6 meetings in Sydney: a city of contrasts and unexpected stories

During my first weeks in Sydney I felt like I was constantly rehearsing for a glossy-magazine life. Everyone smiles, drinks lattes, walks barefoot on the grass, and discusses Ayurveda with the exact same expression they'd wear while auditing for Deloitte.

The surfer who chose waves over banking#

I met a surfer named Trev. He told me he used to work at a bank, but then felt the energy of the waves and quit. We drank smoothies, he asked me my zodiac sign, and when I said Taurus, he said: Well, that explains a lot. To this day I still don't know what, exactly.

The digital bedouin on a scooter#

At a friend's barbecue I met an older guy who told me he was a retired programmer living out of a van. He said he'd invested in Bitcoin back in 2013 but lost it all on Dogecoin. Even so, he was perfectly happy and called himself a digital bedouin. Then he rode off from the party straight on a scooter.

The frame-drum vibrations festival#

I somehow ended up at a "frame-drum vibrations" festival (don't ask — I thought it was a music event), where I was handed a mat and told to listen with my spine. I lasted twelve minutes, then fled on the pretext of being allergic to energy.

The nutritionist with a food philosophy#

On the beach I met a girl who was a nutritionist. She told me meat is karma in protein form, and that she survives on moonlight and chia seeds alone. We went to a café, where she ordered fluoride-free water and a carbon-neutral salad. I ordered a pizza and instantly became, to her, a relic of the past.

The blockchain startup for crystals#

At a startup event in Surry Hills I met a guy building a blockchain to track fake crystals. His pitch was surprisingly convincing — I even connected with him on LinkedIn. A week later he moved to Bali in search of the truth.

The retiree who decided to "die beautifully"#

I met a retiree from Tasmania who said he'd moved to Sydney to die beautifully. He threw parties on his rooftop, and every single one started with the words: "Now, let's act like this is the last time!" He always had the best music.

In summary: Sydney, a city that doesn't explain itself#

That's the Sydney I'll remember. A city where you can start your morning with Ayurveda and end it riding a scooter into the sunset, never quite understanding what any of it was for.
You can find something similar in Argentina too, by the way!)