It's been a long road...

Saturday night, I once again stayed up far later than I should have. For some reason, I’d started to read through some of the older entries on my German blog, which by the way will be celebrating its tenth anniversary later this year. That’s right, I’ve been a blogger longer than I’ve been active on Facebook, and that got me thinking just how much my life had changed since then, both on a personal, career, and on a technological level. I decided against writing a blog post then and there, I mean, I have to sleep some time. However now, sitting on my balcony and enjoying the balmy air after that storm we had on Friday, it does feel like the right time to put my thoughts onto paper.

I guess this is my life now...

Back in 2009, my world was still a lot smaller for a change, limited to the area around Frankfurt. I had landed a job at DHL less than two years earlier and had only barely managed to land a permanent contract for the first time in my life. I had a small, but cosy apartment in Frankfurt’s commuter belt, and though I had a steady income, it barely seemed to be enough to cover the bills. Long trips were rare, the most I could hope for was a weekend trip, and even that was a stretch. On the plus side, I was involved in my community far more than I have ever been since. I was not only singing in a choir, but also sitting on its board and acting as its press spokesman, I’d gotten involved politically, and I was actively participating in a local musical troupe. In 2009, I was involved in my third musical, Fiddler on the Roof, already having Jesus Christ Superstar as well as a locally written production under my belt. 

Bigger still was the difference technology-wise. I wouldn’t get my first smartphone, a T-Mobile branded HTC Touch until later that year, and for most of 2009, I was still using my trusted Motorola V3i Razr. YouTube was still pretty much unknown to me, and the very thought of becoming a content producer of some kind wouldn’t occur to me until much later, not that it would have been too hard, I mean both blogger.com and Wordpress were already around, I just wasn’t thinking in that mindset. My gaming computer was enough to keep me busy, with such evergreens as Civilization, SimCity or X3 – Reunion, as well as Microsoft Flight Simulator taking up a LOT of my time.

This glossy little thing was something really special for me when I bought it.

You're reading this purely because I bought this device. Before, I hadn't even thought about blogging.

And then there was my netbook. To celebrate my permanency at work, I’d saved up some money in the last months of 208 to buy my first very own computer, instead of using my dad’s hardware skills. It wasn’t much money, and looking back, it wasn’t much of a computer either, but in the final days of 2008, I bought a netbook, the Acer Aspire 110L. At a retail price of €259, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse, and in a way, it set me on a course that I’m still on today. From that moment on, I’d take it with me whenever I went to work, or later whenever I visited my parents in Speyer after their move. It would become my primary writing tool, handle much of my email correspondence and all of the press work for my choir, and also become my music player. 

Then, in September of that year, 2009, I decided to do something new. I decided to start my own blog. Rambling and without direction at first, kinda like this post, it quickly got traction due to my involvement in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof, and it has been a constant in my life ever since, giving me a place to air my thoughts, vent my frustrations. When there was something to celebrate, I trumpeted it on my blog, whenever I took a trip, I chronicled it there, and whenever life gave me a real kick in the crown jewels, chances were you could read about it on my blog as well. And in a way, blogging also led me to my exploits on YouTube.

Ten years ago, the ICE ride from Frankfurt to Mannheim once a month was the highpoint of my travelling ambitions.

However, back in 2009, all of that was still a billion lightyears away. I had always dreamt about moving abroad, but they were just that: dreams. I mean, what kind of company would hire a school dropout from Germany, pay for him to move god knows where and actually employ him? As such, my trusty Aspire One seemed to be the pinnacle of mobile computing to me, and don’t get me wrong, back in 2009, it was a great device. The very thought of even being able to afford a MacBook or an iPhone, or even mundane things like Microsoft Office or Photoshop seemed frivolous, I was just seen as a bottom feeder in German society, someone who’d never amount to anything, and who’d remain stuck in a minimum-wage job for the rest of his life.
And even if I’d had the money, both Mac OS and iOS were completely repugnant for me at the time. Me working for Apple? For VMware? Don’t be silly! The very concept that I’d be able to put out a regular ten minute show on YouTube was completely farcical, even if I’d been able to afford the camera and editing software. And owning a camera drone? Now come on, you’re just being deliberately ludicrous! Not that I felt in any way deprived or disadvantaged. I really liked what I had back then, and to be honest, I kinda miss my Aspire One every now and then, simply because it was such a simplistic, low cost device, with no bells & whistles, but still delivering solid performance. Life wasn't bad, though my cooking skills certainly were!

On a more sombre note, back in 2009, I could never have imagined that I’d be pretty much alone in 2019, at least when it comes to family. My parents were still in their prime, my mother being her usual ball of energy, and my dad being slightly less energetic, but still full of life. Both were also completely crazy, and I mean that in the best way possible. The cancer that would ultimately take both of them fare too soon wasn’t even on the horizon yet, and both of them seemed effectively invulnerable. Little did either of us know what lay in store a few years down the line. 

Looking back at all this, it seems all the more miraculous that I’ve gotten where I am today. I’m writing this on an old, but still powerful MacBook Pro on the balcony of an apartment that my 2009 alter ego would have described as luxurious. Inside, my camera is set up to record two videos that I’ve planned for later today (April 28th) and Wednesday, while I’m already working on the scripts for two more videos and this blog post. I’ve spent the last three years working with an absolutely amazing international team at one of the world’s leading software companies in a position that I never thought I’d be able to handle, and am earning a salary that seems astronomical compared to what I started out with. I’ve had the chance to travel the world, flying to New York, Dubai and Providence, and as my current job winds down, I’m about to embark on the most challenging part of my professional journey in little more than a week’s time. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I’ve resolved to NEVER take the life I’m living now for granted, and to always appreciate every positive thing that happens to me. And if some of my more jaded colleagues see that as being naïve or, as some have actually said to me, childish, then that is a badge that I will wear with pride!