I spent 4 weeks in Portugal studying abroad, the first being in Lisbon and the following 3 weeks in Porto. I participated in the European Innovation Academy, an entrepreneurship program that hosted keynotes by Silicon Valley professionals and required students to build and develop a startup in teams of 5.

What went well?

Finding a great team

Mati, Francesca, Pol, and Jachym are the best people I could be spending most of my 3 weeks in Porto with. Signing onto Teamo on Day 0 after being charmed with this Irish man in his shades was the single best decision I made. There were lunch meeting when I didn’t feel comfortable speaking up but otherwise I felt welcome in their presence. They all valued my contributions, however little that may have been in terms of ideas and tangible results. As the youngest in the group, they acted as proper mentors and friends, sharing stories and insights while being eager to spend time with me out in restaurants, bars, and escape rooms. They were hard-working, passionate, and just as playful in taking Teamo to the next level and succeeding in EIA. I found their company more fulfilling than that of the Berkeley cohort and accordingly gave them more of my time.

Professional Development

Being in a high-intensity startup environment was immensely valuable as it taught me decision-making, prioritization of responsibilities, and product development. Keynotes by Silicon Valley mentors were pivotal in providing industry insights on the tools and tactics that lead to successes in their respective niches. My LinkedIn experienced considerable growth in the number of connections; I only need to leverage them moving forward by following up to the mentors.

19th Birthday

This is the one section where I won’t shit on Berkeley culture. As indulgent and opposed to my values as they might be, Berkeley students have been exceedingly nice, my birthday being the prime example of it. I was editing the music video at 12 AM when Josh and Ari pop out of the elevator to sing me the birthday song. Evan Kaplan and Russel pop out soon to wish me too. The next day, my music video team which included Donald, Josh, Parneet, and Anna bought me a huge Pastel de Nata as my birthday cake. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday on the other side of the world with complete strangers. For all that they may be, Berkeley folks are caring and go the extra mile to express their consideration.

Consistent Workout Routine

Initially, I viewed my exclusion from the rest through my living situation a disadvantage, but it provided me the space to maintain my life of discipline. I fell into a routine of early morning workouts cycling between upper body, lower body, and running. Results come from doing it when you especially don’t feel like it and that is exactly what kept me going for the most part. My efforts weren’t extraordinary but they were regular.

What didn’t go well?

Socializing with Berkeley Students

From the first few days in Lisbon, I felt off around the guys in and outside the classroom. I made some good memories with my music video group, but their insistence on bar-hopping and clubbing weren’t particularly appealing to me. I eventually avoided much of their company throughout the program with a few exceptions. Part of it was the discrepancy in values, but I also didn’t naturally warm up to them or vibe with them at all. Maybe I could’ve been more open-minded in everyday interactions.

Teamo’s Outcome

Given all the work we put in, our shared passion for the concept, and the substantial progress we made, being among the top 10 was almost a guarantee in my mind. Of course, I mentally prepared for an adverse outcome as a practicing Stoic. Nevertheless, some failure in our pitch to the investors prevented what I still believed to be a deserving success for the team. As Harald mentioned, it is our customers not the investors who validate our value proposition. Then Jonathan reminded me that failure is a better teacher than success.

Diet

Both my mom and grandma commented that I lost weight when I landed in LA yesterday, to my great surprise. As I found out this morning, I did indeed lose over 5 lbs in the past month. Even after all the alcohol and pastel de natas I consumed! That is not a measure of the quality of my consumption habits though. I smoked weed for the first time on the terrace of our hotel in Lisbon. I also tried fire shots, sangrias, vodka, and wine in this time. I broke my no-sugar rule by eating pastel de natas almost everyday and going back for desserts continuously on the last day of EIA. All of this points to a more relaxed mindset towards eating as well as the collapse of all the boundaries of discipline that I set up in the past few years. They must be reinstated so that I live with temperance and don’t steer off the path.

Talking to Mentors

I knew that being under the same roof as innumerable professionals was an opportunity to ask questions and become better at extracting advice. Still, I found myself held back by fear and consequently didn’t approach most of them. It was also a key opportunity to practice interviewing in the same way that Tim Ferriss and Guy Raz have these conversations where they tease out engaging stories and actionable insights.

Language Learning

In spite of all the hours I spent on Duolingo and Anki learning Portuguese vocabulary and phrases, ‘ola’ and ‘obrigado’ were the only words I used regularly. I didn’t face the discomfort of communicating in a foreign language. I wish Portugal wasn’t as accommodating to English-speakers as it was, but that’s only an excuse to justify my reluctance to struggle.

What am I working toward?

Being Disciplined in New Environments

Our CEO, Mati Remi, suggested that a lack of routine was the killer to practicing healthy habits in Portugal. It took me about a week to establish a stable morning routine that included working out, journaling, meditating, and reading with a cup of coffee. Then I found a system for cooking salmon with quinoa and risotto for lunch. The latter wasn’t sustainable given the discrepancy between the tourist’s exploration of local food and the self-disciplined who values longevity. As I mature, traveling will be more integral to my life, requiring a fine balance between the two so that I’m acting virtuously while opening myself up to local customs.

Career That is Challenging, Fulfilling, and Liberating

The 4-Hour Workweek convinced me to start a lifestyle business so that I can travel and be with my family. EIA expounded the merits of founding a high growth startup as a means to becoming incredibly wealthy. The alternative to both is being a slave to a corporation whose bureaucracy stifles the creative freedom available in a venture that one has a substantial ownership and control of.

As I move up the ladder of competency in Berkeley, I will have to make a choice, one that will be guided by the search for meaning, difficulty, and some degree of freedom in leading the life I want. I can’t blindly follow the path charted out by being an EECS major. I will have to leverage my education and connections appropriately to match the aforementioned criteria. Whether that takes the form of a corporate position, a startup I am an employee of, or being a cofounder is something I will have to discover eventually.

Travel and Subsistence

What the digital nomads and YouTube travel channels don’t mention is the tiresome nature of travel. Packing, driving to the airport, going through security, and sitting through 10+ hours on a flight as your feet swell and you’re on the 5th podcast of the day isn’t fun, particularly if it’s something you do often. Even ground travel isn’t that much better. Sure, the experiences on the other side are invigorating but the time lost in the interrim isn’t worth it at high frequencies.

Stillness is necessary. One needs extended periods of stay at one location to reflect, rest, and immerse themselves in the present. As Jordan Peterson affirms in 12 Rules for Life, one needs to walk the edge of adventure and order.

Traveling could be a way to find the unknown unknowns while exposing myself to periodic discomforts absent from my current life. Then I take the experiences and insights acquired in my journey and apply them to my everyday routine so that I live with a refined sense of purpose.