A blue skied sunny day with a single dark grey rain cloud ahead. When I departed from my last accomodation in Västerås, I got to experience the full range of Swedish April weather on the highway. First some snow while the sun was shining, then a full grown snow storm, then sun again. When I arrived at my first destination, Malmö, or rather the beautiful kite surfing beach in Lomma, where I would stand with the van for two nights, I was surprised by a beautiful sunset behind the ocean. I had been so sure that it would already be night when I arrive, but driving South-West shortly after change to summer-time made a bigger difference than expected. The next weeks would mark a nomad’s life through 5 different countries, always only staying one or a couple of nights at one location. Different places in Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany enriched me with social contacts and thought provoking impressions. It was a good treat for my mental condition. I could barely hold back my motivation to jump right into the editing of my finished first draft. But Germany would not be Germany, if it was not for the extensive bureaucracy awaiting me. Letters over letters that wanted to be dealt with had flooded my Mom’s address in the few months I had been away, many of which I deemed utterly unimportant and a waste of my precious life time. One question, though, I took more seriously than I might have had to: whether I should treat writing as a hobby or as a profession. Taking a year off to write novels in Germany means you don’t get money from the state unless you prove that you are applying for jobs constantly, including no travelling to foreign countries which obstructs research quite a bit. The only exception to this rule is if you prove that you want to build up your own business as a professional writer. Of course, I could have decided to just live from my savings, paying health and social insurance fully, and then find a job again, as had been my original plan. However, I want to sell the books anyway at some point, which would lead to me paying taxes for my sales. And I did not like the thought that I solely had to account for my earnings, considering the amount of work I am doing and the costs I am having. But above all, the past months I learned that writing is my passion and that no matter what, I want to continue doing this for the rest of my life, even if that means I can only take a part-time job in the future which might forfeit my chances to advance in my leadership career. Hence, I looked into everything from “Künstlersozialkasse” – a social insurance entity for artists -, forms to be filled out at the employment office and business plans to prove that this is not merely a hobby. The latter was indeed a hell lot of work, but also interesting. Learn about the market, the audience, marketing strategies, building your own brand.. Things I had never thought about before. I invested two full weeks into this and the rest of the paperwork that had to be done and there is still more to do. But then, I just could not hold it back any longer. I craved for opening Scrivener and starting to edit. And so I did. Oh, how it filled me with joy to make the rough edges rounder, to add some more details, to set the atmosphere correctly, to chose my words more wisely. There I was visiting a beautiful city I have never been to before with lovely spring weather and I could not get myself to do sightseeing, because I was so captivated by white words on black background – my favourite setting for all my apps. I’ll force myself to go outside later today to get some fresh air. Tomorrow, I’ll drive back to Germany, where I’ll do the final preparations for my trip to the USA. Next time, I’ll tell you more about the research I want to do and how I’ll address it. I have some fancy ideas, but still need to check the official regulations. Don’t want to be deported for being interested in another country’s culture.
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