Hola! I am Ari.

Martijn and Jovanna, my good friends and driving forces behind Kindreds Spirits, asked me to blog and I simply said YES. Staring at my blank screen I wonder… why the hell. Where do I write about then?

Some stories to start with

Even though we are Kindred Spirits – then what is the so-called common denominator? The urge for adventure and authentic experiences? I would love to tell you about my best -somehow wild- adventures though. No problem. But are they really that wild? I don’t know. I could of course always brag or exaggerate. A good story is a good story, true or not. But where do I start?

I can tell you all about my travels, the encounters with colorful vagabonds, and the roller coaster in Chile that I joined a few years ago. It’s not as exciting as the Python in the Efteling, but still. I can tell stories about that time I got lost in the deep Peruvian jungle and rapidly saw the end of my life coming closer.

Or that time I dangled in a tree above a ravine because I was excited and jumped over a wall. Or I tell you about that time I swam in a black lake full of murderous predatory fish, alligators and an overgrown boa. I had really no idea. Almost got killed in all my innocence. This is a really good story. I might come back to this.

How I ended up in Chile

I know there may still be a few stories to tell. Now that I think of it, I don’t need to worry. I have tons of stories to tell. Just pour me a glass. Ginger tea is fine.

But first, I will tell you something about myself: I’m from the city of Eindhoven. It’s a city where I feel at home because there’s nothing to it, at least on the surface. Would you like to add some buzz, you have to work for it. And so I did for years. I’ve organized events and party’s, mostly in the so-called Stroomhuis, a creative bastion. Home of artistics, stray punks and paradise birds. The nightlife was my habitat, a place where things happen that do not tolerate daylight. I thought that was nice. Also a bit rebellious. Music was always the engine. Nowadays I prefer natural light. It’s better for a fresh complexion.

I found out that not everything is about nightlife. It felt more and more as a hedonistic break in a life that is becoming just a little too comfortable. Creativity, art and music are nice, but I missed something. I got bored. Every fiber in my body was screaming for adventure. I therefore decided to travel the world, looking for a new challenge.

BAM!

I cleared all my savings, rented my house to a friend and went to South America. First stop: Chile. I visited friends who emigrated six months earlier. They wanted to build a self-sustaining place in nature and do things just a little different. Contribute to a better world, in any way.

That appealed to me. Directly. Honestly it struck me deeply in my heart. BAM!

I was interested in the basal green business for a few years already. Neatly separating waste, green energy, join all sign petitions. I was doing pretty well by Dutch standards, if I may say so myself.
But on arrival in Chile I became so inspired by the plans of my dear friends that I decided to stay.

My adventure was waiting for me in Chile and hello, I am still here. It’s an adventure which is sincerely more rebellious and punk than my previous underground scene. Rebellious in the true sense of word. Rebellious because we don’t accept the current system, but believe that things can be done differently. Better.

Instead of kicking against the established system, we prefer to create a new system. One with more human values than the mainstream one. And one that pleases Mother Earth too. That may sound like we’re tree huggers, but we really mean it. Currently we are establishing Mas Newen, our small, little company which is dedicated to giving the world natural and regenerative products.

In the next few blogs I will tell you a bit more about Mas Newen, how we look at things, what concerns us here in Chile, but also in the Netherlands. We travel between both countries to create a fruitful cross-pollination where Maya the bee would be proud of.

And for the Kindred Spirits who want to know what happened in the jungle? I might come back to that when I’m in a nostalgic mood, here on the veranda of our DIY mansion:

Chao! Un abrazo de Chile!