It was one of those everlasting Riviera sunsets where you try to hang on to your day as long as possible, clinging on to the last rays of daylights as if it was my last. Mark Strijbosch took a deep breath and meditated, ridding himself of the day’s stress and manifesting good thoughts.

We always want to feel inspired and I woke up from my mediation to the sound of excited laughter. A kayak had dragged itself on the beach and out popped Sergi, also known as Rumbo Mediterraneo… all the way from Barcelona.

Travelling to Barcelona is easy; many of us have taken that low cost airline flight to spend the weekend there. Nothing much to shout about there… but how about hugging the coastline all the way to Malta and beyond?

“My kayak is now my home,” Rumbo states. “I have to keep everything here, but travel extremely lightly. It is all clipped and packed in dry bags but I even have a kitchen,” he joked. His kitchen: a recycled coke can to act as a burner. His bed? A tent and a sleeping bag. His home: any Mediterranean beach he can find.

A spot of Mediterranean beach is never a bad view to wake up to every morning. Sergi has been travelling since 2013. He has no final destination and no aim. His goals are short term wins, bedding down for the night after a tough day travelling.

Rumbo loves to travel and push his limits and fell in love with using the kayak as his principle mode of transport. “My knees are very bad for a 33 year old so I cannot carry heavy backpacks and trek distances due to a chronic injury. The kayak is perfect for me, even though the long distances can be tough.”

On that note Sergi and I high-fived each other and giggled, both sufferers of bad knee injuries and with the ice broken the interview really kicked off.

A day in his life is beautiful. “I wake up in my tent next to the kayak on the beach and if I find a place to have a coffee I will do so before my stretches. From then on it is just finding the next beach to relax in.”

Rumbo found Nirvana who quickly became a sea pirate after three days of feeling sea-sick.

Sergi insists on having no pressure or deadline and takes stretches of breaks in areas he likes. He embarked on his journey to become a better person and hopes he is doing so “even though it is tough as when you travel alone you rely purely on yourself so making re-adjustments due to other people can be tough.”

Admittedly though, he is not alone anymore. Three years ago, on the shores of Sardinia, Sergi found Nirvana. Nirvana to him was not the final form of meditation, but his new travel companion – his sea pirate, beach loving dog, who had been abandoned before Sergi found her.

After three days of being sea-sick, she is now an elite traveller and is running around Riviera bay as we have our chat. “Since I found her, I have not capsized as I have to be very careful not to drop her in the sea.” She is not only somewhat of a lucky charm, but also adds an air of responsibility to his travels.

I am Sergi the sailor man!

Out at sea, Rumbo’s faces everything, but deep thoughts on migration are never far from his mind. His own crossing to Malta from Sicily was very special as he was happy to hitch a ride with Proactiva Open Arms, a  rescue vessel that picks up immigrants who try to cross the rough and dangerous Mediterranean sea.

On that day alone, they picked up 389 persons, who might have never made it safely to land were it not for the brave workers aboard the Proactiva.

When asked about his top Mediterranean destination, Sergi laughed and said Malta, keeping his interviewer pleased. But when pressed more he revealed further. Without wanting to minimise anywhere, he insisted, the people of Sardinia are incredible. “It seemed like everywhere I went people would welcome me as you did with the bottle of wine and smiles.” “In the end,” he added, “nature is beautiful but can be repetitive… it is the people that make the journey.”

When I asked Sergi to give any form of advice to any readers who aspire to travel he laughed and felt a tinge of pressure. A long, calculated pause. A smile. Half a word. . . and finally: “Just go for it. Do not waste time over preparing. The less you prepare and the less expectations you have, the better.”

He explained that he started with a different canoe, a different sail and a different tent. Yet here is, in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, still going strong. He learned many things along the way, but the one thing that stuck deals with people’s wishes and hopes. “When we have expectations we often feel disappointments,” he concluded and with that I felt it was time to let the thoughts flow.

Rumbo walked off to find Nirvana, leaving us all inspired and motivated. His travelling philosophies do not only apply to seeing places, but can also be used in the way we conduct our day to day activities.

Sergi is backed by Oceana, a non-profit organisation who also loves the sea.

Follow Rumbo’s adventures on Insta and on his own website www.rumbo-mediterraneo.com.

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