I’m a very open-minded foreigner and super social. At least when it comes to likeminds. So I’m having an easy time to get sucked into the Cape Town lifestyle and I LOVE IT.
This city is the most incredible place on Earth. At least as far as I can say. I’ve to mention that I haven’t been to many mayor cities in the western world. But somehow I doubt there’s anything comparable out there. I mean, really. Where else could you go for world class surfing + windsurfing, mountain hiking for sunrise and sunsets, enjoy super cheap and excellent wine, swim with penguins, have mind-boggling festivals and events, life-music in bars and art galleries, sunset beach jams and volleyball vibes, be in touch with nature and with first world city life, eat delicious and consciously made food and feel like being in the wild west, on the tip of a third world continent. I am truly humbled to call this place home. Then my mom visited me spontaneously for about 2 weeks and we’ve had such a great time exploring more of this stunning place, while experiencing the local lifestyle vibes and tribes. Meanwhile Nomad Convoy became profitable and we are set to go in just about 2.5 weeks! I can’t believe it…. 6 month of preparation and suddenly it’s happening. And it’s going to be so mesmerizing and jaw-dropping that people will queue to get a ticket for the next run in June! I did it. I built an adventure tour company as a functioning business and make a profit on the first run! Sure, the profit is nothing compared to the amount of time it took. Still, I call it a massive success and fuck yeah I’m proud as shit!! Sorry for the bragging, just need this sometimes. Better Me is also doing really well. At least for our standards. We’ve a small financial pillow thanks to our incredible volunteer family! I’m so humbled to see how strong our family has become and how committed everyone is. At the same time we started to grow our team to keep up with the incredible amount of work, as we keep driving progress toward a better future for our children. Several of our dream goals seem closer then ever now. We’ve two very promising projects to generate income in the next few month. One being the CoDome Co-workation (http://codome.org) and one being our organic tomato farm. Once we’ve financial sustainability in sight, we will also be able to start paying our hardworking team an allowance. We all need money to make a living and I’m tired of seeing our team working so hard, without making a penny. Same for me. The last few weeks have been a wake-up call for us and it’s time to make a mayor shift. I would even go that far to say that people like us, like so many of my friends, who work tirelessly for a better world, deserve to be paid by the value they add to this world. And that’s far beyond pocket money and we will make that shift happen.
So what’s next? I’ll be flying to Livingstone, Zambia in about 2 weeks time and welcome our clients a few days later. We will spent a few days around the Victoria Falls and then hit the road across the Southern part of Africa. And hell I’m excited! I even made last minute route amendments which will bring is through the Tankwa Karoo national park. Home to the magical Africa Burn festival. We will join the building and artist crew of Yggdrasil – Tree of Life for 2 nights, before making our way to the most southern forest of Africa to plant 8000 trees!
After this first successful tour, we will open sales for the next run in June. A reverse from Cape Town to Victoria Falls in just 3 weeks.
Right after the tour I will go back into the Karoo desert, to help finish the construction of Yggdrasil. We will spent about 5 weeks in the desert, the last week being Africa Burn. And I’m super stoked for this experimental experience of human consciousness, communal creation and the harsh conditions of the desert.
Afterwards I’ll return to Kenya in May to host our first Coworkation. And right after that we’ve the second tour for Nomad Convoy, plus our first run of Soul Circus (http://soulcircus.org). Once we arrived in Livingstone, we will join forces with Greenpop for their Festival of Action and do community outreach + treeplanting for a few weeks, before returning to Cape Town mid July.
What happens afterwards. I don’t know yet. I only know that I will have to return to Germany to apply for a long-term visa for South Africa. And around October I will return to Cape Town, settle more permanently and get my feet into the model and film industry.
But I also know that there’s still a major shift ahead of me. I know that my future is in technology. Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Space travel is exciting stuff thats going on and something I’ve been interested in since a long time. And somehow I know that it’s in these areas, where I will make my biggest impact for our world.
I’m in the flow, as many suddenly are. We just need to keep riding the wave. Enjoy every moment while keep reflecting on your overall direction.
Knowing that I’m on the right track is enough, there’s no reason to worry or overthink the future. Just stay on track, everything else will fall into place. The future is, and always will be, uncertain. Accept that, stay on track, and enjoy life!
Love xx
Torsten
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