VRO & Friends · EP 001
Squid, Shrimp and Memories
It started over grilled fish in Jimbaran. I had brought a beautiful new set of DJI microphones to lunch with my friend Cédric, intending to record the first episode of VRO & Friends. A remarkable little piece of technology, I must say. Unfortunately, technology is only as clever as the person operating it. While repositioning Cédric's microphone at the beginning of our conversation, I accidentally switched it off. A perfectly executed beginner's mistake.
The restaurant was noisy. Plates moved around us, people talked at the neighbouring tables, fish was being grilled somewhere behind us, and Cédric, who had warned me he was not particularly comfortable with microphones, spoke quietly. The entire conversation had to be recovered from the microphone I was wearing. Technically, it was not exactly the birth of a flawless podcast.
But then he started telling me his story. He talked about arriving in Bali, meeting the woman who would become his wife, the life they built between France and Indonesia, the apartment they created together, the decision to sell it and the way, eventually, they found themselves building something new in Bali. What began as a simple conversation over lunch gradually became something more interesting: the story of a life shaped by encounters, decisions and unexpected changes of direction.
I had known Cédric for some time, but listening to him that afternoon reminded me how little we sometimes know about the journeys of people we consider familiar. We know where they live, what they do, perhaps even what they dream of doing next. But the road that brought them there is often a different story altogether.
So, a small warning before you press play: what you are about to hear was recorded entirely through my own microphone, with all the background noise of a busy Jimbaran restaurant. Future episodes will undoubtedly benefit from better technique, fewer beginner's mistakes and, hopefully, two functioning microphones. But I am not entirely convinced that everything needs to become too polished. There is something valuable in hearing the place around a conversation. After all, this one began over grilled fish, and I rather like the idea that you can still hear it.
