For the last 2+ years, we've been living nomadically across several countries. Before that, I'd moved from Spain to the US where I lived for 5+ years. All these travels have changed me and my art in very profound ways -and it could change you, as well. Let's see how.

Traveling as a way to discover yourself...

"The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there" - Robert Pirsig

When we live in the same place for a long time, it can be hard to tell the behaviors that are caused by our environment from those that we cause ourselves. Removing yourself from that environment will reveal where the boundary lies.

Even though I was 30 by the time I moved to Portland, it wasn't until then that I discovered some parts of myself. There, away from the environment I had lived in for so long, I was free to be whoever I wanted to be. When I came back home, I was a totally different person, truer to myself. It took 10,000+ miles and 9 time zones in between to find out, but it was worth it.

...to discover your own home...

When I came back home, I experienced a cultural shock. Perhaps bigger than the one I experienced when I moved to the US. I saw my own home as a foreign place.

Nowadays, we spend most of our time between Spain and the US. Having 2 homes has had consequences on the way I look at them: when I'm in Spain I miss things from the US, and when I'm in the US I miss aspects from Spain.

Through traveling, I've discovered my own home. The bad... and the good. There are plenty of things that I took for granted, things I appreciate quite a lot now, things I can only find here at "home".

And to discover your art

This journey has altered my art, as well. The places you are at, the way you feel and think about them, the people you interact with, the different ways they approach life, the things they appreciate and the ones they don't like, all of these factors deeply transform your art because they transform you.

When you see, you make images

When you visit a new place for the first time, everything is new to you. You are in a constant mode of observing -a perfect state to make some images, to make some art. This effect fades away over time: as I get used to a place, I stop seeing. That's why moving frequently helps my art and keeps my creative mind fresh.

To create something new, you need to see something new

I'd encourage everyone to travel even if it's just for a few days. Ideally to a new place, one that is different to what you are used to. Observe how people live there, even if you don't talk to anyone just seeing how people move around, commute, have their coffee, enjoy their meals at restaurants... can tell you a lot about their culture and make you question yours -for the good and the bad. Anything that broadens your perspective will broaden your art as well.