Hello Steemit! We are MUKTIVAT

... and we'd love to introduce ourselves to show you who we are and what we do (with our lifes). It's been more than 14 days since we joined Steemit and we didn't want you to wait any longer!

_{©2017 - @muktivat - Steemit Exclusive - This is us. Heja!}

sanscrit

M U K T I V A T

Mukti...what?

Muktivat is an old Sanskrit word and it means “having freedom” or “being freed from”. For us, this means to have the freedom to go where we want to be and to do what we love – not just for a short period like on a vacation but as a way of living. Most important, we have the freedom to share our time with lovely, interesting and incredibly skilled fellow humans that we meet along the way.

O F F R O A D O F F I C E

Digital nomads.

MUKTIVAT is a collective of digital nomads and practical engineers. We haven chosen to explore this world and seek inspiration, insight and interaction. For this quest, good companionship is a vital foundation. We work individually and we work together – and call this style of co-living and co-working “Offroad Office”. And this is us in person:

Benni

Wholeheartedly, he produces media content. Sometimes 10 days per week. Starting from videos, motion design and photos up to print design and design-concepts. It kind of makes him spend all his money on equipment, too. Neither the hour of the day nor the temperature matters because if the light is right, he's outside!

Mike

He is a versatile writer, perfectionist editor and author of fiction and poetry. Scientific research and academic texts are the reasons for him to get up rather later then sooner. Among other projects, he currently works as a Research Associate focusing on legal aspects of Blockchain technology, Data Protection and Artificial Intelligence.

Alex

Bachelor of bringing people together, Master of organization as well as Doctor of lifestyle & health coaching. He is also Professor of flexibility. Well, those titles are all made up but he actually does have a Master Degree in English Linguistics and Sport Science and he is a certified Kung Fu Instructor. Not to forget his passion for music.

Pete

Pete can handcraft pretty much anything! Currently, he is super-modifing our second expedition vehicle. Always eager to exceed his limitations, he loves all kinds of extreme and fast sports. Last month, he cycled through Laos and Thailand covering an altitude difference of 30.000 meters. Yes, on a bicylce!

Çigdem

She could swim through the Bosporus if necessary and tell you all about Modern Art while doing it. She is just about to finish her Master Degree in Art History at the University of Istanbul. Furthermore, she is a certified Yoga Teacher and movie nerd.

W H A T W E D O

Blurry working fields, yet presentable results.

Usually, people don't really get what we do. At least when we try to explain it one sentence. Why? Maybe we are just not good at explaining it! Or maybe because the borders of our working fields are very blurry. Let's put it like this: whatever we do, we do it with passion and don't care too much about the limitations of a profession or a genre. But if we would have to put labels on some of those fields, they would include writing, videography, music, sports, health and craftmanship. Here are some examples:

Music

We recorded a mix that combines literature/poetry with electronic music. The intention was to support the spirit of an experimental approach in those genres offered by the Soundcloud channel Deep Stories.

_{©2017 - @Common Creative License.}

Craftsmanship

It might sound funky, but we are building an expedition car for our purpose... in our home garage! Once finished, it will help us to reach out to more people we care about and work on practical projects together. So this car will be not only a 4WD but also a mobile toolbox!

_{©2018 - @muktivat.}

Video

For the opening event of the Norway based Yoga Studio and Community Place "Spiregården", we produced a little aftermovie. The music was "handmade" exclusively for this video and gifted to us by our friend Gianni Morandi.

_{©2017 - @muktivat.}

Writing

As Blockchain-technology has turned into a mega hype, we put an eye on critical aspects as well. In the article "Why Smart Contracts will fail to meet high expectations - Lessons from the DAO-Hack" in German language, Mike has analysed the "Code is Law"-doctrine put forward by many crypto-enthusiasts fromthe perspective of legal history and theory. The widespread Tech-Blog golem.de was a good platform to share his thoughts with a techy community.

_{©2017 - @muktivat.}

W H Y W E J O I N E D S T E E M I T

Only change is constant.

Our mission at MUKTIVAT is to explore travel paths in a world that seems to move closer together through globalisation and technology. However, at the same time it appears to drift further apart, catalysed by fear, closed-mindedness and merciless competition. We seek to build bridges on a small scale and bring together like-minded souls in times of massive technological, environmental and societal transformation. Steemit is a "digital manifestation" of change and it holds the potential to give us the opportunity to become an active part (with a sense of direction) in this process.

While traveling, we try to trade skills for products or services to make a living with as little money involved as possible. Steemit is an interesting way to expand this idea: We let our viewers and readers decide how much they value our work and what they want to give us in exchange. We like this idea better than monetizing our content on conventional platforms. As a matter of facts, we really enjoy giving to others - especially in order to inspire and motivate. The beauty of steemit is that giving is rewarded voluntarily!

B O T T O M L I N E

"It's better to travel well than to arrive" – The Buddha.

Do not be mistaken by the expression “having freedom” – it’s not a finite state, it’s an ongoing and challenging endeavour. Needless to say, we’re no saints, and we do go through constant mental and physical struggles ourselves as both a group and as individuals. Self-doubt, confusion and impatience always travel along somewhere down in the backpack of our souls. Still, we believe that staying on the move and choosing a rather unconventional lifestyle can create space for an attitude that embraces change rather then shying away from it. A path that enables self-empowerment rather than lethargy and which might contribute to a different way of human understanding and collaboration.

Off the record: We have really no idea were this journey is taking us or if it leads to anything at all - but one thing is for sure: half the fun is getting there and if we fail, you will read about it here :)

_{©2017 - @muktivat.}