This blog is my statement, affirmation, and diary. Like any human creation, I don’t always have enough motivation and consistency. A blog about the most active and exciting part of my life – travel and work – serves as a great reminder of why I’m here in this world. Plus, as time has shown, you, dear readers, find it interesting too. Alright, enough rambling, let’s get to it 😉
Who I Am and What I Do
I’m 32, married, and a proud father of an amazing son who I absolutely adore. I’m a designer, entrepreneur, and, it seems, a travel blogger too. I live in Portugal but originally come from Ukraine.
A few facts about me:
- I started building websites for myself back in school
- A bit later, I realized I could make money from it, so I started building websites for clients all over the world
- I honed my skills as a UX/UI designer and developer and began making a decent income
- I decided to teach people how to design websites and inspire them to live by their own rules
- I created an educational project, WAYUP, with my own web design courses for Ukrainians. To date, we’ve trained 500k designers!
- I used to be an active digital nomad, but now I prefer having a home base in Portugal while taking short or long trips
- I founded Undercat agency, where my small team and I help startups from Y Combinator, Techstars, and beyond with their design and development needs, whether it’s websites, apps, or complex systems and architectures
- I’ve been growing my network of affiliate marketing sites. It’s a new venture for me, but I’m really into it
- Recently, I became the co-founder of a web3 startup, Alignerz, which aims to disrupt the ICO and TGE space (if you know a little about crypto, you’ll get it 🙂 )
- Oh, and I travel and blog about it! I can’t say I’ve visited 200+ countries, and honestly, I’m not even planning to. But I can say that travel… well, let’s dive into that in a separate section.
How I Started Traveling
It all began after I finished my Master of Science in Construction and Civil Engineering (I never worked a single day in the field, and weirdly enough, I’m glad about that). I graduated and realized, for the first time, that I was truly free from the Ministry of Education!
I headed off to Thailand, where my future wife and I lived for three years. I freelanced, built websites, leveled up my skills, and started building my educational platform.
I realized how amazing it was to be on the other side of the world, with a stable income thanks to my own skills, and not depending on anyone. It was a period of intense digital nomad living.
Fast forward, and here I am now, the founder of a major educational company with 500,000 students. I travel the world, work hard, and face a million new problems that come with more responsibility. Hello, Peter Parker, I totally get you now.
My wife and I started experimenting with different travel formats – short trips under a week to Europe or longer stays of 1-2 months in places where we wanted to linger.
What Does Travel Mean to Me?
It’s a way to relax and discover what’s beyond my own bubble. That’s the short version. After turning 30, I realized (ugh) that I’m, like, getting older. If I used to think that “the future is somewhere out there, ahead,” at 32 it’s become clear that “the future is already here.” If I don’t change how I live and what I deny myself now, my ideal future vision will never happen.
Yeah, at some point, work and routine take over. You’re not as mobile as you were in your 20s, in every sense. And yet, tomorrow, you still want to live better than today.
Traveling is a great way to check how well you’re organizing your life. What I mean is, if you don’t have the time or money to travel, something’s off. Of course, I’m not imposing this viewpoint on people who don’t care about trips at all. But for me, both the frequency and quality of my travels have become a measure of how well I’m living.
I’m not a millionaire, not yet. But I’m trying to think (and act) in ways that let me maximize what I get with minimal resources.
How Does Work Fit Into This?
Work is what funds absolutely everything in your life, including travel. It’s also a way to express yourself, bring your bold ambitions to life, and a fun game to play.
From the very first website I built, I knew my life would be tied to tech, design, online platforms, independence, and movement. Every new project I get into goes through the “filter” of these factors, and if it doesn’t fit one of them, I walk away. Though, sometimes, greed does win out 😉
In my life, work is closely linked to travel. Not because I make money from travel, but because travel is like the “flip side” of work. If a job doesn’t allow me to travel, it’s not my job. As I mentioned earlier, travel is an indicator that I’m not only living “right,” but also working “right.”
My formula for work: minimum effort – maximum result. God, I’m so far from perfectly embodying that formula, but I try. I try to look for opportunities and tools to grow assets and develop in my field without increasing my working hours.
Some people might say that’s impossible. To them, I say I don’t want to die from overwork while chasing growth. A smart man named Jobs once said, “You have to work not 24/7, but with your head.” It’s harder to work with your head than to work with your butt in a chair. I say this as an expert in chair-sitting in front of a monitor.
What’s the point of all this?
If the values I described above resonate with you, we could totally be friends! Virtually, or even in real life (the world is small, trust me). Let’s stay connected – follow me on socials, I’d love to see your comment on my next post!