When my wife and I moved from Canada to Ukraine in 2019, the idea was to be based in Kyiv for a few years to work and travel around Europe, the Near East, India, and eventually settle back in Toronto. Since then, the gods and powers that be decided to play SimCity with the planet and threw a pandemic that glued us to Ukraine, and then a war that pushed us off to the shores of Brazil. Plans - and intentions- have been changing continuously throughout this time.
Seeing the pyramids of Giza has always been on any version of these plans, and they have always been delayed for a ‘better time’. This Spring Iana Komarnytska and I decided to get back on the road and step into fulfilling postponed dreams, with all the flaws and imperfections of timing.
As I finally stood there, under that blazing sun, I imagined the long-gone white casing stones that at better times covered the pyramid walls. I thought of the people who were mad enough to make such marvelous things. Were they creating over-sided tombs for their politicians, as today’s archeologists say, or were they making something way more profound as today’s mystics hope?
Whatever their vision was, at some point in the deep past they thought it better not to wait, better to go and build dreams, stone by stone, powered by what I can only fathom were hopes for better times to come.
And I think they knew what I realized during this visit:
Better times are not to be waited for.
Better times are made.
After three months in Thailand and two transformative months in the beautiful land of Cambodia, I find myself back in Cairo with the goal of finishing a number of projects started this year.
Today it’s been a month since we arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and we are starting our second month here. What was supposed to be a 10-day temple hopping adventure has transformed into a full exploration of music, dance, and mythology of the fascinating Khmer culture.
Today I released my second song. Invocation was inspired by my 8-month stay in Cairo and it’s is out on all music platforms.
Today I released my first composition. Saharetni (She Put a Spell on Me) is out on all music platforms.
I’m very happy to announce that the first episode of a new season of my podcast is out!
As a photographer and musician, I am in love with mixing ethnic elements from different cultures and exploring ancient places. These are themes that come back again and again in my work, and today I’m happy to share a little experiment with the talented model and dancer Tetiana Tesliuk in Egypt. This is the first in a series of photos showcasing Ukrainian artists in traditional outfits at landmarks around the world, during my travels this year.
My 8-month stay in Egypt comes to an end in 10 days. I suddenly realized I’ve been on the road - technically with no home - for almost four years. The goal was not to become a perpetual traveler, but to take the time to experience cultures that call to me, to go on a creative pilgrimage and stay at different places around the world long enough to make them feel like home.
A story about a work-in-progress project, my second-ever music composition.
My favorite author, Carl Sagan, once wrote an essay called ‘Dreams are maps’, where he talked about how visions can become reality, create purpose, and inspire next generations.
Yesterday I released a second solo episode for the new season of the Wanderings Podcast. I am really happy to share insights into my path of becoming an artist, a traveler, a small business owner in a digital landscape, and I hope some lessons of that journey can be useful to you.