Farewell Valencia, Hello Mallorca!

I'm starting this blog as we are leaving the tarmac of Valencia airport in Spain, and if it was daylight I'd be sat on the right side to see my old work place at the United Nations base.

What I did get to see was my bike being thrown onto the plane like it was a... errr ... suitcase. Seriously if you work in aviation as a bag handler, come on man, be nice to our gear please!

Hasta luego amigos, yo voy a Mallorca!

It's been a positive 13 months for sure, I met a girl (see above), made new friends, tried new foods, became vegetarian (not blaming Spanish food at all here!), and even picked up a little lingo.

Valencia is a special city, a diverted river is now a huge park that cuts through the city, which is coastal and enjoys a scorching hot summer and mild winters.

With festivals throughout the year, including 'Las Fallas' pictured below, many cycle routes, plenty of good food, and very affordable vino it's been pretty close to perfect for a venture back into city life and Information Technology.

So why are you leaving then Asher?

Good question! I've been asked that at work, by my first (Airbnb) host last September who has become a good buddy since, and by other friends, old and new.

There's more to see and do in this world.

My legs still work, I want to use them while this is still the case.

Less than 3 years ago I was in a shitty mess, hating life, and seemingly without any options to escape - apart from that one, which I'm a little ashamed to say, did enter my mind.

Stress, anxiety, depression. These mental issues are not to be underestimated at all, I did that for way too long - only when they took over my physical health did I realise and tell myself, I need to make some big changes here.

And honestly, I'm really proud of myself for doing so.

The first attempt at leaving the UK to run a small shop in Mallorca didn't work out, but it showed me what a different life could be like, and that's all I needed to push on again.

Valencia has built on that. I've proved to myself I can still do it in the I.T. world. Even though it's no longer a love of mine, it's a fallback option, which allows for bigger risks going forward.

And this is where we are, coming in to land in Palma Mallorca for a month, (yes I'm a very slow at typing on the phone!) where we can hopefully visit and show you guys just what a gem of island it can be.

My mother lives here too, so maybe I'll get a couple of hot dinners out of her after she tells me, ' you look thin' again.

_source


What follows Mallorca? Well I'm sure you may have heard (OMG he's not going to mention Steemfest again...), we are heading over to Portugal for...., how did you guess? Steemfest 2, yeah man!

And dare I say, an even bigger adventure follows! But there's plenty of time to write about that later!

Well, I was planning on posting this morning, but we seem to have had a few issues here at steemit.com and so it's had to wait until this evening - I've had chance for a spin on my old bicycle which has been in storage since last year, and so I just have to show you, because I love it so!

_{29 inch Cannondale bicycle porn}

Ok until next time, where I hope to blog some adventures here in Mallorca, enjoy a view of Cala Figuera in the north East of the island which was taken last year, about 30 minutes after I scraped a BMW along the rail of a sheer drop! My passenger @osm0sis was not happy but this Cala made up for it....

_{The beautiful Cala Figuera 2016}

Thanks for reading today!

Asher