Olá, after a long wait finally I can say: “I arrived in Skopje and VCS”.

Here is José (not the football coach). I’m 25 years old and crazy about traveling all the time. Let’s say that I “only” like comfort while sleeping. Until a few days ago, this crazy young man was living in the most magical and beautiful place in Portugal, the village of Sintra. Since my teenage years, I have always wanted to leave my country and go around the world to discover new countries and cultures.

Besides Covid in the last 2 years (yes, already 2 years with this virus that has changed our lives a lot), the previous 5 years have been the best of my life so far. After a past with many pumps, I went to university to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Management. At that time, some other students and staff members invited me to join a project in which I was in charge of welcoming all the Erasmus students at our university and city (show the best views of the city, places to party, and “non-touristic” places). After doing that for 6 months, I told myself that Erasmus was something that I needed to do for sure. 2 years later, it was my time to do Erasmus, but before that, I decided to work to earn some money I could spend on my travels. My Erasmus was in Budapest for 6 months, and during that time, I traveled to 11 countries. One of those trips was in some Balkan countries, and I immediately fell in love after the first views and bites at the fantastic food for this part of Europe. After that amazing experience and after finishing my Bachelor’s, I decided to change a little my field of studies and pursue a Master’s Degree in Sport Management (that I’m still finishing).

I always like to try new things, and if for 90% of the people something is too scary/different to try, I want to be among the 10% that will do that. With that, I started living with the motto “Seek Discomfort”. For me, it means that the best experiences that you have in life are the ones that put you out of your comfort zone. This explains why I chose Macedonia, a different language and alphabet to deal with for the next 9 months.

Let’s put all the eggs in one basket for this new adventure and create unforgettable moments.

José Rodrigues