ABOUT ME

My name is Samuel Martin del Rio, I was born in Madrid, Spain in March 16th 1981. I'm the oldest of two brothers, my yound brother Raul was born almost 5 years later than me.

I grew up in a area named San Femin in the South of Madrid, until I was 13, where I had good friends and good experiences. When I was 13 we moved to vallecas, another different area in South of Madrid too. I studyed in Nuestra Señora del Loreto, which is the college where I studyed from I was 6 until I was 17, and where I made good friends too. I spend my last year in the school as intern.

When I was 17 I decided to change my live and go to Ronda, a village in Malaga, which is a place in the South of Spain to study to be a pilot for the air force. At the same time that I was studing for to be pilot I was studing chemistry in the UNED, Distance University of Spain. I spent two years there but after those two years I realised that I didn't want to be militar anymore so I went back to Madrid and I started to study in the University.

I inscribed in computer engineer degree in the Carlos III University in Madrid. I spent some time there and I built really good friends. At the same time that I was studing I was working in some places like salesman during the holidays and the weekend to get some money and to be able to travel. I also was woorking in the University at the same time I was studing to get some money too.

I started to travel since I was a kid with my parents, by only around my country, but was good enought to have the travel bug now. I really start to travel outside to my country at the end of school, when I was 15 or 16 with some of the school tips, to Andorra, Italy and US. But when I really can't stop to travel was when I started the University. I have more free time and some moeny because I started to work in some temporal jobs and I started to travel all around Europe and sometimes when I could outside to Europe too.

I decided to started writting this blog because one day one of my friends, Natalio, told me that as we are very far to be comunicate with all my friends, family, etc, I could write a blog where I tell my stories and in this way everybody could to how is everything going here, so at the first time I just started with the trips that I did around here, but then, step by step I just started to introduce all the trips, no all, but al least these ones from I conserved some pictures or memories.

After I finished the University I started to work for Vodafone, a Telecomunication company, but after a while BBVA call me to work with them and I did. I always had the dream to life outside to Spain and much more after my brother was studying the Erasmus scholarship in Finland, so I asked to my boss that if he heart about any oportunity to work outside to Spain, if he could let me know it. So after two years working is BBVA Madrid, one day my boss called me and offered to work in Houston, Texas in the United Stated. At the first time was no the best place that I could image to go, but of course I accepted, was a great oportunity to work outside, to life outside , to learnd english and to travel, so I decided to go to Houston.

The first day that I arrive to Houston was disastrous, in the airport they lost my suitcase with all my work clothes and the next day I should go to work. Then when I went to rent the car, the car was automatic, so I didn't used to drive this kind of cars and I almost had and accident. Then the hostel address was confused even for the GPS, so I waste a lot of time trying to find the Hotel in a city that I didn't know and in the middle of the night without the posibility to ask someone where I was.

Then step by step I was setting up all my things in Houston, my english classes, my apartment and everything, but just after six months my company told me with one week of notified that I have to go to work to Birmingham, Al. So I move to Alabama in April 2009 after 2 months flying forward and back from Birmingham to Houston.

At the first time Birmingham was very depressing, but I hadn't choise, but after a while I staterd making friends and knowing better the city and everything started to came to the normality. Living in US give me the opportunity to travel around a lot of places in the US as you can see in this blog and also to travel to others places close but outside to the country.