“I wish we could always live like this,” Q says with a dreamy voice, which seems to come from very far away. “We can.” I open my eyes and sit up against the chimney. “As long as we do art and live in the moment.”
The above quotation sounds like something you’d hear in some underground bar in Kreuzberg. “As long as we do art and live in the moment.” That’s the dream (and the reality) for many artists in Berlin. But in fact, throughout modern history (and if you read enough books and watch enough movies), you’ll hear the same thing repeated again and again.
“Life is for the living.”
As someone who once quit his corporate job to live out my travel dreams, these are ideas and philosophies firmly rooted in my own core belief.
While reading the new, indie ebook Kiss the Sky on my Kindle, I highlighted heaps of little quips and passages. The book, Kiss the Sky by DC Gallin is about a young, 20-something woman trying to make it in London as an artist all while enjoying life to its fullest—drugs, sex, squats, trips to India and warehouse parties. Gallin paints a vivid picture of London in the 1990s—one that matched the image in my head of a Britpop London. The characters bring life to the city that I have always loved; London never seemed so cool!
But while London’s bohemian heyday may be gone, the sentiments and philosophies that DC Gallin captured from a certain era still live on. Her travel and life lessons scattered throughout the indie ebook provide some great tips for making the most out of life.
“Give me the urban jungle anytime, horrible grey man-made concrete blocks, skies like wet duvets, studios without windows…”
“The trees of Hyde Park are still standing naked on this sunny morning…”
“The only free transport is the bicycle.”
On People
“How come I’ve never noticed before how kindness is everywhere?”
“It never fails to surprise me how we can all connect on this unseen level and have this overwhelming feeling of trust and belonging.”
“Grown-ups make you groan.”
On Nakedness
“Nakedness is a state of mind, nothing to get too excited about.”
On Ideas
“Easy, Claudia, don’t get on a bad trip, life is for the living.”
“…but you know what I mean, this can’t go on forever…”
“Good ideas spread the fastest, just like great tunes.”
On India
“India is so alive and so sad at the same time.”
On Life
“Why didn’t you do what you really wanted to do in your life?”
“Nobody told us how to be born, how to suck our mothers nipple, or grow our first set of teeth.”
“Sometimes in life, when you think you have done something outrageous, it can turn out that it was needed to change everything.”
“I am awake,” I say. “I wanna do it my way.”
‘You always act like the world is your oyster,’ Ines says when she’s really pissed off with me. ‘So what?” I normally reply. ‘Who says it can’t be yours as well?’
On Dancing
“I wanna make them dance. Dance is the key to world peace.” “That sounds almost too simple.” “No it doesn’t,” Jamie says, shaking his head. “On the dance floor, we realize we’re one big family. All we need is China to join in, and we’ve reached critical mass.” “But everybody dances to different music.” “Rhythm, repetitive beats are universal.” I imagine a dancing world, kids, oldies, heavyweights, everybody, all colours, all races… Why not?
On the ’90s
“The nineties are the sixties upside down.”
In 2009, Adam Groffman quit his job as a graphic designer in Boston and went on a 15+ month trip around the world. The life-changing journey took him to places like North Africa, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. Since 2011 Adam has been living in Berlin—Europe’s most hipster city.
Travels of Adam is a hipster travel & lifestyle blog for sharing his personal experiences and alternative & indie travel tips from around the world. He also is the editor of My Gay Travel Guide—a gay travel website written by gay travelers for gay travelers.
