The way I grew up, the desire to discover and explore, the share curiosity of new experiences, in all shapes and size – couldn’t have shaped in any other way than this – me becoming a wanderer of the Earth. I remember having a map of the world on my rooms wall, just near the bed. A lot of nights I felt asleep listening stories from far away, from the Arabic desserts to high peak mountains of Patagonia to the cherry blossomed trees of Japan, all the way to the frozen parts of the world. Listen to stories and watching the map as it showed this landscape of wonder. And of course, the courage that Huckleberry Finn demonstrated me in his own adventures showed me without a doubt that life will find ways to fulfill the mission of our core true self. That in fact, we are here to explore, the inner and outer world of this existence.

Of course, I grew up and with that came many more possibilities that the wandering of my childhood forests and rivers. Cities, far away lands and tall mountains were in my grasp. Since the moment I was able to support myself financially, the journeys never stopped. And yes, sometimes were inner journeys, more still physically, much more movement within the core.

A game changer was the moment I became a motorcyclist. For the last 10 years, I’ve ridden my bike, a Yamaha Tenere – Oldrih through the Romanian landscape, modern Europe and parts of Asia. My goal is to ride all the 7 continents with Oldrih, as a promise of a lifetime, as Naruto would say it.

Though, as the years passed, a need of the body to evolve took a big part of my explorations. So I found a master that has been teaching me, us, what it is to be a functional human, what it means to be a warrior, to fight and to overcome. It was then I started to stand up straight.

A new turn, this time even more complex, that changed my type of movement, was the day I became a husband, and a father. I welcomed my daughter Maya in this world, knowing that, even if she was born in a country called Romania, with a vast heritage, she is a child of the Earth, more connected than the previous generations ever were. And I am lucky enough to have a partner that shares my wanderlust, the desire to achieve greatness and completion.

So here we are. At this moment in time, were we are exploring the world, the three of us – Roxana, Maya and Vlad. Unfortunately, Oldrih and Frifo had to remain at home for the journey ahead.

South America is in sight, and as we are, the new world and the old world shell meet yet again.