okay what i'm about to say
i cannot believe i'm saying this entire
situation that i find myself in right
now feels like a pipe dream but i'm
standing in an apartment in the center
of paris that i bought
even crazier than that that's crazy
already crazier than that is that this
was all possible
thanks to
you guys thanks to the support that i
received on the internet something that
didn't exist like not that many years
ago so first of all i just want to say
thank you thank you a lot also the
internet is a very funny place
but i will come back to that in a little
bit this apartment this whole space
is very symbolic for me okay this is
absolutely 100 a new chapter in my life
and everything is going to change
including the direction of this channel
this is the most excited and energized
that i have felt
to make things in like years this is
also one of the hardest things i've ever
done honestly and to explain how i got
here i want to tell the story of
something i think we've all lived
through in some form or another over the
last couple of years
let me rewind from beginning
in december of 2019 i returned to the
united states to spend the holidays with
my parents on the outside things were
looking pretty amazing my channel was
growing like crazy i went from 30 000 to
600 000 subscribers that year i had just
spent three months living in italy and
then six months before that in mexico i
was accomplishing everything that i ever
wanted
and yet i couldn't shake this feeling of
emptiness i love what i do but i was
spending so much time alone working i
didn't really have much of a social or
romantic life i was feeling exhausted
from having to move countries and
continents every few months because of
visa constraints and as i've talked
about before i don't feel at home in the
united states so that wasn't an option i
felt like i couldn't build deeper
friendships and a sense of community and
that left me feeling lonely i was
meeting cool people around the world
constantly having to say goodbye this is
the dark side of the digital nomad dream
so many of us have the side i didn't see
when i threw myself into this lifestyle
look i'm extraordinarily lucky to be
living this life i think about that
every day and all i wanted was a place
where i felt like i belonged and people
that i loved around me that month i
decided to apply for a long-term visa to
come live in france i had done an
exchange there five years before i've
told that story in a separate video and
i felt a calling to return but i didn't
know anyone in paris so it was
essentially like starting over fresh
starting a new life here with a little
bit more time and stability i felt i
could find that sense of community this
was how i was going to change everything
the fact that this is empty is not a
good sign
i got rejected for the visa the first
time i applied but i tried it again
i got it and i felt incredibly excited
about my future life
oh my god oh my gosh i'm going to france
the next month i finally made the move
to paris one big luggage one little
luggage and two backpacks it is really
not easy moving to a foreign country but
i was going to do whatever it took
[Music]
and then of course
the pandemic hit so in less than an hour
everybody's gonna have to be inside
unless you have permission a lot of
people outside right now scrambling
getting last-minute things done it's
looking like
we're gonna go into a full on lockdown
and very quickly i could feel my dreams
crumbling before my eyes i spent two of
my first three months in france in my
own apartment in lockdown from a mental
health perspective this was one of the
hardest periods of my life i still think
back on it and i'm just like wow
that was crazy and i didn't return to
the united states because i didn't know
when i would be able to return to france
considering all the travel restrictions
and i wasn't yet ready to give up on my
dream of this life that i wanted to live
i think further into loneliness this
felt like taking steps backwards
and we all know how the next couple
years have gone our lives have been
marked by travel restrictions and
lockdowns social distancing and look we
are social creatures learning to live
this way has felt deeply unnatural in
many ways it's felt unnatural to me at
least and i have a strong feeling i'm
not the only one
i don't see this as time lost you know
i've learned so much this experience
like the value of deep connections for
example you really come to value
something when you lose it i've met some
incredible people and lived incredible
experiences that i am going to keep all
the way to my grave
yes
but there is one thing that i've
continued to struggle with which is that
it hasn't felt like my life here in
paris
has begun
it never got going never got started so
by september of 2021 i had been
technically subletting an apartment for
a year and a half it's the one with all
those books maybe some of you might
remember that but most of that time was
either in lockdown or under restrictions
or like curfews
or i was getting the hell out of paris
so that i could get into better
headspace very abnormal in every way and
so i chose to leave that place and i
followed a beautiful woman to romania
that is a story for another day okay the
point is that i was unsure of what the
future would hold and if i had a future
in france at all things didn't work out
between us all of a sudden i find myself
now no longer without even a living
situation which anybody who's ever tried
living in paris knows that is an
absolute nightmare already i was on a
bit of you know rocky footing with paris
and i hit a bit of a crossroads but
here's the thing i love france deeply
and i am not just talking about paris
here it is definitely not a country
without its problems but it is
absolutely a gorgeous place with
gorgeous people and i have made some
special connections here the beginnings
of a community if you will if there's
one thing that i've learned it is that
you don't just find community you can
wait for it to happen and you're
probably waiting for your whole life
community is something that is created
you have to work at it and build it and
honestly
paris is the closest i've ever come to
that welcome to paris and there is no
[ __ ] way i was going to let go of
that so easily i was not ready to give
up
did you know that the word bureaucracy
comes from french i think you can guess
what's coming next i had toyed around
with the idea of buying a place to
create a place that is mine for the
first time in my life and i thought all
right let's see what's out there turns
out finding the place was the easiest
part i found this spot within six days
of looking i walked in here and it was
love at first sight for those of you
that are interested here's a little
breakdown of what the buying property
process looks like here in paris spoiler
this whole system sucks
just bringing it up makes my blood boil
i made an offer which was sent to the
seller's real estate agent which he then
ran by them okay so we already have
one middleman they accepted which i was
very happy about as one would be next i
got a notary and they got a notary and
those notaries would communicate with
each other i at no point got in touch
directly with the sellers this is a
system that was created in the
napoleonic era okay and notaries help
you with all the communication and the
paperwork and whatnot so
middleman count is now up to three
actually four because my notary had like
an assistant or like a notary under him
or something so we are at four a month
after the process i signed a document
called la pomestevont this is basically
saying like look i'm really interested
in buying this and now i'm gonna go find
the financing to make this possible
because i didn't have the money to buy
this in cash not even close i won't be
able to move in probably for another
three months
but
i signed and so this is really really
happening this is crazy if only it were
that simple at that point i made a 10
down payment you then have two months to
get a loan agreement on the table with
the bank so i hired a courtier it's kind
of like a mortgage broker and they
helped me with the process i thought i
was done with the hard part i made the
offer it was accepted signed the
promestervant we're like cruising right
not so it turns out that
french banks banks in general honestly
do not know what a youtuber is they
don't understand what i do they don't
get what this is and they don't think i
have a future like they're concerned i'm
not going to make money in the future
which i understand i mean i don't even
know what the future holds but nobody
does really anyway
that's an existential path i'm not gonna
go down put more simply i don't have a
stable income and that's what the french
the entire french world is obsessed with
to make matters
far worse i come from the united states
and the french banks do not like working
with us usonians over the next two
months not one bank would look at my
case my quarter went from very confident
to
this is probably not gonna happen and i
tried every option okay from trying to
get a loan from a u.s bank
to trying to see if i could negotiate
directly with the sellers nothing was
working and i had to seriously seriously
consider
that this was just not going to work
sometimes life's like that right like
it's just not the right time by
mid-january i was panicking i mean i
have to admit i was losing hope it felt
like once again the dreams that i had
for a sense of community and stability
were just crumbling before my eyes and
then in a very bizarre stroke of luck my
notary
put me in touch with
like the one banker that has worked with
all the major youtubers in france what
are the odds of that happening i have an
angel watching over me
[Music]
i'm
just got the news
that this is that we finally have a
potential deal from a bank
oh my god after getting no's for months
from every possible bank or banker the
lady said casimo
unfortunately at every stage it felt
like two steps forward one step back
so close this just keeps going i'm
spending a lot of money on like airbnbs
and short-term solutions and whatnot you
know this isn't my home
[Music]
i don't fully understand why we're
waiting is there any way that we could
start the 10-day cooldown period now
well here's the thing i had to sign
something on tuesday last tuesday but
neither my banker nor i understood what
that was like i just want some clarity
so i have some idea
of when i might be able to get the keys
endless this has felt
endless
what happened oh my god i just got a
text from my banker let's go go
i must get back to a place where i can
open my computer you're fake running
dude reel run okay actually
runs into car
parkour parkour things were finally
falling into place you see the smile
i got approved for alone
[Music]
no heads being ripped off today
[Music]
isn't it so exciting it's gonna go in
the video so say something this is your
channel oh my god really at least dad's
trying
do it silent jaw dropping ready go
me your best reaction to the news mom
right now go
[Music]
hey the opposite okay
so
[Music]
what happened to your brother
oh he heard you
we're gonna act this out ready guess
what i got the i got the deal with the
bank
here's the thing thomas one of my best
friends in the world has bought an
apartment right next door dude we're
gonna be neighbors
yeah man we're gonna be neighbors holy
[ __ ] who wrote the plot of this story
i'm having to run so i'm not late to the
signing i can't believe it's happening
in like
this 30
late to his own freaking apartment
signings
oh my god i'm shaking
[Music]
oh my gosh
dude
oh my god you literally own a home
there's going to be a shift in the work
that i do in the people that i spend
time with in the way that i spend my
time in general and the places that i
spend that time everything i am thrilled
this for me is so much more than a
simple apartment okay this is a place
where i want to receive people that i
love i want this to be a space for
artists and creative people stepping
into my own place
for
the first time
whoa
oh
[Music]
my
god
but you also own a place right next to
thomas bragg from yesterday
yeah i do yeah
nathaniel drew from yesterday yeah
what i'll take all the clout i can get
from this
loser well last okay your 15 minutes are
uh
i don't know how the [ __ ] you've last
this long
are you starting to understand why i'm
so excited about this like i'm about to
break out into like dance here because
here's the thing i want to spend as much
time as i possibly can with people that
i care about people that inspire me that
push me and make me think i am happier a
lot happier when i'm around people like
that life is just
richer when you have this energetic
exchange with different people that are
on the same wavelength as you or that
see the world in different ways but you
can have this open interesting dialogue
and this
exchange basically okay i'm talking
about an energetic exchange here there's
something else i want to say that i
think is a really important part of all
this i don't come from a wealthy family
both of my parents were immigrants to
the united states five years ago i made
less than ten thousand dollars in the
entire year there's definitely no trust
fund in the picture here if anything i
am your trust fund baby why do i say
that because i didn't do this alone i
did this thanks to you guys and all of
the immense support that i've received
online this whole adventure is funded by
your viewership and support not in my
wildest dreams did i think i could live
a life like this doing what i love i'm
not sure how to thank you fully other
than to say that i'm gonna do everything
possible to take you on this adventure
with me i'm so excited to share it with
you i'm calling this new phase nathaniel
drew 3.0 because i went through a year
and a half where self-improvement and
discipline was ultra important to me and
then a year and a half
that felt like
all routine and all structure went out
the window and i just wanted to
experiment and try different things out
and now here i am
wanting
this new life this new rhythm this new
approach this apartment right now is
empty renovations are going to take
place i want to furnish this place i
want to do some really cool stuff in
here and if you're interested in
following along consider subscribing for
what it's worth the like button also
really helps they shouldn't call it a
like button in my opinion i think it
should be called a i want more of this
kind of content to exist button because
that's what that is really
there's an immense amount of work to do
but one thing is clear to me
the roaring 20s are coming back to paris
to be continued
[Music]
are you still there what are you still
doing here if you stuck around this long
then i suppose you deserve a little
sneak peek on what's to come i'll give
you a little spoiler so i'm basically
camping in my living room let me show
you i'm not doing this because i want to
i'm doing it because i don't own any
furniture whatsoever i mean look at this
sleeping setup this is the cheapest ikea
mattress i could find
on top of an air mattress and i
basically want to give an apartment tour
of the likes you've never seen okay
because i don't have the amazing final
product yet i want to take you along the
whole journey it looks like i'm shooting
this in the day and i'm not it's sunset
outside it's just the days are getting
really long and on top of it i can't
shoot this at night because i don't have
any lights set up so
yeah
now what does one do in this situation
well last night i was watching some
netflix and thanks to nordvpn i'm able
to watch some really amazing foreign
films my philosophy is when in doubt
cultivate yourself with some foreign
films right nordvpn are actually
sponsoring this video for which i am
very grateful because it's thanks to
them that i'm going to be able to buy
myself some furniture nordvpn you're a
real one i first started using nordvpn
way back in 2017 which is five years ago
now and slowly i've discovered all the
many advantages that come with having a
vpn for example if you're not in france
right now you do not have access to one
of my favorite movies of all time which
is amari available on netflix france but
not in a bunch of other countries
including the us this is doubling as a
movie recommendation because if you like
what i make you're gonna really like
that movie another fantastic film i
watched recently was frida about frida
kahlo which is only available in netflix
italy on the flip side if you're not in
the us right now and you don't have a
vpn then you cannot access hbo max which
has the entire lord of the rings trilogy
need i say more and here's a travel tip
okay you can actually sometimes use a
vpn to book hotels for example for a
lower price like sometimes if you're in
the united states it's cheaper than to
book in europe like you get the same
price just in dollars which ends up
being cheaper they've also recently
added an anti-malware feature called
threat protection which is integrated
into the vpn and that prevents you from
accidentally visiting malicious websites
honestly it runs smooth as butter i've
never had any issues so if you're
interested in checking them out i will
leave a link in the description and you
can use that link to get a big discount
when signing up a big thank you to
nordvpn for sponsoring this video and a
huge thank you to all of you for
watching i'm so excited about this
series so much more to come
let's go all right i'm going to bed
you