One of the main reasons that I am what I am today is because I went on a journey to find myself.  I got a job working for the Government of Spain so I went to live abroad and do some soul searching.  These are some images that inspired me in the moments which I captured them.

Let me backtrack a bit.  I graduated from Emory University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Spanish.  At the time I was uncertain that I wanted to pursue a career in Psychology and decided to take a year off to decide.  I moved back to Nashville and worked parking cars at a downtown hotel for good cash.  While at Emory I heard about a program to work as an English teacher in Spain. I applied for this and was hired as one of 2000 from the US and Canada to be an “Auxiliar de Conversación, which is basically a teaching assistant.

Placement is based on a lottery system and I was assigned to a small village, Mengíbar, 20 minutes outside of the capital of Jaén located in the mountains of the southern region of Andalucía. I arrived with no apartment or friends in town. I spent the first couple days looking at apartments and stayed at a hostel until I found one that fit all my requirements: cheap and in a good location with all Spanish roommates. Total immersion.

This year in Spain was expectedly filled with a lot of new experiences and was a coming of age for me.  It was there that I decided that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I was sitting in my room one sunny spring afternoon and I looked in what I consider my modest closet and that was it.  I had always felt like an artist the most and never had considered a way to make a living off of it.  The Spanish are all very well dressed all the time and this was truly inspiring. I remember my neighbors would put on fancy outfits to take out the trash!  I dreamed of bringing this well-dressed lifestyle back to my USA home and starting a men’s clothing brand. The ride has been the shit.

Here’s a link to my blog while I was living abroad  ADLER’S ADVENTURES. It has more pictures and a lot of stories. If you’re reading this then spread the love.