How I ended up here on steemit

I'm a typical Belgian dude who loves chocolate, beer, fries and waffles! I grew up on the countryside in a small village. It's a nice and quiet place with lots of fields. Now how did I end up here, you might ask?

Growing up I have always been interested in technology, multimedia and games. As a young teen, I have found myself exploring Photoshop, video editing, webdesign and looking up the latest technology. I have always been fascinated by computers. I looked up at the guys that were able to build their own computers.

More and more did I float away from building computers and going towards multimedia and webdesign. Creating websites was fun. I learned to code HTML and CSS really well. I started to experiment with Javascript and php.

When it was time for me to go to University-college, that's when everything changed. I started studying web-development and multimedia. That's what I wanted to do, or at least I thought so. All of a sudden everything changed from doing what I want, to doing what the teacher told! I couldn't do my own anymore. I couldn't study what I wanted, but instead follow a strict path. It was limiting me. It changed me. I hated it so bad, I still don't like it anymore. So I quit.

After that fiasco I graduated as a mechanical engineer. Still interested in the latest technology and wanted to built stuff, it was a great choice. I received an offer as an engineer with a company specialized in robots and automation. I signed it.

Time for travel

After graduation and before I started working I still had some free time. Perfect time for travel! Booked a flight to Norway with my mate and went on a 10-day hiking trip through the mountains. To make a long story short. I found myself wild-camping in the middle of nowhere, taking a dump on the top of the mountain, drinking fresh water from a waterfall, sleeping in cabins and getting stuck in a mountain-storm and almost freeze to death. For the first time I felt alive and free! No technology, no electricity, no running water, just plain old nothing. I loved it! There was nothing to stop me from being myself. It's so rewarding and freeing.

You can read about my stories more in detail over on my blog kevinoutdoors.

Disaster strikes

Now on the last day of the trip, while descending a steep mountain next to the waterfalls something bad happened. The weather had been good all day. We made amazing progress and were able to cover a big distance really fast. Just as we arrive at the steep part, weather changes very quickly. The weather in Norway is very unpredictable. It's not uncommon to have sunshine, hail, snow and heavy rain in the same day. Very quickly it started to rain. The rocks started to get very slippery.

Before we made it down, I slipped and fell. Immediately I felt pain in my knee. I did slip and fall a lot of times, but this time it was different. I persisted and we continued our descend, but at a much slower pace. Luckily it was the last day, we made it safely back.

Back home, I didn't think much about it. I rested and the pain went away. I started blogging and working on my Instagram page. I still had some free time left. Norway really ignited my wanderlust! I've been thinking about traveling ever since. I can't get it out of my head.

After 2 months I started working, had a great job. But 5 months later the pain started to come back in my knee. It was severe and I had a hard time walking. So I had to see the doctor. Apparently I had ruptured my meniscus and was in need of surgery. This was bad.

After a recovery time of 6 weeks, I continued my job. Only to get hit by karma again. I twisted my ankle and ruptured my ligaments. My boss wasn't happy, but it was an accident. I stayed in a cast for a month and had to recover another 4 weeks on top of that.

Good thing I finally healed up and went back to work. Only to get hit by strike 3. It all has been a bit much for my leg with lots of instability. After being back at work for only 1 week I suffered from a swollen tendon and plica-syndrome in my knee. I was home again for a very long period (over 2 months). There's still a big possibility I need new surgery.

More travels

I went back to work and it doesn't come at a surprise that my boss fired me. With the possibility of a new surgery he didn't want to risk it. He had to let me go. I was prepared for it, but still I felt so bad that day. I was down.

The next day, I felt a relief. My boss fired me and I felt free! I've been thinking about traveling for over a year now and all my excuses to stay home disappeared. I didn't need to be home for recovery or for work. I had also saved a little bit of money. Well it was far less than I intended to save up for travel, but still enough to get me started.

I got fired on a Monday and was on the plane to Barcelona that Friday! Me and my mate broke up a long time ago and it was my first time traveling alone. I sat there on that plane, with a smile on my face, just looking through the window. I felt free again!

I only booked 4 nights, since it was my first trip alone. In case I didn't liked it, I would've been home fast. It was also my first time staying in a hostel. It was a bit scary first to travel alone. We Belgians are usually more closed. We don't travel solo, we have our fixed group of friends. We don't go out to meet new people, but keep in touch with the same people. We usually travel with friends, family or partner. But boy did I like it!

The hostel (Yellow Nest) was really fun! I've met a lot of new people and made new friends real quick. The night on arrival I was already out partying with my new friends. We went to a couchsurfing event with cheap Mojito. The bar was filled with solo travelers!

I made lots of friends. Went sightseeing together, go to the beach, festival, partying, ... I was scared it would be lonely, but I have never felt more accepted and loved! The friendships were very intense. After 4 nights, I was so sad to go home. I didn't want to, I wanted to stay there or go to an other location.

The trip was only 5 days (4 nights), but it felt like 2 weeks worth of experiences! It's strange how our perception of time can be influenced so easily. Falling in the same routine (work, eat, tv, sleep) every single day makes time fly by so fast. You will be old before you know it. Doing new things, exploring new area's and making new friends makes your days longer. It fills your soul. You will live longer. Even if you die at a younger age, you will perceive like you lived twice as long!

Why am I here?

Okay, fine I admit it! I got caught in the storytelling and am way off-topic. At first I thought steemit would be filled with only cryptocurrency news. As I am interested in technology, I'm also interested in cryptocurrency. However I'm not interested enough to spend every day on a social network that only talks about cryptocurrency. So I neglected it. It wasn't until I got here to see how wrong I was! There are so many topics and variety on here. I love it!

So why am I here? Well, steemit looks like an awesome place to share my experiences, travels, stories and knowledge. I feel like I can reach a lot of people. I want to inspire people to travel, explore and wander. That's it. I'm here for inspiration! I want to inspire people to have a life full of experiences.

I did do more travels than Barcelona. As a closure some more travel pics!