The Nomad Cook project strives to support marginalized and developing projects and communities. Through video, photography, and technology. I share my tools with them so that they can have a voice that otherwise would be more difficult to have. Cooking and traveling are a keystone to achieve this goal, it was also the way this idea was born.
This endeavor was created while I was cooking and traveling through South America. Three friends were cooking together, and I decided to film the process. Long story short, I continued to do the same when I kept traveling to other countries in South America.
In the beginning, it was all about creating a record of the food and the places I visited. But then, at some point, I realized that this new passion had something else. Not only cooking but also talking to the people that were sharing those moments with me. It made me realize that the Nomad Cook was making an impact on their lives. I was inspiring other people when I was telling my story and how I was trying to pursue a purpose. I believe that videography and photography are powerful tools to communicate ideas and concepts.
Making an Impact
The nature of this project began as content creation on the note of traveling and cooking. After traveling for a year, I realized I was connecting with people featured in my videos. A deeper level connection that made me realize how important this is for an endeavor like this. Cooking and traveling helped me to discover and explore many aspects of humankind. At some point, I understood and decided I wanted to do this for a living.
Further down the road, I discovered how much being kind and compassionate with fellow cooks and friends I found along the way could make an impact on their lives. Some people have told me how the Nomad Cook project inspired them to start a business or a good cause. However, I found a different way to make an impact during the first months of this project. When I was in Sucre, Bolivia, I was introduced to the people of Cóndor Café. I loved what they did and offered to make them a video to show their work, for free. Then I found that sharing work worth seeing and people’s talent is a great way to collaborate with them since they could not afford to hire a private professional videographer/photographer. You can find some examples of this, aquí.
What's next for Nomad Cook?
In this capitalistic world, it’s hard to make a living if you don’t agree with the system itself without going against your principles. It is also easier to know what you do not want to do. In my case, I came from a 17 years career as a designer and programmer. I worked with several clients and projects that made me feel sick about how our consumerism and habits are screwing most of us on this planet. But also, made me more conscious about how to fight against it.
There are two visible ways for me to swim against the stream; either you isolate yourself from the world and produce your food, or you start using the same system tools and trends to make a difference. My latest conclusions are that you can still collaborate on empowering other people and projects that need a more human approach to technology and publishing platforms and techniques like photography and video (which I love) and still make a living out of this philosophy.
At the end of 2018 and as I’m writing this post, I have been working on some structure to make this website easier to find. I’ve also been working on a couple of collaborations, to feature and promote their projects, and to tell their stories. It’s important to mention that I’m caring and striving to both parts obtaining a benefit out of those efforts. Either Nomad Cook and the stars of the content I will be creating shortly.
Follow your dreams (or not)
There are many stories and blog posts that tell you how to quit your 9-6 job and follow your dreams. This post is not one of them, but I still believe that inspiring people is a great way to make a difference and the impact I mentioned above. I also think that there are different dreams. We as human species, have different goals in our lives, and even different values and mindsets. There’s no magic recipe or formula to take this step because some people’s dream is to quit their jobs to lay on the beach all day long while coding some website; some others would love to support some cause like ending the hunger of the world.
I took the step and quit my job to do this, to make a difference, to make an impact. The people that have passed through my life, all have given me or took something and made me grow, either with pain or empathy or just some words. But some of them have inspired me to be who I am and build my beliefs. After those years, it just didn’t make sense to keep doing the same things. So the Nomad Cook project is a great way to make me feel good about myself and help other people.
And yet, I keep cooking and traveling
Please enjoy the content of this website and subscribe to my Nomad Cook Youtube channel if you like it. You can also follow me on Instagram; I strive to post relevant content, either beautifully set and produced. But at the same time, I also try to publish socially relevant content. With a right balance of cooking and traveling. Remember that this is an independent project, and your support will be appreciated.
Update
As for today, January 2020. I paused te travels (internationally) and settled in Oaxaca City. I’m currently developing Nomad Cook locally following the project objective which is supporting other projects and communities that could use a hand (technical and creative).
If you want to support this project, and you are in Oaxaca City, you can book a cooking class.
If you are not here, you can support this project through Patreon.
