I’m very grateful for all the work, friends and cool things that I’ve been experiencing during the three years I’ve been stationary in Stockholm.
But now it was time to move on!

  • No more known roads or paths.
  • No more vacation.
  • No more lunch boxes.
  • No more pay checks.
  • No more commuting to and from work.
  • No more signs in Swedish.
  • No more coffee breaks.

That is a lot of “no”s, yes?
So what am I really saying?

I’m saying yes to:

  • Hitchhiking from Poland to India (at least) with Amanda.
  • Delivering high quality content throughout Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the rest of the world (perhaps?).
  • Earning my dough in a direct way by delivering direct value.
  • Meeting lots of random, beautiful people during all times of the day.
  • Drinking coffee in different places all over the world.
  • Camping at random days during the whole week (I love tents and fresh air).
  • Extending the very short, but oh-so-sweet Swedish summer into a 365-days long summer.
  • Learning new skills, languages and trades (and master some of them).
  • Spend time and really get to know the people that I’ll meet on this path.

I’ve got two main reasons for doing this:

  • Amanda
  • Flying dreams

First then, Amanda.
Without her, I would never have taken this decision. Not in this way. I would probably still be working at Fröjd and spent vacations instead of quitting. Now, when we’re two persons trying this out together, it feels much more meaningful to me and it isn’t half as scary. “Home is wherever I’m with you”, is very true to me.

Second, dreams about flying.
Isn’t it a bit crazy to change your daily life just because your sleeping life is boring? Hopefully you’ll think so 🙂 .
During my childhood I spent most of my nights flying, having lucid dreams or fighting criminals. Now, when I’ve been stationary at the same workplace for three years I havn’t had a single dream where I’ve gone flying.
Unfortunately!

I remember having one when I visited Norway on my first vacation. But that was like two years ago. My dreaming life is at least as important to me as my waking life. It affects my decisions, alter my feelings and changes my destiny.
Now when I’m traveling again I’ve had countless of dreams where I’ve gone flying. The first one when I arrived in Poland!

I’m very proud to present mangomanjaro.se!
Please follow me on my latest project as we discover Eastern Europe, The Middle East and the rest of the world.

I’m:

  • Working on Caretunes
  • Reading
  • Working at Fröjd with various projects
  • Gaming games such as Fable 2, Fallout 3 and Mass Effect (again).
  • Thinking about how to run companies
  • Eating lots of good food
  • Watching television shows
  • Studying game design
  • Practicing House (street dance)
  • Having epiphanies now and then
  • Conspiring about communication
  • Discussing all of above topics with Sanna.

Last month, I went snowboarding with my neighbor. It was great fun!

One year ago I got an employment as a junior developer. Since then I’ve learned quite much, especially things about working as a junior developer.

Things that might be useful:

  • If you have someone more experienced on the office who could review your code before launch, insist on that they do it. She or he can tell you how they would have done stuff (and things you have missed), you’ll learn tons from it. If you’re lucky you might even get a mentor you’ll be able to ask questions, and who’ll be glad to review your code.
  • Just because you just got hired doesn’t mean that you should stop reading. Continue to read, write and evaluate your methods. This is a way to keep the work funny and interesting as well. Never stop learning.
  • Take initiatives, ask around. Take the chances you get to get to know your team mates better.
  • Ask your team mates what they are doing, and why they are doing it that way. Question everything.
  • Write down the stuff that you learn and share with others who are, or will be in the same position.

And then we have a few optional things that I personally do:

  • I keep my desk clutter free. At my workplace, it’s not a requirement or anything, but I just like to be able to focus on the screen and the tasks ahead of me.
  • Always show up early, or at least in time. This is not a solid requirement at my work place either, but I like to show up early, and then leave early. I tend to do the heavy tasks in the morning, and more light weight tasks in the afternoon.
  • Be polite and generous with compliments, remember peoples names and details about their personal life. But don’t pretend to be interested if you’re not. Falsehood always shines through.
  • Do your work. You might find this point very obvious, but I’ve seen enough people showing up at work to just spend the time procrastinating.

Most of these things are common sense, but you’ll be surprised of how many who wouldn’t agree with them. The important point is that you deliver what you promised, and that you do it on time. When you work in teams of more experienced people and you get to work with different projects (both fresh and uh-oh-so-old-and-completely-idiotic) you learn the most important things. The small things that no one ever seem to cover in those books that you read, or that tutorial that you walked. You learn things that could only be learned through hard earned experience.