After living for two and a half years in California, Maui and Scotland I decided to stay some time longer in Europe before taking off to another tropical adventure again. But the big question was “where”? Since it’s all about Social Media, Social Graphs and Social Everthing nowadays I decided to reach out to my Social Network with the hope to get some qualified responses. And I got a lot. From my question “What are the best places to live in Europe?” I got pretty much two clear results:

• Berlin, Germany
• Barcelona, Spain

Even though I love Berlin and might live there one day this wasn’t an option for me right now. Just because of the fact that I’m German by origin, I’d rather prefer to experience other cultures. I’ve never been to Barcelona before, but I’m definitely attracted by the Spanish culture. In pretty much any possible way So I packed my car, invited my friend Natalie from Los Angeles to jump on board as well and immersed into a 3 month journey through Europe with one final destination: Barcelona.

I had some expectations when I moved here: sun, beaches and kiteboarding combined with delicious food, good wine and the easy-going Spanish lifestyle. So far Barcelona has exceeded my expectations by all means. The vibe of the city is incredible. I’ve made so many great new friends already and magical things have happened to me. The first 8 weeks have been difficult. My wallet was stolen on the third day, I wasn’t able to find a job (meaning one, which I’d have enjoyed doing), I had to move a couple of times within a few weeks and I was running out of money. But in the end I have been rewarded more than generous for dragging myself through this path of full of obstacles.

I met some of the smartest and most good-natured people during a short intermezzo at Linqia, a start-up in the Social Media world, which I believe will be hugely successful in the near future. And finally I was able to join ExperienceOn, another start-up working on Bliquo, which is a really interesting mobile application (currently for the iPhone and Google Android) and BeFogg, with the mission to reinvent the way you travel. And once again I’ve been proven right about my belief in how much more value it has not to work (primarily) for money, but instead to work with passion, for gaining great experiences and having a lot of fun.

All the 75 pictures are in my Picasas Gallery.

Tags: Barcelona, Experience, Fun, Gaudi, Lifestyle, Park Güell, Passion, Sagrada Familia, Work