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João

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"I am 100% Portuguese. My mother was born in a rural village called Freixo and my father in a rural village called Barril. Both are in the country's center near Coimbra. These villages had little job opportunities. For this reason, my parents moved to Switzerland for work, and that is where I was born. I learned both French and Portuguese simultaneously. When I was nine, we moved back to Portugal. My parents wanted me to grow up in the land of my heritage. I went to school in Évora to study architecture. However, during my education I ended up working in marketing, sometimes even acting in commercials for Vodofone, Bacardi, Nespresso, Porsche. I loved it, so I think I'm going to do that for a while longer. I also became an AirBnb host. I've done that for three years now. It's a way to travel without having to leave my flat. The culture comes to me. One time I even met a traveler who was studying Portuguese literature here, and he got a quote tattooed on his arm in my handwriting! Even though Portugal is my heritage, I also like to venture abroad because it's the best way to find yourself. Every time my feet touch a new land, I discover something new about who I am as a person. And I don't know that I'll ever fully know myself, so I have to keep traveling to find that out. I want to climb over every crevice the world has to offer and jump off its highest points. I plan to take over the world, and prove that Portuguese people can be just as influential as anybody."