Welcome to World'Collide, the podcast about moving abroad

>> Viktoria: Hey, and welcome to a new episode of World'Collide, the podcast about moving abroad. I'm your host, Victoria. And yeah, welcome. I already said it. Hi. So, before I start, I just wanted to mention I haven't mentioned it in a while, that if you really like this podcast, why don't you give it a five star rating Wherever you listen to the podcast, this would help immensely to get more, listenership and so it's easier to spread the word about how it is to living abroad with all the ups and downs. That was it.

This week's guest is Adriana who moves around a lot

And then, to this week's episode. So this story this week is a little bit different to the other ones. My, guest is Adriana and she moves around a lot. So for work she has her own startups, so it's all business related, but she is m moving and moving and moving. So, yeah, so we talk about how life is when you're not at the same place all the time and just switch countries all the time. All right, so I don't wantna take away too much. And here is our conversation. Here's Adriana.

Adriana was born in Moldova and now lives in Morocco

My guest today is Adriana. Hi, how are you?

>> Adriana: I'm good, thank you.

>> Viktoria: And so tell me, where are you right now?

>> Adriana: Right now in Morocco.

>> Viktoria: Morrakesh and Marrakesh. Okay. And, how long have you been there?

>> Adriana: I think about three weeks so far.

>> Viktoria: Oh, okay. But so you are there for, temporary or longer or what's the plan for now?

>> Adriana: I'm doing research in Morocco, so I'm here for another two or maybe three weeks. yeah, it's for work research.

>> Viktoria: So for work. Do you move around a lot?

>> Adriana: Because I run my own startups then. Yes.

>> Viktoria: I, kind of. Okay.

>> Adriana: Selfishly as well, choose places where I want to go and build business in.

>> Viktoria: I see. Okay. So, where are you from originally then?

>> Adriana: Originally, I was born in Moldova. then my mom's Ukrainian and my dad's Romanian, so I spent time in three countries and then we all immigrated to Canada. So most of my, like, teenage years and university were spent in Canada, in Toronto.

>> Viktoria: how old were you when you moved to Canada?

>> Adriana: turning 14.

>> Viktoria: Okay. But would you say, you're like, more drawn to Canada as your home or, ah, where you spent your childhood?

>> Adriana: Ah, I think, honestly, there's no, it's really hard to say. I think I'm mostly drawn to Hong Kong where, like, that's been my home for the last seven years. And that's the country that I've chosen for Myself.

>> Viktoria: Oh.

>> Adriana: So okay. That's where I feel most at home. But yeah, so it's a difficult question. So. Yeah, it's a very difficult question for me. There's no concept of oh, where do you go home for Christmas? Like we've never had that family because my family's moved so much.

>> Viktoria: Ok. ah, okay. So you kind of grew up in that whole like we're changing countries all the time concept.

>> Adriana: All the time. Yeah.

>> Viktoria: Yes. And how long have you lived in Canada then?

>> Adriana: Oh, yo yoi. I think less than eight years.

>> Viktoria: But you then moved by yourself or are your parents still there or.

>> Adriana: My parents are in Toronto but they're always like most of the time they're in Eastern Europe or they also travel a lot.

Why did you then chose to move to Hong Kong? I went know

>> Viktoria: Why did you then chose to move to Hong Kong?

>> Adriana: I went know I spent some time in China for some internships during high school and I just like Hong Kong was the first place where I landed to get into China and I just loved it. I always, I remember the first time I landed, I'm like this is felt so futuristic. Yeah. So I always thought I'm like I'm gonna come back here, I'm gonna come back here. So one day I did and I just kind of settled in there.

>> Viktoria: Okay. And so it was always like, hey. I kind of like was drawn to it.

>> Adriana: Yeah. It was just, it was vibrant, it was energetic. It was people from all over the world and I think just the type of people that are attracted was really interesting. You know, people were there either to learn Chinese and kind of go to the greater China and explore history and you know, starting a business in Asia, which was interesting back in the day and I think one word to describe it, it was just very dynamic and I kind of. Yeah, I felt like this is a place and these are the kind of people that I feel at home with.

>> Viktoria: It's like the right kind of people, to be surrounded by kind of. I mean they sound also interesting. They have like all these great plans. Sounds like it.

>> Adriana: Yeah. Great plans. And it was again like when I landed in Hong Kong and this was obviously a long time ago, but I just remember simple things that in Canada didn't exist. Like you know, cardless payments, like you know you tap cardless payments. Like card payments that are just literally tap and yeah, like you know, paying for the transit, like paying for the subway with a card tapping and just getting in was so wild 10 years ago, like in Canada still doesn't really exist. You know, you still need to have your. This, you have to go and buy a special card or you have to put the money in. And I just remember something like that just really strucked me. I'm like, they're living in the future. I want to live in the future.

>> Viktoria: And then how long did it take you until you finally moved there?

>> Adriana: So I think first time I went there, I was 18. So right after uni, I actually pursued my last year in Hong Kong. So I finished studies in Hong Kong University.

>> Viktoria: And now you are, like, traveling around the world. And how long are you doing that for?

>> Adriana: Al Alreadyty, I kind, of decided. I think it was during COVID where, you know, everybody was going for a transition and so was I and just kind of reassessing, you know, is this what my life looks like? You know, working at home, working crazy hours, not seeing anybody, and a lot of my friends. So after two years being in the lockdown in Hong Kong, a lot of my friends in us, right, like, they were finally going out and living their life. And I'm like, I don't do another year of lockdowns. I decided maybe I take a little break for myself. So I quit my job. I decided to pursue startups. I did my first startup and started traveling.

>> Viktoria: Okay, okay. So, how many startups do you have? Ca. Because it's like, I started my first startup.

>> Adriana: I know, right? so I always had, like, you know, side projects or people called them, like, you know, hustles or side hustles. always had those for, like, as long as I know myself. Mostly because of my dad, who's very similar, you know, always has, like, multiple ideas and multiple businesses.

>> Viktoria: Right, okay.

>> Adriana: But I pursued it full time, full time when I left my banking job. And so that was during COVID ###H ye. So I started. I honestly forget the year now. I think it was 2020 or 2021. No, 2020. Yeah. So I started a wellness marketplace, which is kind of similar to Classp Pass, but instead of getting people to, do gym classes or, like, yoga classes, you would do instructor classes, either on demand, like, they come to you, or you come them and do group classes for like, boxing, surfing, like just something more than just a gym.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: Yeah. So that was my first startup that I did, like, full time.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: Yeah. And then kind of at the same time, I started another company, which is a healthcare company in Africa. it's called Aya. that one was much, kind of was a much longer processuse. It started during COVID and because of just the difficulty of setting something of that scale, it was just. Yeah, it was a lot harder than just building an app. Designing a building app, the marketplace. So took a lot longer to kind of one just honestly create and launch. and I did not do it by myself. I found the right co founders and it took me a while to also get investment and that and put in mind as well.

>> Viktoria: And did you have to be for that one? at that place?

>> Adriana: Yes. So I spent quite a bit of time in Nigeria and I still spen time in Nigeria.

>> Viktoria: Okay. All right. So are you still actively working on that? Yes, yes. U. Uh-huh.

Why did you choose Nigeria for your startup? For healthcare

So you still how long have you then spent time in Nigeria?

>> Adriana: Every few months. I go for one to two months.

>> Viktoria: Okay. and why did you choose Nigeria? for the healthcare.

>> Adriana: For healthcare. Honestly the right timing, the right co founder, those were to it there was a huge need for it specifically in Nigeria. So basically the proposition is relatively simple. It's very high quality pads at ah, affordable prices. And I met my co founder Ema who is based in Nigeria.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: But I had a lot of connections in terms of like manufacturing. A lot of family offices that were willing to invest in more kind of sustainable, let's not call them sustainable businesses but more like I don't want to call it a CSR thing because that's not what it is impact investing.

>> Viktoria: Okay.

>> Adriana: Offices that'more interested in doing something good for the world. So brought a lot of that on and yeah, no, that's. It just don't. Because I'm not a person that's kind of, I think as it's obvious like I don't have a set home per se. So I look at businesses and startup the same way. Just because I'm based in a location doesn't mean that I can't launch an idea somewhere else.

>> Viktoria: Right? Yeah, because like for me it would be like there. Like why there? I've never been there. I don't know anything about the place. You know, like I would be like, maybe let's try something that is more familiar to me.

>> Adriana: O yeah, I get that. But then I'm like I love honestly because I love travel so much and it's been such a huge part of my life. I get really passionate about just going there like meeting the people, learning as much as possible and just going like head deep. And I'm really good at the start of the phase. Like I'm very good at building the brand. M figuring out what the product should be, working with customers to kind of getting it ready and then launching it. But what I'm less passionate about is like operations. So this is where I then need to hire a team and somebody who actually runs the business. Whereas is Maer, what does the next 5 to 10 years look like? What do we need to do? Get there. But I don't get into the like after the first kind of two years where I do get into nitted greedy. I then try and step away from this ca because it's just not something that I enjoy as much.

>> Viktoria: that's why you also had like many startups, not just one company. Okay, that makes sense then. Yes.

Do you ever miss something from the previous place you've lived

So whenever you move around so much, do you always like miss something from the previous place or. I don't know how to ask that question. But is there something that you always think like, oh, I wish like we would have this thing from that place, something. What was the best somewhere?

>> Adriana: I do, I think a lot of the time I do miss family and friends. That's my biggest y. So I do miss having a community around me and my like, my friends community are in Hong Kong, so I miss them. I'm constantly on the road and Obviously we have WhatsApp on Instagram, but it's still not the same.

>> Viktoria: Yeah, yeah.

>> Adriana: Like going for a coffee and like, you know, venting or you know, going for a big hike. I really miss going for a big hike.

>> Adriana: Yeah, I'd say like miss my family, miss the community. My family are really good at just meeting me in the world because it kind of works.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: We'll meet up places together, which is really lovely. So. But my friends are less mobile. Right. They still have those three weeks of vacation so they can't just pick up and go. So I like, yeah, so I'm constantly, I'm like, okay, I need to go back to Hong Kong for like 10 days to like see everybody.

>> Viktoria: Yeah. And how often do you go back to Hong Kong?

>> Adriana: A little bit less than I want to. I think over the last two years it's been only three times, which is very little.

>> Viktoria: And then also how much time do you spend there?

>> Adriana: two weeks, give or take.

What do you both miss about Hong Kong besides friends and family

>> Viktoria: Okay, all right. And what is it besides friends and family that you miss from there?

>> Adriana: So Hong Kong, it's so funny. Like, so I actually work with my husband. and it's every new place that we go to, we re kind of, could this be our new home? You know?

>> Adriana: And then we always we always benchmark it against Hong Kong and it's just. Yeah, I think the one thing that we both miss, it's still, it's like this crazy combination of just a city that runs 24 7. Everything is extremely convenient. so we both, luckily we both love Hong Kong and we miss being able to go on a hike that's literally like ca. Because Hong Kong is in such a beautiful place where you've got the ocean that you can swim in and then you have the mountains and you can go hiking over little mountains, but you know, still really good hiking. So we miss this accessibility to nature. We. You literally walk down 10 minutes and you have the beach, you walkok up and you have the mountains for like really good hikes or just really good, trail running. So we miss the accessibility to nature because we both don't like driving. so then for us walkability is huge and Hong Kong provides this. And then another thing for us because we do work, like we work pretty, pretty crazy hours, I'd say both of us, like we love working. It's our hobby, you can say so.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: So then, you know, if we finish late, like let's say, you know, let's say we finish at eight or nine in a lot of countries, like things shut down, like if you're in Toronto or even in sf, like things just close. Right. And there's no, you feel like the streets are empty and there's no life around you and it can feel a little bit lonely. So in Hong Kong everything is open 24 7. So you have places and you have people around all the time. And because it's so like, it's quite small. Right. So then just there's a lot of hustle and bustle around you and we both really like to feel that energy. So.

>> Adriana: There's always something happening and we like that. M. So yeah, I think that's what we miss about Hong Kong. It is just like aside. Again, aside from friends of the community. It.

>> Viktoria: Yeah, yeah, of course.

>> Adriana: And just the energy.

>> Viktoria: Right. And do you speak the language? but they don't speak Mandarin. Right, they speak, Oh God, I forgot the other.

>> Adriana: They speakines.

>> Viktoria: Yes. Okay, sorry.

>> Adriana: My Hong Kong friends right now would probably like kill me a little bit. I speak Mandarin, because that I was working in a company where I had to travel a lot to China.

>> Adriana: So then it was, you know, speaking Mandarin was prioritized for my role rather in Cantone. So that's a language that I Chose to commit to, to all my Hong Kong friends. I'm sorry.

>> Viktoria: So. And now.

So when you travel around, it always sounds like you are only there for a couple months

So when you travel around, it always sounds like you are only like at a place for a couple of months.

>> Adriana: Y.

>> Viktoria: So how do you do it? Like do you rent an Airbnb and then. Or do you always stay in a hotel or like how is your procedure there?

>> Adriana: We try and avoid hotels just so we can rent a place that feels like home. So then, you know, it doesn't feel like you're in a hotel bedroom.

>> Viktoria: Right.

>> Adriana: So yeah, you said it. We usually find an Airbnb, that's our preferred to. And then we usually find a cowork working space so we have access to wework and then we also have access to outside. So then between these two, we'll always find a co working space and an airbnb that's like 10 or 20 minute walk. So then it feels like we live here.

>> Viktoria: Right. And so do you have enough time then to also explore the places?

>> Adriana: Yeah, so we have a schedule that basically every Sunday is Adventure day. so that's, you know, like absolutely no working, no phones except for photos.

>> Viktoria: Right.

>> Adriana: And then if we're in a new place, if it's just the first one week, then we do take a full weekend or a long weekend to like explore all of the tourist spots possible. And we like pack everything on. So then we feel like, okay, we have a sense for what this city is like. And then we go to working mode and we work six days a week. I work like 14 hour days. And then, then he fluctuates depending on how he's feeling.

>> Viktoria: Okay, yeah, but that sounds like a lot. You probably don't have the energy after a 14 hour workday to whatever, check out places or maybe go to a restaurant and that's it.

>> Adriana: We probably, we don't go. We love buying snacks. or like more like raw things like vegetables, fruits, like sliced up meat. So we don't necessarily go to like restaurants often. we, we're weird with our eating habits. They're not, you know, they're weird. I acknowledge that. but we do like, we commit to going to the gym or swimming. so for example, like here in a Raqish, our schedule is, you know, wake up and start working at nine. At seven p.m. we take a CrossFit break. after CrossFit, we'll do another two hours of work. We'll go to sleep.

>> Viktoria: That's it. Okay, I see. So like when other people like chill on the couch and watch tv. You're just working a little bit longer. Yeah, yeah, that's okay. I mean if you enjoy it. Right Then if you said it's your hobby, then I mean it's great.

>> Adriana: Both are crazy. Like we have so many ideas and for us it's literally like, it's just really fun. Like for us's, we call it business adventuring, like coming up with and trying to go for it. So yeah, we have a lot of fun.

>> Viktoria: Nice.

And so um, you also mentioned in your email you're going to India next

And so you also mentioned in your email you're going to India next.

>> Adriana: Yes, yes, we are going to India. My gosh. mid December and then we have a potentially new project that we're exploring there. So that's more like research phase and then see whether or not we actually want to kind of launch it. So we have set up, we have an event in January that's a market test with real customers and yeah, if it works well, we're going to probably continue going back there for a while.

>> Viktoria: What do you mean with going back there for a while?

>> Adriana: Like go and set up the business, make sure that it's working. Because the business is quite physical in nature. It's a physical product and requires a lot of retail support.

>> Adriana: So we'll very likely do what I did with Aya where I go into the country, I spend maximum amount of time with kind of retail partners, probably a few investors and then our customers and also hiring the team. So it's likely that we'll go there for six months. Okay, now just go all in deep in

>> Adriana: A little breather.

>> Viktoria: Okay, so six months and have you been there before?

>> Adriana: Yeah, we both have.

>> Viktoria: Okay.

F and B is launching a healthy energy drink in India

All right, so and this is why you then chose like, hey, let's choose India for our next business adventure.

>> Adriana: I think we chose it for two reasons. so there's something that we've been wanting to launch within the FN B space. It's a product and initially we actually did a lot of work trying to launch it in Nigeria because I already have a strong, kind of strong business base and really good community that supports me. But it wasn't the right market. So what we did is, well, we still, we have this product that we both really love and we needed to find the right market for it. So after a bit of research, India ended up. We think it's going to be the right market. So it wasn't necessarily that I really love going to India and I do have some friends in Mumbai and Delhi. It's more that it's the right market.

>> Viktoria: Oh, I see. Okay. And F and B. You mean food and beverage?

>> Adriana: Yeah, we're launching a beverage.

>> Viktoria: Oh cool. Okay. Like chai tea. No, it's not that.

>> Adriana: I know, right? I do love chai like up_ess but I'm like it's gonna be something a bit more. It's an energy drink.

>> Viktoria: okay. All right. It's not like India, nothing like it.

>> Adriana: A very healthy energy drink. And right now there's not that many options for healthy beverages. Everything is quite sugar and colorant heavy. So we want to come in and kind of somewhat disrupt the space and offer something that doesn't yet exist.

>> Viktoria: Okay, all right. How do you how do you come up with the ingredients list or like the product and it subsitute like try it out yourself and it's like, hey, that tastes good.

>> Adriana: for this product we have a head of R and D, he's been doing this for over 20 years. So he's the brains behind the actual like the composition, the ingredients. So he's been doing like. He's an industry veteran so we brought him on as a co founder for this project and he, we basically, we did testing together quite a few samples. but yeah, he's the brains.

>> Viktoria: All right. Okay.

Do you always choose countries where English is the main business language

O interesting. I mean that your work life sounds really fun. It's always. You never get bored of one thing, right? Because it only it'a short time and then you move on to something completely different.

>> Adriana: Yeah, exactly. Well, if I get bored then yes. but I have not yet been bored.

>> Viktoria: And do you also always choose countries, where like English is the main business language?

>> Adriana: I think maybe subconsciously I have I haven't thought about that question. It's a good question. Maybe subconsciously I have for sure. But for example there is a Market d'ivoire which is so actually doing research for Aya for the healthcare company there. And just because I don't speak French doesn't mean that I can't find the right person.

>> Viktoria: Right? Okay, sure. But I mean it's easier right, if you can communicate yourself 100%. Yeah.

>> Adriana: Income examp.

Moving is always the biggest challenge when you're moving to a new place

>> Viktoria: And what is for you though always the biggest challenge when you're moving to a new place.

>> Adriana: We usually make sure that we don't pick places that would be like, would not fit our lifestyle. So we make sure that there's a co working space, there's a really good crossfit gym or a pool that I can go swimming to. So.

>> Adriana: You know, the minimum kind of filtering. So I haven't really had big challenges to be honest. My only challenge is more internal. It can still get a little bit lonely without kind of seeing my friends and family.

>> Adriana: So that's my only challenge is like I honestly wish that I could just go back to Hong Kong and just sit there for like, you know, six months and get my fill and then go again.

>> Viktoria: Yes. Do you make, I mean do you still make like friends at the places where you are? Only for like six months sometimes.

>> Adriana: But that's why we chose to work in co working spaces like we work. Right. So you still get a little bit of the community feel but it's still hard of like we're trying to go to some meetups sometimes, you know, we'll like pencil somethingsf. We tried a lot of that ca becausee there's just so many Startup Foundry events, right?

>> Viktoria: Yeah, yeah.

>> Adriana: For. But then I found it a little bit hard to connect with people. I think maybe culturally or honestly I don't know why I just found it a little bit hard.

>> Viktoria: Right.

>> Adriana: Yeah, we do meet people but honestly it's not as many as I thought that I would or I just don't know where to find them, you know?

>> Viktoria: Yeah.

>> Adriana: Did you notice this? Like you go to some of the meetups and I swear you meet like 50 people at an event but every single discussion is always what's your startup are ah, you funded. Cool. Here's my Linkin buy.

>> Viktoria: Right? It's all just so business oriented. It's just like whatever, what you yourself can get out of this, right? It's not like personal interest, it's just business interest.

>> Adriana: It felt like a LinkedIn swap likee.

>> Viktoria: Yeah, yeah.

>> Adriana: What's your LinkedIn? I'm like, you don't even know my name. What do you mean what's my LinkedIn?

>> Viktoria: Yeah, start with a name. That would be a good place.

>> Adriana: I'm not kidding you. There were people like there was this one really big event and people would have LinkedIn the QR code on their phone and they would literally just come up to me and like scan my LinkedIn. I'm like, I was like oh my God, I'm getting out.

>> Viktoria: Oh my God. But that is so weird. I mean it sounds like just a place for weirdos.

>> Adriana: Well, just like extreme networking like.

>> Viktoria: Yeah, but extreme networking. I don't know, I mean I just think like maybe like a few sentences exchange a little bit about yourself, but also like I am. I would not go to those networking events in the first place because I'M just not the person for that. I mean for me it sounds like, oh my God.

>> Adriana: No, it was a little bit intense. Yeah. But no complaints. I did it. I'm glad I did it.

I asked you if you make friends at some places

>> Viktoria: Okay. Have that experience and okay, so I asked you, if you make friends at some places and okay, so that makes sense that you go to wework places so you see the same faces.

>> Adriana: At least I'll give you an example. so we are now at had, a really beautiful co working space in Marakash called Lalasa. I'm sure I'm butchering the name but. And we actually made friends, we made friends with the founder. Like he's this really lovely French Moroccan guy and he's here every day and just so he's been like, you know, a nice connection and just like intermittent coffee chats or you know like a mint tea courses. So like I feel like, okay, we made one friend here which is really lovely and it is because he's here every single day.

>> Viktoria: yeah.

>> Adriana: So now and then you do make these serendipitous lovely connections, but just very rare.

>> Viktoria: Yeah, yeah. And so also your. It sounds like when you go to a new place, you always choose a bigger city.

>> Adriana: You're right. Yeah, most of the time. Because then it has the amenities that we need such as wi fi and.

>> Viktoria: Cowork working spaces and probably an airport too.

>> Adriana: Lo ye. Yeah, at an airport would be nice.

>> Viktoria: but

What do you really like about your lifestyle of moving

And what do you really like about your lifestyle of moving?

>> Adriana: so I'll say not to sound cliche but like I love, I love learning. Like so first of all, I love travel period. So the fact that I can do this while I have the energy, I have the time and I have the financial freedom to do this, I'm like, I'm doing this now because I don't know what's gonna happen next year. So taking full advantage of this, so. But I think, ah, just getting to know a place like fully from the perspectives of the food, the culture, the history, the politics. Like truly getting to know a place beside visiting the museums I think gives me a lot of joy. Like I really feel like I have a sense for where this place is like beyond the top five touristy things to do. So I think, yeah, I drive a lot of joy out of just getting to know a place from a lot of different perspectives. and then of course on a similar note, I love the freedom and I also love that I have an amazing partner who is as creative as I and maybe a little bit as crazy as I where we travel to all of these places and if we think there might be a really cool business opportunity here or hey, maybe we can do something about this gap in the market. Right. And I love that the more we travel, the more opportunities we get to see. So I think that's quite valuable in itself.

>> Viktoria: Yeah, sounds like it.

Do you and your husband always work for the same project

You're probably also always like whatever, coming up with new ideas when you go to new places because you sees so much. But you and your husband, do you always work for the same project?

>> Adriana: Most of the time, yes. Except Aya, a am working with a different team and then we have. So we have two companies that we're running together and then this beverage drink will also be launching together. So I say most of the time, yeah, we work very well together.

>> Viktoria: And when you work in for Aya, do you travel then by yourself?

>> Adriana: He comes with me and because we work remotely. Yeah. So really works.

>> Viktoria: Yeah. That's good that they invented the Internet, right?

>> Adriana: Yeah, absolutely.

Do you still celebrate some of the holidays that you grew up with

That'snna be on my you Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? The Internet?

>> Viktoria: Yes. Yes. Do you still celebrate though some of the holidays that you grew up with? Yes. I mean you just said Thanksgiving.

>> Adriana: We So my family doesn't super celebrate it, but a lot of my friends do. So it's a big thing for them, especially the American friends. Like, you know, Thanksgiving is huge. but Christmas, we're not a family that really celebrates together, to be honest. Like so. Yeah, there's no huge attachment to like going back for Christmas. yeah, our family has always been like very independent, I would say.

>> Adriana: But me and my husband are trying to make more of a thing around it because we like the idea of building kind of like us becoming a strong family where when we do have kids we have this kind of habit built in of we're doing this for Christmas. So we created our own kind of, I guess tradition. Yeah, we're creating our own traditions. Like you know, what do we do for Christmas? like we have this cute thing where we like, you know, we have to write down our ikigai and we have to write down our wishes for the next year. And what have we just basically like a little tradition. We started doing it now for the last two years. and then we're trying to celebrate his one part of his family is Jewish. So we're trying to kind of bring Shabbat into our lives on Fridays and try. Haven't successfully done it, but we're gonna try to do that.

>> Viktoria: Okay. okay. what does it involve?

>> Adriana: So mostly it's about celebrating family time together. of course, being fully present. So phones off. M. Honestly, m. Most. Mostly that's it. Like, we're not.

>> Viktoria: So is it like your Sunday? Kinda. Cause you said like on Sundays you're trying to explore all these things together and no phones.

>> Adriana: Yeah, it is that, but it's like. I guess it's on a smaller scale. It's just timed together as a family where you have, you know, you have dinner, you cook specific things. You just. Yeah. You just talk hard to heart and you're just there with each other, whereas very. You're very stimulated. Right.

>> Viktoria: Because also means like, less working that day or not only talking about work. talk about things.

>> Adriana: That's it. I mean, we can talk about work because we love talking about work. You know, our work is very, like, you know, just interesting.

>> Viktoria: It's your personalities. Tooeah.

>> Adriana: but it's like it's sitting down for dinner, which would not very good at. So we're trying to be better. Like, just sitting down and then. So for example, we did a little bit of that with a few friends and AF where we had Shabbat on Fridays. And it was so lovely. Like, it was just actually like being more, I don't know what the right word is, but like, really like planning it properly. Cooking all together, no phones, alt together, maybe playing a game together. Like, it really feels like family time. So, we want to do a little bit more of that. Might be hard when we're traveling. There's no friends to pool, but.

>> Viktoria: Right.

>> Adriana: We're gonna try.

>> Viktoria: Yes. And,

Was there a place where you were really drawn to, where you thought

Was there a place where you've been, where you were really drawn to, where you thought, like, hey, I wish I could spent more time here.

>> Adriana: There was, For me, that was Mexico City. I. Uh-huh. Really love that. I think it was just beautiful inside out.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: Most of the connections that I made outside of Hong Kong were in Mexico City and just. Yeah. There was something very, very romantic about being there. I don't know, like, just poetic. Like, there's so much. So much art around you and.

>> Viktoria: Uh-huh.

>> Adriana: The people who were so warm and kind. And I like, even though, like, the wework team, they're still, like, they're still friends. Like, it was. Yeah, it felt very, very special.

>> Viktoria: So I liked Mexico City too. I only was there for like a couple of days, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was great. You know, the markets and the neighborhoods, they're really nice. Y I liked it a lot.

>> Adriana: Yeah. I would go back if you want to. Yeah. If you're gonna, if you're gonna go, I might be there.

>> Viktoria: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. It's not on the plan yet, but maybe at some point, hopefully I, hopefully I get the chance to go again. and was there ever at some place where you had not problems, but there's like a big difference culturally.

>> Adriana: Oh, that's a good one. Very good question.

>> Adriana: Nothing comes to mind instantly. So I think O Turkey only because no, very few people spoke English. That was the only place where it was a little bit more difficult actually talking to people. So like we really enjoy talking. Just like, for example, like we love talking politics to people just to see like, what do people think about the local governmentury? You know, like, it's super interesting and like go and get this information from the news. I want to get it from the people. So this is the only place where it was a little bit more difficult having those candid discussions. and of course also making friends. there was, yeah, ultimately we've spent like three months there and again it was beautiful. Best place for food diversity. Like I was shocked, like absolutely shocked how much I thought I knew what Turkish food is. no, there's like stuff I've never tried in my life or seen in my life. So that was really, really like really good food. out of being from being there for three months, like we know only one person and it was the manager of a cowork working space who spoke English.

>> Viktoria: Okay, all right, right. But like, with like day to day interactions, do you sometimes know like, hey, culturally they're like on a completely different level?

>> Adriana: No, I have not found that. But maybe because I myself don't necessarily fit into like one specific culture because my parents also are relatively. They're not like super different, but they do come from different backgrounds. My m. Dad comes from a quite religious family. You know, my mom less so. My mom comes to a small farm of 300 people in Ukraine. My dad comes from, you know, being in a family of academics. So they're also very different. and then together we've been traveling. Like they made sure that we traveled since we were kids. So I think that's why we've been exposed to so much that I don't, Yeah, I don't. Nothing yet has really shocked me.

>> Viktoria: Nice. That's good. I mean, you know what I take you as an example for. Hopefully my kids will turn out later because they're also like planning and moving around and traveling a lot with them, you know, so that sounds very interesting so. Because a lot of people that I talk to that who are whatever, just like the family who is like whatever, they lived at the same place for all their life basically. You know, for them it's like it's so important that they always stay at the same place. Don't move around. You cannot take them away from their surroundings, that they're so used to.

>> Adriana: Yeah, my parents, parents were like that, but they were not.

>> Viktoria: Yes. And so how was it for you, to move around as a child?

>> Adriana: I personally loved it, so I've always enjoyed it. They also sent me to live with grandparents, for a few years. So I spent a few years in Ukraine, few years in Romania. So I think they've kind of dec. Like I didn't really have time to think that there's different way of living because it's always.

>> Adriana: Moving around was always present. So I. It was only until, I think it was until like university when my friend started saying, oh yeah, I'm going back home to Ottawa for Christmas. I'm like, oh, I guess it's a thing like we're not really doing anything.

>> Viktoria: Okay. You didn't even like for you that was normal not to have that. Yeah, yeah, okay, sure. See, whatever is normal for you then.

>> Adriana: Yeah, yeah. Like I do say like that's what I like. I do like that. Especially when we were in Hong Kong where everybody around us was an expat except for some Hong Kong friends. But the expats were, I'm going home for Christmas, I'm going home for Thanksgiving, you know. And that was. I'm like, oh, that's so nice. Like, you know, so I'm like, I like it in theory, but I don't really know what it's gonna be like.

Me and my husband will want to have this for our kids

>> Viktoria: Right. It's not that you miss it.

>> Adriana: Yeah. I think I like the idea of it and I kind of romanticize it because I didn't have it. So me and my husband will want to have this for our kids. Like we want them anywhere they will be in the world. We want them to come back for like, you know, Christmas and New Year. But let's see if we succeed or if it's something that we even want as a family.

>> Viktoria: Yeah.

>> Adriana: Like hopefully we see often than once a year for Christmas, you know.

>> Viktoria: Well, let's see what their opinion will be.

>> Adriana: Right, True.

When traveling, certain foods don't work very well for me

>> Viktoria: Is there like something that you don't get used to moving around so much.

>> Adriana: Maybe not used to, but I've noticed the kind of like the more I travel, there's definitely certain foods that I realized don't work very well for me. So I don't. And honestly, I don't know why, but when I was in two places, my body did not like it at all. It was in Paris and in San Francisco. I was constantly bloated and I didn't change what I was eating. It was just obviously the origins of the produce and how it'treated were different. Or maybe it's the water that I was drinking. I was bloated the entire time and that was like, I felt horrible.

>> Viktoria: I was that in France too. But I think it was just the amount of bread that I add because I felt like, all right, I have to eat all the croissants and, and all the baguette. And then I was like, inot, I cannot not feel bloated anymore.

>> Adriana: I love, I love that. I like, I was conscious, you know, I'm like, I can't, you know, like, I generally don't eat too much bread. So when I was there, I didn't change my habits and eating like little, protein and I drink a lot of water, but something was just so off and I like, I'm curious, I'm almost curious to go back and see'like okay, there's something like, is it the water? Which I know silly, but or.

>> Viktoria: Maybe you just had a bike or something.

>> Adriana: it. It was like three months straight. I'm like, okay, never like every day. I just would not go away. I'm like, this is weird.

>> Viktoria: Yeah. Okay. So you never know what to expect of what you eat.

>> Adriana: So I think that's it. I'm just more attuned to. Because I honestly have never experienced this until like this year. Like, so I'm like, okay, this is new to me. It usually like my body processes everything like pretty well.

>> Adriana: So yeah, I think this is one thing that I'm just more like, I care about more because I do not wantn feel like I felt.

>> Viktoria: I'm like, right, okay.

Adriana: Thank you so much for being on our podcast

All right. I guess I got all my questions. All right.

>> Adriana: Awome.

>> Viktoria: Thank you so much for being on our podcast. Yes.

>> Adriana: See you in Mexico.

>> Viktoria: Y. Yeah, that was my talk with Adriana. Thank you, Adriana, for your time and it was so nice to meet you and if you enjoyed this podcast, then don't hesitate to tell everyone about it and also to, to give the podcast a five star rating. Where we listen to it. I just mentioned it in the beginning. but also, of course, if you want to reach out to me, then do so please send me an email. It's world collide12threepartmail.com. Or you can also reach out to me on Instagram or. yeah, Instagram is the best way. Instagram and email. What else? No, that was it for this week. The next episode is coming out a week from today. So I hope you tune in again next week. And until then, have a great week. See you. Bye.