December 22nd 2017

Moving

I am in the process of moving into a new place. I decided to move all my belongings by foot from the old apartment to the new one. At first I wasn’t sure if it will be a total waste of time, or on the contrary this out of the ordinary little adventure could make me experience something different. The new and old apartments are 1.1 km / 0.7 mile apart from one an other. The distance separating the two places represents about 15 min of walk. So far I’ve made seven trips back and forth. I have 90% of my belongings in the new apartment already. Today I am going to clean the old apartment so I can do the check out with the old landlord, and recuperate my deposit tomorrow. The new apartment is excellent. It’s not facing the street. I was able to sleep like a baby for the past couple of nights.

My kidneys stopped filtering

One thing I’ve noticed is that my kidneys stopped filtering completely. I’m not sure why, but it could be that my body sensed that there was going to be a great change in my daily life, and it’s not prioritizing cleansing and elimination at the moment. So far the moving out and moving in experience have been quite physical. Although I consider my current life situation in Argentina as a nomadic one, I do have an estimate of 300 kg /661lbs. of belongings. With all my music and juicing equipment, I am not packed like a travelling tourist anymore. I also have a beach cruiser that allows me to experience the city differently than by foot.

In my previous apartment a lot of things were missing to clean the house and prepare food. There wasn’t even a trash can. I had to buy a lot of small things to be able to have a functioning kitchen and bathroom. Now I have a trash can and a bathroom floor mat of my own that I am going to have carry around wherever I  go. My living situation has been quite ridiculous since I have moved to Buenos Aires. It’s either I’m not going about it the right way, or it is more complicated than what I have experienced in the previous cities I’ve lived in. At the end of January, It’s going to be a the year anniversary of me being in Buenos Aires. Yet, I still don’t feel like I have permanently moved here. I still feel like I am living out of my suitcases, and my future in the city remains as uncertain as the first day I got here.

My Way of Romance

I am finally done with moving. Transporting everything I own on this Earth by foot was a quite romantic experience by my standards . While commuting back and forth in-between both apartments, I put on a playlist with all the songs I have written so far for my Black Sea Storm project.  As I was transporting all my stuff from Belgrano to Clolegiales. It allowed me to reflect on my music and my life. I’ve started the Black Sea Storm project back in 2002. My first released material was recorded in 2005. My own songs tend to act like time markers for me, even more so than my favorite songs written by others. This whole moving by foot experience ended up being something deeper and more enjoyable on an emotional level than I would have thought initially. It involved physical activity, movement, music, and reflection. It reminded me of the driving time spent in touring vans with my old band-mates back in the day. It felt good to reflect on where I am coming from and where I am going in life. In that regard, I think it was a great investment of my time and energy to move things this way.

The end of my lease coincided with the beginning of summer here in Argentina. I was able to move everything for the most part under a sunny weather of 30 degree Celsius / 86 °F. I ended up doing 11 trips back and forth, which equals to a 22.2 km. / 13.7 mi. of distance. For half of the trips I was packed like mule. The loaded trips ended up being more physical than I would have expected them to be. I am soared pretty much everywhere now. The most surprising part is that I have blisters on my toes. I consider myself a devout urban walker. 22.2 km. / 13.7 mi. over the course of three days should be nothing for me. I guess walking with 30 to 40 kg of weight is a different story than walking through the city without carrying anything.

I will definitely remember this experience, as opposed to a couple forgettable Uber rides that could have moved my things more rapidly and with less effort. It’s in transitional moments and in movement that I tend feel as free as I can be as a person. The tiny bit of physical suffering that occurred during the process may help to make the experience a more memorable one.

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I AM NOT A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. I would like to make it very clear that I am only sharing my own experience on this website, and have no intention to give any specific advice on health. Please read the disclaimer section for more information.