#1 Welcome to the London Logbook

A young man took a plane to London on the morning of the 14th day of September of 2013 (well, in fact, he first took a plane to Madrid, and only from there did he fly to London). At his birth country, he left his family and some good friends (although it should be noted that some of the more special ones were already scattered around the world).

On his luggage, he carried more than clothes, personal hygiene items, books and electronics. In fact, most of the weight he was bringing was not the result of material things - luckily, the airline officers have yet to invent a weighing-machine to measure what is in someone's mind. The fact is that his fears, anxieties, doubts and uncertainties were also in his baggage. Further, he was carrying his huge will for novelty, the need to defy himself and the desire to go where no man has even been (there is a slight risk that that this last point is not accomplished throughout his first year away from home). In summary, the things on his mind would make any scale go well above of the 32kg limit established by the airline carrier that was taking Pedro to his new place.

One and a half month prior to his departure, he had left his old job, a well paid position at one of Portugal’s leading law firms. That was something that he thought he would never regret, as although he considered himself a privileged in a country that does not know how - or simply does not want to - support its young people, he just wanted more - not sure what in fact - for his existence. Simply, in his old life, he was not happy.

There was something that he did not admit to a lot of people, although he never tried to fool himself: the choice to pursue a Master degree in a foreign country was also a way of running. Running from uncomfortable comforts, unfulfilled expectations, lost loves and, above all, a fear of falling into a state of mind that he was not absolutely sure how to describe: atrophy was the word that jumped to his mind, but, to be completely honest, he didn't even know what it meant. Of course he was interested in the Law and, specially, on the relevant questions surrounding copyright, freedom of expression and freedom of the internet; he wanted to study again and try to contribute to his field of knowledge and specially to what he believes to be essential for the creation of a new and better society and for one more step in the long walk to a real democratia. However, one should not be fooled: when Pedro decided to leave Portugal, he was thinking selfishly.

This logbook aims to recite the adventures and misadventures of this not so humble writer, which, for all purposes, we invite you to regard as your new hero. Most of its entries will be written in English, but, as a result of the multicultural environment currently surrounding us, we cannot guarantee that we will not venture to write in other languages, such as Portuguese (either from Portugal, with a Brazilian accent or with memories from Goa), Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Argentina and Peru might prove an influence in here), Italian, French, Flemish, German, Croatian and Hindi. They will range from the most simple and boring description of Pedro's everyday life to amazing tales of fights against dragons and other real creatures, something that is way more common that some might think - after all, our history will be placed in the land of King Arthur.

The necessary presentations have been done. Welcome to the London Logbook.