AYUDH PORTRAITS: AMANDINE LIMARE
Before January ends, we present to you AYUDH Portraits! Each month, we sit and talk with people to listen to their inspirational stories. This January, our theme is: Dream your new Beginning!
My name is Amandine, I am 28 years old, and I live in the countryside, near the city of Poitiers, southwest of France. I currently work in a restaurant that uses only local and organic products. We also organise cultural events, like concerts, every saturday evening, and art expositions once a month to showcase our local artists. I also created a small catering business that serves vegan and vegetarian food from organic and local vegetables where I live.
I took a Business and Marketing Diploma and an events degree in Paris for 1 year but I did not like the life in the city. It was stressful and I was not happy in my environment so I travelled to Australia for a year and did ‘WWOOFing.’ This is a (system) that lets you work in mostly organic farms where you have food and accommodation for free so you can travel even without a lot of money. I was able to visit farms and I realised that it’s possible to live sustainably. I continued this journey to find harmony with nature and humans. Back home, I worked in hotels and restaurants to earn money to travel. I did this for 2 to 3 years and my goal was really to find a place where I can find work that makes sense for me, I can live my daily life where it’s beautiful and I can feel happy. Not in the city, because I felt that I needed nature around me to feel good in my environment.
One advice I can give you is to make the most of your experience as much as possible. Meet people who do what you’d like to do. You can try WOOFING even though it’s not in the area where you’d like to work. It can give you another (perspective) and will help you meet people with a rich background that can give you advice and help you grow. Diversity in personal experiences gives you inspiration in your own journey. Everyone is different, every dream is different, it’s okay to change your mind and go back and forth but you’ll continue growing and continue enjoying.
You will have bad moments in life but that’s okay, that’s how you overcome issues and you grow by learning, by failing. It will be better afterwards.’
