Where in the world

Deciding to go on an extended adventure was the easy part. Deciding ‘where’ to go first…well, that is much more challenging.

As of last month, I have been fortunate enough to spend time in 33 countries (not including the ones that were just a layover in an airport). There are 206 countries (including sovereign states), which leaves more than a few on my list of places still to go.

I do actually have a list, of places I want to visit. No…it doesn’t include every country I have not yet been to. It lists 59 places, though I have listed the individual States that I haven’t yet been to that I am keen to explore for the USA. My list also includes the International Space State and the Moon!?

There are not many places that I have been to that I would not consider returning to. Usually, there are a number of things that just don’t make the schedule, and are assigned to ‘next time’. Though, with so many places to visit, the influencing factors to return need to be very compelling.

For our upcoming trip, one of the factors influencing our decision was that David had a ticket to a festival. He had purchased it when we were in Europe in 2019, though the pandemic meant he could not attend the event in 2020. The organisers were good about it and allowed him to carry it over until 2021, and then again until 2022.

The ticket is for a Nomad Fest, a digital nomad festival in Bansko. Bansko is a ski resort town in the southwest of Bulgaria, at the foot of the Pirin Mountains. The festival is held in summer, so the town isn’t full of skiers at the time.?

It will be full of digital nomads though! Five hundred tickets have been issued for the week-long event, with a schedule of talks, workshops, unconference topics and plenty of social activities. As we are new to the digital nomad lifestyle, this is the perfect opportunity to meet people who have been living a nomadic lifestyle for years and gain valuable insights that will hopefully help us save learning everything the hard way.

The festival is organised by the team from Coworking Bansko. I met Matthias several years ago at CUAsia (Coworking Unconference Asia) and was intrigued by the idea of a coworking space catering to digital nomads, high in the mountains in a fairly remote part of a little known (to me) country.?

When I first visited in 2019, it was to catch up with David who was already there and attend a travel blogger’s summit. I loved the vibe of the town and the atmosphere of the community that worked from the space and were attending the summit. It was one of freedom, adventure, hard work and a passion for life.

Bansko is a popular nomad destination as it has three key ingredients…

1. affordable living: accommodation, food and activities are readily available and cheap
2. community: other people to spend time with working and socialising, making friends into family
3. environment: natural, clean, interesting and accessible

I didn’t have a lot of time in Bansko, so when I left it was with a desire to return, to go hiking in the mountains, dance in the taverns, soak in the hot springs and meet more people with a zest for life.

Therefore, the decision was made easily, to head to Bulgaria in time for Bansko Nomad Fest 2022. I didn’t have a ticket though, and on reading the website for further details, I discovered there was an opportunity to apply to be a volunteer at the Festival.

For anyone who knows me well, you may know that I do not really enjoy the thought of ‘socialising’. It is always fine once I am there, and have started talking to people…I am not shy by nature, but there is just something about small talk that doesn’t excite me. Give me a job to do…make me responsible for something…and I am there with bells on!?

So, of course, I put in an application to be a volunteer. I have organised and volunteered at hundreds of events, of all different sizes, for many different purposes. I have the skills to do almost anything that a general festival requires (except video editing, please do not ask me to edit videos…oh, it takes me ages…I really admire people who can ‘see’ the finished product and clip and trim the footage to make it seamless…that is not my strength…anything else though, is no problem).

A few weeks later, I was delighted to receive an email advising my application had been accepted, even though at that stage I still had no idea what I would be asked to do in my volunteer role. I knew it would work out as it is meant to when the time comes.

Today, I had my first face-to-face chat with Brit, one of the organisers. She was excited to have me on board and I am excited to be one step closer to being involved. I will find out more about my role over the next couple of weeks.

I have organised a couple of weeks' holiday from my software developer job so that I can immerse myself in the community, festival and lifestyle of Bansko from when we arrive.

Once the festival is finished, we will have another couple of weeks there, settling into the true digital nomad lifestyle of working, being part of the community and experiencing life in the mountains of Bulgaria.