STAFF: Enric Selfa
The next few days you will know a little bit more about each of MuchaMasia’s staff members. As we told you in this post, each of us has a story and a way of life. Today we are meeting Enric Selfa.
Who is Enric Selfa?
Enric is 39 years old. It’s from El Prat de Llobregat. He speaks Catalan, Spanish and English. Enric is the restless man of MuchaMasia. During his previous work Enric has worked in logistics on the fashion and metallurgy sectors. He has always tried to become an entrepreneur. So, his desire to start a new adventure as an entrepreneur and his passion for travel, unite in MuchaMasia. Now Enric is a partner and owner of MuchaMasia. He is a receptionist, administrative and he does the maintenance and supervises the hostel and its proper functioning.
Enric Selfa, in depth
Why am I here?
For a long time I was in the active search for employment. Since I have always been a restless person, I was looking to improve my working life, looking for new goals and projects that would excited me. What attracted me the most was the idea of being an entrepreneur, to start or open a new business, something in which I could be my own boss. The idea of being able to work for oneself, even if it seems like a chimera, is possible, it is not easy, but it is possible. I almost started a business as a beverage distributor.
The idea of MuchaMasia comes from Jordi and his idea captivates me. All this, added to my desire to undertake, makes us get down to work. The road has been hard, very hard, but at the same time very rewarding. See how everything is growing, how things happen and see that in the end you have achieved it is the best feelings you can have.
We could say that I am in this project because I wanted to change my future, to be happy in something that I love, traveling, but this time from the other side, listening to the stories that our guests (often they become our friends) give us. I also have to say that being with Jordi, who, apart from my partner, is a friend, makes everything easier, makes everything flows.
What do I do in MuchaMasia?
Be happy! And work in something that I like and where every day I can learn a new thing. From making a new friend to enjoying something that we have created out of nothing. Being in this project makes you very versatile and specially now, that we are in the first year.
Basically I am more in charge of the maintenance of the house, that everything is in order. I spend a lot of time at reception, in administrative tasks, arranging papers, permits, etc. Tthe bureaucracy is always very heavy. Jordi and I I are in charge of the general supervision of the hostel, that everything works in the best way,
Tell us about yourself
- Three essential places in my life
Piera. There I spent most of my childhood. There I grew up and I made myself. It has always been my place, my escape when something worries me. Arrive on a Sunday to eat with the family makes me feel good, it relaxes me. Being in the “tower” (Can Mata) and remembering the talks I had with my father doing a paella, explaining my problems and my mess makes me feel very good. Now that he is not anymore, it is me who is in charge of making those paellas…. However for me the paella has now a different flavor. Piera reminds me of where I come from.
An airport, whatever it is. I do not know, it’s something that always evokes my enjoyment. Being in an airport makes me feel alive. For me it is linked to traveling, to have a new experience, to live something unknown that will never leave you indifferent.
Any place where I’m surrounded by family, friends, and with Eva, my wife. It does not matter if you are here or there, having your people close I think it is essential. As they say, good times and bad times are better in good company. Being with people makes me happy.
Ah! And the kitchen! I love to cook and it relaxes me when I feel overwhelmed or worried. I get into a kitchen and my time goes by.
- This is my unforgettable trip
I really have several. Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, many … but if I have to choose… the one we made to the United States. It was our honeymoon. Eva and I spent a month and a half making a route along the west coast by car. It was spectacular. I’m lucky that if I like to travel, my wife loves it. In all trips he is responsible for finding the best routes, best prices, and unforgettable sites. It was quite an experience to be able to know that extreme culture during all that time. Being able to hike the Grand Canyon, visit Las Vegas or sleep in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Yosemite Park are amazing experiences. Even having a traffic accident the second day in the middle of a ten-lane highway leaving Los Angeles! It was, perhaps, the best trip of my life.
- I would like to forget this trip
None. Each trip leaves you something, even the worst give you situations that you will never forget. Maybe there have been bad, sites that you will never go back, but places that you can say that you have been and that have marked you in one way or another. A trip is never forgotten.
Something more personal
What do I prefer? The sea or the mountain?
Mountain. As I said before I spent my childhood in Piera and there the nearest sea you have is 50 km far. I love to walk after a good rain, smell the wet earth and enjoy the noisy silence that a forest provides.
I like the sea for its connotations, the peace of listening to the waves or walking on the beach. It is a place that I feel very close because my wife loves the sea.
My favorite dish
Rice. It does not matter how do you cook it. I like cooking and cooking rice gives you many choices of good dishes.
A movie
The Shawshank Redemption by Tim Robins and Morgan Freeman. I will always remember the first time I saw it, I was so shocked by the end that I put it on again. And here in the Hostel I’ve already put it a few times!
A song
Any of Joaquín Sabina. I have grown up with his music, he has accompanied me in the hard work of growing up.
What would you recommend to all visitors to MuchaMasia?
Enjoy. Just come, without any expectation and create their own. Let them be enveloped by the energy that the place emits, they can enjoy as much or more than us. I think that no place offers so much for so little.There is no more to say of a place that surrounds you and does not leave you indifferent.