For most of this year I've been travelling in Asia, and now I'm back in Europe for the summer before heading back to India. I'm originally from Finland, and am a bachelor of business administration by education. I used to work in the IT sector in Ireland, Finland and Sweden for almost 10 years before starting to travel. Those 10 years were mostly good times, but eventually I grew tired of the lack of vision in the company I used to work for. 

I believe that the world is on an edge of an unprecedented technological change, with the rate of change getting exponentially faster. The way of thinking in our unit was more or less ”it's good enough to do things as they've always been done”. I didn't think that doing only small incremental improvements was the way forward. Unfortunately I was unable to change that, and in the end decided that I need to do something completely different. 

I'm really glad I did...

Instead of taking the safe and easy way and getting another job, I decided that now would be the time to fulfill my dreams of travelling the world. So I made my biggest change in life yet: I sold practically everything I owned and started backpacking with only hand luggage (I might write another post on that). I had practiced getting rid of unnecessary things before when moving between countries, but still: all I can say is that it is a really great feeling of freeing yourself from possessions that hold you down. It is true what Chuck Palahniuk wrote into Fight Club: The things you own end up owning you. I couldn't agree more.

I think I've always been drawn to what is now called voluntary simplicity. Basically it is about actively admitting what most people know to be true but might not know how to live by: money can't buy you happiness. It is not about living in a lone cabin in the woods wearing a potato sack, but being aware of the fact that when you buy something, you don't really pay with money, but with the time and energy used to earn that money. And when I think of things from that perspective, the short-lived happiness I get from buying objects seems less and less worth it. The same money is used so much more efficiently when travelling. This year I've been in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,  Indonesia, India, Greece and am now cycling in northern Europe.

Hot air balloons in Vang Vieng, Laos

Me in the middle with our volcanic expedition team to mounts Bromo & Ijen in Indonesia

We descended deep down into the sulphuric hell of Ijen crater

Shot from the slope of an active volcano, Mount Bromo

Indian Himalayas: At an altitude of 3500m near a Hindu holy lake

I started my travels from Karlskrona, Sweden where I had been living for the most of 2015. I had left my bicycle there with the intent that I would drive it back to Finland. I really like cycling long distances, and driving across a couple of countries seemed like a good idea. After cycling about 40km in Sweden and taking the ferry to Lithuania, this is the route I took:

At this point it is about 1,5 months since leaving Sweden, and I've cycled almost 2000km altogether.

My rig somewhere in Latvia. I had a refreshing swim and a bath in the lake in the background after cycling about 200km in two days without showering...

I'm an aspiring digital nomad. "Aspiring" because my "transformation" is still not complete. I'm totally location independent and travelling, but currently living mostly on savings. So at some point I need to figure out some way to generate reliable income (not rich enough to retire yet :D). There are some relatively quick methods for making some money, such as freelancing, but as a perfectionist I'm thinking about some longer-term solutions. We'll see what comes out of it :) The worst-case scenario is that I just need to get some kind of a regular job, so I guess I'm in a pretty good situation even now...

I first came to Steemit because this seems to be the first real-world usecase where the blockchain technology is applied in a way which non-technical people can benefit from. Up until now the blockchain has only been for us technology nerds, and we really need to expand beyond our own circles. Steem is an interesting attempt at that, and I really want to see what comes of this project. Currently there seem to be many low-quality copy-paste articles in Steem, generated by people just trying to get rich by luck. I think the best way to fix the situation is to just have more people create quality content. I hope I can be part of that solution.

I'm really interested in blockchain technology in general: Bitcoin, Ethereum and also altcoins if there is interesting technology behind them (not just pump & dump Bitcoin copies). Recent fights in the ETH/ETC and Bitcoin spaces show that we need better skills for communication, but also better tools for it. Hopefully Steem culture with its financial encouragement to positivity can be a part of that toolbox. Steem doesn't seem like a breeding ground for flame wars. Personally I don't really care about which coin or platform is ”the best” (I don't think there is such a thing), I just want to see the whole crypto space developing as fast as it can. Blockchain technology will inevitably change the world, way beyond just the financial world.

Balinese artist's vision of people arguing about which is better, Ethereum or Ethereum Classic

I think of myself as pretty independent thinker and try not to actively idolize anyone. Having said that, there are a few people who are just so far out there with their thinking that I can't help but look up to them. Elon Musk is of course everyone's favorite, as well as Tim Ferriss. And Wait But Why blog by Tim Urban is something I recommend highly for everyone to read. In the crypto space I like Vinay Gupta's way of thinking, and of course Vitalik Buterin is in his own league...

The music I listen to varies a lot, but tends to often be progressive rock or metal. I'm listening to Jess and  the Ancient Ones while writing this.  

I used to play guitar before, but I didn't have it with me on the travel and then it was stolen. It was pretty much the only physical possession I missed while travelling... guess I need to get a new one at some point.

To the moon! (Or to Mars while we're at it, both with coins and physically...)