Last October, I moved from Amsterdam to Portland after my 6-year stint working abroad had seemingly come to an end.
Today, I find myself waking up on my friend D's couch in Amsterdam reading Chum’s surf blog and wondering when I will return to Portland again to bask in the embrace of the mighty Pacific and my girlfriend's honest kisses.
I have been back in Europe since the middle of December (save for a week's return home over Xmas and New Year's). In the two months since my return, I have spent less than two weeks in any one place, bouncing back-and-forth from Copenhagen to Amsterdam to Barcelona, London and Madrid.
The reason for my return was the same as what brought me to Europe six years ago: work and football. My current gig has me traveling around Europe in an attempt to gather compelling video content featuring the world's top football stars for my company's World Cup marketing campaign. The job has proven to be anything but easy due to limited time and access to athletes. Fortunately for me, I have managed to convince a few of my talented friends to join in this Napoleonic quest to conquer Europe and return home with the spoils.
I have always felt that my one and only talent is finding and knowing people who make me look good. This project is proving to be further proof of that notion. Any nuggets of success that we have managed in the past month have been the result of my crew's individual talents rather than any form of leadership and direction on my part.
We have coined our operation "Scrappy Productions" for its rag-tag, shoot-from-the-hip nature. While it’s a fitting name, there is nothing rag-tag about this crew.
Mark, our creative and spiritual leader, is the Woody Allen of our team - a perfectionist prone to neurosis. He’s the one everyone is routing for and the one who will save our butts in the end.
Allen, a quick-witted, good-humored and crazy Scot, is the epitome of the modern media missionary. He’s covered the Ibizia party beat for MTV, been run down on location in Sierra Leone and currently aspires to produce a documentary about amputee footballers in Africa.
Arnout is a budding Dutch photographer who has mastered the technical side of the camera and is proving to be well on his way of mastering the artistic side as well.
The mansions these guys have built out of the matchsticks provided them is simply remarkable.
