The best advice I have ever received

“There are 200 countries out there”

Is by far the best advice I have never received but wished I had. Well, actually I have received it later in life, but from myself. I wish it was it has been given to me by a family member, a friend or by an old Chinese wizard living in a remote location, but that wasn’t the case because the best advice comes from within. Because no one knows us better than we know ourselves.

Countless times when I was young, I felt like dying, I felt that my life had no purpose and everything was negative. Life was hard, people were cruel and I couldn’t see a way out of it. That was the time when I needed someone to come to me and tell me:

“So what? There are 200 countries out there, just start over elsewhere. And if that elsewhere doesn’t work just try again and keep trying until you make it. There are no 10 or 20, there are 200. That’s a really big number, the possibilities are endless, be realistic and understand you are not confined to the place where you were born, you are relatively free to live and travel anywhere you want.”

Realistically speaking there’s absolutely nothing that could prevent me to fly out of this country tonight and start a new life somewhere else tomorrow. The only constraints are of course those we make ourselves up. Excuses to keep feeling sorry for ourselves instead of taking action.

Near-death experiences

I shouldn’t be alive. I should have died a long time ago but somehow I didn’t. I just continued to exist while letting parts of me on the way here. My body continued functioning, a witness of the lost parts, like an insect which has lost some of its legs but still which continues to crawl with the hopes that nobody will notice he’s missing some parts of him (or her). The following is a list of some of my near-death experiences, the ones I can remember. In order to protect people’s privacy, I will refer to them only using their initials. I have no idea what is anyone supposed to do with this information after reading it, but I guess you’re already here so you might as well keep reading:

1. On the roofs.The first near-death experiences I can recall are when I was 11 years old in Argentina, F. and I used to climb to the rooftops of some really tall buildings and walking on the ledges for some reason. And many times we almost fell, but sometimes we also didn’t fall and that was the first time my timeline started branching out from the times I did fall off.
2. Under the bus.I was 13, in Argentina, I was on the bus, on a stormy afternoon and about to get down. Wearing flip-flops and carrying a big backpack with heavy school books. I pressed the button to let the driver know I wanted to get off, he opened the door and I slipped down the stairs, which were wet because of the heavy rain and ended up directly under the bus’s double wheels. Luckily a woman on the bus had seen me slip and shouted to the driver to stop, which he did, saving my life and giving me the scare of a lifetime. It was the second time my timelines split, leaving my death self behind and my former self somehow incomplete.
3. Off the balcony.
   16 years old, at home, alone. Everyone in my life was a bully, Things were bad. I sat on the edge of our 8th-floor window and was about to jump and end it all when someone knocked on the door. I got down and opened the door, didn’t jump.

4. Under the gun.17 years old, Rosario, Argentina. While I was riding a bicycle with D., a guy hits him on his head, we fall off the bike and he points at us with his gun and robs us. In this timeline he didn’t shoot, so we are still alive but in a different timeline we are dead.

5. Hitchhiking.While hitchhiking alone somewhere in Germany, in the year 2007, I knew a car wanted to run me over because its driver didn’t like hitchhikers. It charged towards me and I somehow managed to jump to the side and avoid it. As it drove away, it sounded its horn maniacally in the same way people used to shoot their revolvers while riding away on their horses in the wild wild west.

6. Cliffhanger.In Pakistan, the year was 2008, with K. we were on a hiking trail along a mountain that had a missing part and for some reason we decided to try and grab our way to the other side, leaving me hanging from 1000 meters high without any equipment.

7. Bike.
   In Malaysia, 2013 maybe, with S. I was riding my motorbike on the highway and carrying about 5 liters of extra petrol because we were going to an isolated area when a car blocks my way and forces me to drive on a patch of spilled sand on the highway. I lose control, we fell off the bike, roll on the pavement, and witness the gas tank rolling next to me and a truck almost running me over. The tank didn’t explode and the truck didn’t stop to see if we were ok.

8. Blades.
   2016, somewhere in either Santa Fe province in Argentina, walking with Bong Gu by the side of the highway. A sort of tractor with some very sharp blades to mow the land of cut the grass drives full speed and passes me by just a few centimeters away from my legs. The driver didn’t even bother to warn me he was coming with his blades.

9. A close call.
   Also in Argentina, somewhere in La Pampa during the same walking trip. The night was falling and we hid behind some bushes by the side of the road. A vehicle drives by and spots us while we were searching for the perfect place. Half an hour later, when it was almost pitch dark, the car comes back and they come hunting for us with flashlights. We remain hidden and motionless, hearing them talking about what they would do to us if they found us. It was my call, I could have made a run for it when I had the chance or remain hidden and pray they don’t find us. I made the right call, and we are still alive.

10. 2017. With N. In Peru, a crazy guy was probably about to kill me but then something happened and he didn’t. Later that same year I fell off a cliff and landed on a cactus, and the next year, 2018, I was attacked by 100 bees and passed out and almost died, and this year I was almost dragged by the current in Bahia de Caraquez and pulled all my strength for a final desperation move where I ran as fast as I could against the current and somehow managed to make it back with my last breath. The End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My 5 dark thoughts

 

Thought number 1 and also my unpopular opinion is that it’s not fair that football players earn millions while there are people starving on the street right now. It’s something sad, not something to be celebrated. Is something to be angry about. I understand the government needs to distract people somehow so that they don’t complain about the fact that the society is being poorly managed and the resources poorly administrated, I also understand that football is a way to support capitalism and everything that it represents, as it moves billions and helps maintan the status quo, I understand we need to be entertained and distracted, because we are stupid and gullible, but still I can’t wrap my head around the fact that our society idolizes football players with all their violent behaviour, theatrical diving, faking, exaggerating and always trying to get an unfair advantage over the other players, while the real heroes like the teachers, doctors, scientist and people who actually contribute in some way to society are underpaid, overworked and overlooked. And even though I grew up in Argentina, I am probably the only Argentinian person who thinks there is something very wrong with Mr. Messi earning 3 million Euros a month while people in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba, Salta, Jujuy, Misiones, and many parts of Argentina are living in the street and have no food to eat.

Thought number 2 comes due to the fact that I will cross the Ecuador/Colombian border tomorrow and the fear of the unknown creeps in. Because going to a new country for the first time is always scary, especially in South America where many people have guns and are crazy. And I know I’m also crazy and I grew up in the murder capital of Argentina (Rosario). I always get the feeling everyone around me is not living in the moment but they act out of habit. And whenever I think of the unknown I ask myself, what is life? why are we living? is life worth living? am I different or the same as everyone else? Fear leads me to question myself and my life, and that’s scary.

Thought number 3 comes from seeing the people wait in line for 8 to 10 hours to get a stamp when they cross the Colombian border into Ecuador or vice-versa, with babies, and lots of bags. I can’t help but think that the whole process should be automated with machines on the border or it should be done online in 5 minutes, but of course, it’s also my unpopular opinion to think we should use technology to make people’s life easier and not otherwise.

Thought number 4 appears everytime someone asks me for money, especially on the street or when we are having a meal at a restaurant. At least every day someone will ask me for money here in Colombia and they look at you deep in the eyes and you say no 10 times and they keep pushing and pushing, they don’t give up easily, and I try to be polite and say I don’t have, but the truth is that I hate them for making me feel that way, because the only reason they ask me is because I am a foreigner and they think foreigners have money but the truth is I have like 500 dollars in my bank account and then that’s it. Everyone else around me has way more money than me, they have cars, houses, savings, families who support them, etc. I have met thousands of people during my trips but no one as poor as me. And I know I shouldn’t hate them for judging a book by its cover, but it’s not only that, I hate them for asking other people for money, because I think the government is the one who should be looking after people and I don’t think people should be ok with the fact that the government is not providing them with food and shelter and health care and education, I think they should be angry and start a revolution. There are hundreds of people living in the streets of Bogota and none of them are mad at the government for it, they are robbing and killing civilians instead. They think it’s better to rob and kill other poor people instead of taking it with the ones who are responsible for their misery, they will get on the busses with guns and knives and rob the passengers of the bus who are also poor people who are just going to work, going to work for pennies, because people here earn 1usd an hour and still they have to deal with the homeless coming into the bus with knives to kill them, and all because the government is not doing their job properly, and instead of complaining people will watch football or some silly thing and I’m very mad about it.

Thought number 5 is a compilation of the previous thoughts plus the fact that our life is no different than that of an animal of a plant in the sense that our lives are short and we are doing the best we can to thrive in our environment. So it probably doesn’t matter if people are smart or stupid, if they watch football or read a book, if they are rich or poor, if they kill or get killed, that’s life, that’s nature. It’s all the same in the end because we will all die a meaningless death. And that leads me to think it’s also ok for the government not to do their job properly, it’s ok that they pollute the air and the oceans, it’s ok that they torture, abuse and slaughter 56 billion farm animals every year for food when they know we could all be much happier and healthier eating vegetarian food, and I think it’s ok that in the US alone there are 5 empty houses for every homeless person, so every homeless could have 5 houses. People are exploited and abused everywhere I look because life is no more than a collection of systems designed to exploit one group of people or another. And even though they had the intellect and the means and resources to solve all the problems of the world a while ago, they probably also know that they will die in the end no matter what they do. If they are homeless living in the street or if they are the ones responsible for the misfortune of others, in the end, it won’t matter, so there’s no point doing anything or worrying about anything. And that’s what keeps me going, the fact that my existence is meaningless and that there’s nothing I could do change anything.

 

 

 

Best friends stick together

During my trips I’ve seen countless stray dogs abandoned by their owners by the side of the road or the outskirts of towns and I was enraged every time I heard the excuses people used to justify abandoning their pets:

 

– That they have to move or go traveling and it’s difficult to travel with a dog.

 

– That they don’t have space.

 

– That they don’t have time.

– They have behaviorar problems.

– Moving to a place that doesn’t allow pets.

– It’s too big now.

– It’s too expensive.

 

– I call bullshit on all of them. So what if it’s difficult? We don’t stop doing something just because it’s difficult. ‘Difficult’ is how we grow, it’s how we learn things. Life is difficult, relationships are difficult, everything is difficult if we so choose it to be or if we choose to see it that way.

 

So yes, whether it’s difficult or not you’re right, but you don’t just abandon a living being that adores you and would give their lives for you because it’s ‘difficult’.

 

– So what if you don’t have space? You just make space or look for a space. You know your dog doesn’t need a lot of space, Bong Gu and I have been homeless for about two years now. We slept outdoors for the most part of 2016 and we never thought it was difficult. It was an experience that’s for sure. Maybe it was difficult but we didn’t notice because we were too busy having the time of our lives.

 

– So what if you don’t have time? You just make time! I’ve had about 10 jobs since adopting my job and she came with me to each one of them. I know it’s difficult but we find a way because we have to and we want to and it’s well worth the effort.

 

 

– They have behavioral problems? So what? Teach them, train them, understand them. Learn to bond and connect with them on their level, educate yourself so you can educate them. It’s difficult? So what? Just do it anyway.

 

 – Your new place doesn’t allow pets? Well, Just look for a place that DOES allow pets. You wouldn’t abandon your child because your new place doesn’t allow children. 

The way Bong Gu and I go about finding a place to live/eat/sleep/shop etc. Is the following, we go anywhere and ask:

“Can I come in with a little dog?” (To a restaurant/shop)

“Can I stay here with a little dog?” (To a hotel)

“Can you take me with a little dog?” (To the bus/boat/train/taxi/car driver)

So what if they say no? There’s always another restaurant next door, another hotel a block away and another car/bus coming after it.

– So what if it gets big? Animals grow, it just means it will be able to protect you more. It means there is more of him or her to hug and cuddle, it means more love for you.

– It’s expensive? I don’t think so, dogs can eat rice, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, any kind of meat, and lots of inexpensive grains, tuberculous, beans, fruits, and veggies. Your dog doesn’t really care what it eats, they are adaptable like that, and they’d rather eat little but stay with you than eat a lot but missing you badly.

There were times when all Bong Gu and I had to eat were rice, lentils, and bananas but we made it through. It wasn’t much more expensive to cook for just me than it was to cook for the two of us.

 If it’s difficult we find a way and we do it anyway.

 

 

What has happened in Peru

 

 

Some of you know me, some of you don’t. For those who do: HI! 😉 . For those who don’t: welcome to my diary. A way to record some experiences I had. Not interesting, fun or memorable experiences, just experiences.
Long story short, I used to live in Asia and last year I came to South America to travel with my dog without any time restrictions. 2016 was spent mostly in Argentina, and a bit of Chile. This year was spent in Bolivia and Peru. Bolivia was ok but nothing worth writing about, most of it was weird and awkward. Peru is a different story. What follows, is about my experiences during the last three months in Peru. Everything you’ll read below really happened.

Index
Part 1 – Preconceptions
Part 2 – Crossing borders
Part 3 – Cusco
Part 4 – Machu Pichu
Part 5 – Lima
Part 6 – Paracas
Part 7 – Choquequirao
Part 8 – Iquitos
Part 9 – Ayahuasca
Part 10 – Conclusion

 

Part 1 – Preconceptions

 

 

Honestly speaking, I didn’t know much about Peru before coming here. What I knew was from the couch surfers I hosted in Argentina, many of them had come from Peru, all of them had loved it.
I knew about Machu Pichu and I knew it was the most touristy place in South America. I also knew what they said about it being really cheap and nice but not as nice as Colombia and not as cheap as Bolivia.
I had heard there are pickpockets and some tourists get kidnapped sometimes, like express kidnapped. I knew about Ayahuasca and that the Incas lived here before but they are not here anymore because something happened to them

.
I also knew it was a big country with many things to do and see, and that a few weeks or months would not be enough. I thought it was a country worth spending a few years in.
I knew people are generally poor but friendly. I knew they are Catholic, just like everywhere else in South America but probably a bit more.

And I knew it would probably be a nice place for me to settle down.

 

Part 2 – Crossing borders

I was wary of crossing the Bolivia-Peru border in Copacabana for several reasons. The first one was that I knew it’s the main border foreigners use while traveling in between those two countries, and I, of course, didn’t want to face the hordes of tourists, touts and everything that comes along with crossing the most popular border. But options were thin on the ground at the time, it was either that or face the 32 plus hours bus ride from La Paz to Riveralta and then another 30 to Rurenabaque.
In the end, it was nothing like I expected it to be. There were almost no foreigners and no one bothered us anywhere. It was the first of many misconceptions I had about Peru.
The second reason I was wary of using that border was that it would be the first time I would cross a border illegally. Why do I need to cross illegally? Because I’m poor, and the paperwork required to take a dog from one country to the next had taken a toll on me.
It’s about 50 USD, for every country we visit. I had paid before to go to Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, after that I decided that as we keep going north, is not realistic, neither time-wise, effort-wise or money wise, to do every paper again for every country we visit, as countries in South Amerca don’t recognize certificates from neighbors and we are planning to stay in South and Central America for a few more years, where countries are very small, especially around the Caribean.
Traveling with a dog is difficult enough on its own without counting the paperwork. All the logistics involved are difficult enough to handle. Accommodation is harder to come by, food and vet costs add up quickly and discrimination is fierce, as there are still too many people out there that don’t like dogs and don’t understand that someone can travel with one.
For example, many one hotel staff or landlords can’t conceive the fact that the dog sleeps in my room next to my bed, not on the street or in a yard somewhere. A restaurant owner is not happy with the fact that a dog comes with me to eat and I order an extra plate for her and put the food in a plastic bag which she eats under the table while I eat mine, or that I take the meat out of my plate to give it to her. Or a bus driver may not be happy with me taking a black ball of fur under my seat. All that builds up inside me as well and the rejection, stress, and lack of empathy people sometimes show, can add up pretty quickly to the many obstacles a regular traveler has to overcome with or without a dog.
There were no immigration officers anywhere to be seen between the borders, it seems most people who cross don’t get any stamp or paper and those who want to get one can enter some small office somewhere if they find it. So Bong Gu and I crossed illegally for the first time but no the last one.

 

Part 3 – Cusco

Again I was worried about going to Cusco thinking I would be just another foreigner or tourist there, hence losing my individuality. I was mistaken again, Cusco is a huge city and the foreigners stay only in a few areas.
Something I was sure of, was that Cusco wasn’t a place to spend a few days at, There were too many things to do and to see. Even a few weeks would probably not be enough, but they could be a good start.
I obviously can’t afford to stay in a hotel for a few weeks, neither I want to stay with Couchsurfers and having to socialize every day and do stuff together, so the way we approached the housing situation, was the same way we had approached it in the past. We got a hotel room for the night, left our backpack there and started walking around the city looking for signs posted on the walls that said they rent a room. That technique had never failed us before, so it should work even better here that we can speak their language.
Check out from the hotel was at 12, so we left at 7 with the hopes of coming back before noon after we had found a room to rent, to pick up our stuff and move to our new place.
The hotel was already in a residential area which was where the bus from Puno had dropped us off. We checked our GPS and started walking away from the city center which is where cheap rooms usually are.

By 9 am we had found about six signs saying they had rooms for us. By ten our list was reduced to two, one of them was small but furnished, at a ran down family-house with access to the kitchen, the only downside was that you had to go through their living room and interact with the family every time you needed to get in or out of the house.
The second one was s fourth floor empty room at a hotel a few hours away from downtown Cusco, there was nothing on it, not even a bed, instead of walls there were windows, without curtains, making it incredibly bright during the day and brighter than it should be during the night because of the street lights. The good thing about this one was that it had its own independent entrance so we wouldn’t need to wake everyone up when leaving the room early in the morning.
Both rooms were priced equally, at about a hundred dollars a month, that was something I was comfortable paying, as it was the same I was paying in China for the last few years before coming down to South America. They both accepted dogs and had no problem in renting me a room for just two weeks to start with.

We chose the room in the hotel because of the independence it offered and because it had wifi, which the other one didn’t. By eleven thirty we were back in time to get our bag and check out from the place we’d stayed the night before.
After that, we took a few days to relax and went to explore the sacred valley around Cusco by ourselves. With its many valleys and grasslands, it was probably the nicest thing we’ve seen during our time in Peru.When that was done with, we took a few more days off to relax and went off to Machu Pichu.

 

Part 4 – Machu Pichu

Machu Pichu is a tourist trap, that much is clear. And I’m not really a tourist, that much is also clear. I wouldn’t go to see stuff like the Eiffel Tower or The Great Wall.

Did I want to see Machu Pichu? Maybe, I wasn’t crazy about it, like some foreigners, who dream their whole life with coming to Peru just to visit Machu Pichu. For me it was more like a dilemma, It could be nice to see it but I definitely don’t want to feel like a tourist.

That leads me to the next question: Can I afford to visit Machu Pichu? No, not really.

If I factor in accommodation, transportation, and entrance fees, Machu Pichu could have cost at least two or three hundred dollars. To be honest, my budget is about a hundred dollars a week for everything, that’s something I, realistically speaking, feel comfortable spending. Some people spend more, some spend less, I don’t consider myself a frugal traveler or anything like that. I eat well, sleep comfortably and take good care of my dog, and that’s how much money it takes to do it. I’m saying that to make the fact that spending the budget of a few weeks in just one day it was not really an option.
If I wanted to use money as an excuse for not visiting Machu Pichu, it would have been very easy to just skip it all together and keep moving on to a cheaper place, but the truth is, in this kind of situations, money is not an issue, it never was, and it will probably never be. If I really wanted to go I would have found a way to go without spending any money like I’ve always done it before.

To be honest, once again I’ve used computers to make fake tickets to at least few dozen places in the past and I’ve snuck into a few dozen much more dangerous and difficult places than this one. If I really wanted to do it, Machu Pichu would be child’s play, mostly because of the fact that one doesn’t get arrested, fined or killed for entering Machu Pichu without a ticket, worst case scenario we get kicked out, we re-group, come up with a new plan and try it again the next day, no big deal.
If I had had the money to pay for everything, which I didn’t, and even if I wanted to pay which I also didn’t, there’s probably no way I would be allowed there with my dog and leaving her somewhere alone is out of the question, so for someone like me, sneaking in is usually the only viable option.
With money out of the way, the next question is: Do I actually feel like putting the time and effort needed to visit Machu Pichu without spending any money on transportation, accommodation or entrance fees? Maybe. I mean, yes, probably. Do I have something better to do? Absolutely not. Do I want a good story to tell? Sure.

Would it stroke my ego or make me feel special for doing something out of the ordinary or that most people couldn’t/wouldn’t do? Not, not really, I’m over that, I’m not in my twenties anymore and I don’t need to prove anything to myself or anyone, I’m 32 now, if I do something now is because I want to, not because I feel I have to.

All that being said, I feel like I could definitely enjoy the challenge and it sounds kind of fun. An exciting thing to do and something that fits my personality for political reasons I don’t feel like going into just now, but they involve the exorbitant amounts of money the Peruvian government makes from Machu Pichu, the salaries and the conditions people working there receive and how contributing to it would be no different than contributing to slave labor or buying clothes from a sweatshop.

Also someday I will be old and blind and I want to sit in the dark and remember the good old days when I still had the energy and motivation to do this kind of things. It would be a nice memory to have.
Everything’s been done before. Yes, even sneaking into Machu Pichu. That’s why the first step to our plan was to research information online about those who had done it before us. ‘I’m standing on the shoulders of giants’, not literally though.
Google and Youtube showed me there were at least five people who had done it and documented it online. What they all had in common? Many things probably, but what I noticed they had in common was that they all made it sound super hard.

Starting with swimming across a river after midnight and then trekking through the jungle in the dark until you reach the ruins for sunrise.

“No way!” I said out loud. “There’s no way I’m swimming across a river at night, with a dog and my backpack.” The kids sitting next to me in the internet cafe gave me that look Bong Gu gives me when she thinks I’m talking to her but I’m actually talking to myself.
Bong Gu can swim if she has no other option but it’s not something she enjoys doing, and I’m definitely not risking her getting hypothermia or pneumonia for swimming in a cold river at 2 in the morning and for no good reason at all. Also, there’s absolutely no way we’re going for a hike in the jungle at that time unless we absolutely have to. We’ve done it before, and it wasn’t fun.

If we’re going to do this we’re doing it our way, and our way is in the daytime, with daylight and without dying. Bong Gu and I sleep during the night and take care of stuff during the day, that’s how it’s always been. Nothing good ever happens to us after dark.

I took what I needed to take from the experiences of the people online and discarded the rest. I took notes on the different ways to make it across the river, the road to take once in the jungle and the different ways to avoid the tripwires on the way to the site and the guards patrolling the area. But without seeing the place for myself there was not really much else to do.
I was surprised not a single person online mentioned making a fake ticket to get in and walking through the main entrance. None of them had dogs either but they still chose to go full commando through the jungle. If I’m doing this my way I need a fake ticket and all the papers Bong Gu needs to ‘legally’ enter places like this one.
It is a fact that I do not own a computer or any photo editing software. What I do have is one sol fifty and that is what it costs to use a computer for one hour in one of the very many internet cafes all around Cusco. And something else I have is some experience with this kind of stuff.
I first googled ‘ticket to Machu Pichu’ and searched for all the available images of tickets. Some of them were from many years ago, so I also had to check what were the actual prices for Machu Pichu and Huayna Pichu (the mountain inside Machu Pichu) on this time and date. As they raise the prices every few months because they are aware that people would pay anything to get into the ruins. While I was doing all that, ‘lilypichu’ came to mind, she’s an internet celebrity and the name Machu Pichu just happens to remind me of her.
When I found and downloaded a good high-resolution image of a ticket someone had posted online, and I had the actual prices for the month of June 2017 all that was left to do was replacing my name, age, nationality and passport number with the ones in the pictures and changing the date and prices to match the ones I needed. Piece of cake, except that I don’t really like cake, so eating a whole piece of cake is actually pretty hard for me, piece of spinach tart I’d rather say. One hour later it was done. For one sol fifty, I had a ticket equal if not better in quality to the original one costing 162 soles.
To get there it was a 32km walk along the rail tracks from a place called KM 82 to Aguas Calientes. After everything we walked with Bong Gu in China and Argentina and everything we walked every day this was a breeze and except for the four times we almost got reduced to a red pond of blood by the incoming trains that made almost no sound as they drove by, it was really fun.

Yes, there was another way to get there through a place called ‘Hidroelectrica’. One that required walking just two hours instead of ten, but that was the place the backpackers wrote about online and once again my ego tricked me into not doing what backpackers do and doing things the hardest way instead.

After walking, we camped somewhere just to keep things real and headed towards the most popular place in Peru in the morning. “Are you going to Machu Pichu or to the museum?” The officer at the bridge asked me. It turned out there was some kind of museum on the way from the bridge to the entrance of Machu Pichu and those who were just going there didn’t need an entrance ticket to Machu Pichu itself if they only wanted to visit the museum.

“To the museum.” I instinctively said. Meanwhile Bong Gu walked next to me unnoticed and unaware she was supposed to go in unnoticed.
“It’s on your left at the end of the bridge.” He said, extending his right arm to signal left, just in case I had forgotten where left was.

“Gracias.” I told him, heart pounding. Realizing what was going on, I walked as slowly as I could. The museum was on the left, Machu Pichu was on the right, I needed to go right but I knew the guard would be keeping an eye on me to make sure I turn left.
I take out my phone and start pretending to take a selfie like tourists do, but actually I’m checking on the guard, waiting for an opening to make my move. I keep walking as slow as possible, waiting, thinking, sweating.
A few tourists pass me on the road, a bus approaches from the right side. This is my chance, and the only one I will have. I duck behind the truck and take cover behind a tree that will hide me while I ascend a small hill. Afraid of looking back, I remember the last time we did something like this, it was just a few days ago while avoiding the dozen or so ticket controls across the sacred valley.
I made it past the bridge, the famous bridge I had read so many times about, the same bridge everyone online had avoided by swimming across in the evening instead of walking through it. The same bridge where an Argentinian guy had gone missing a few weeks before while avoiding the guard boot, probably dragged downstream by a strong current.

The sound of an oncoming bus on the road behind me forces me to crouch behind some bushes to remain hidden by the side of the road. The bus stops. I hold my breath and stay still. “You said you were going to the museum.” The guard said. He had probably used his binoculars to see me going into the mountain and then taken that bus to catch up with me.
“Yes,” I said, for a lack of a better answer. Still somehow surprised by the fact he doesn’t seem to notice the dog standing by my side. Or maybe he just doesn’t care. Technically speaking, I didn’t read anywhere there was a no dogs policy in the ruins. I just assumed there would be because there usually is.

“Can I see your ticket?” That was the questions I was dreading all along. I calmly take out the ticket I had made myself and hand it to him. He examines it for a few seconds and says: “Can I see your passport?” I showed him my passport and had a mini heart attack while he checked that the name on it was the same as the one on the ticket.

“Keep going this way up for about half an hour and you will reach the entrance of the ruins.” He said, handing me back my passport, ticket and walking away from me.

That was it. I had made it. Not yet to the ruins but farther than most. I couldn’t help but grin proudly when I was sure he was gone. My ticket had worked, a ticket I hadn’t even planned to use in the first place, I had made it just in case I needed it. And he didn’t say anything about Bong Gu either. Maybe dogs are allowed into the park after all.
‘Walk up the hill until you cross the road 6 times.’ The internet guide said about how to find the secret entrance through the jungle and avoiding the checkpoints. I did as it said, always looking out for incoming buses and tourists.
As I walked, an image of comedy legend Mr. Bean came to mind, if he was in my shoes, he would be showing the ticket to every tourist on his way so they’d knew he had a ticket.

When we reached the entrance to the jungle path, we double checked to make sure no one was coming and entered the jungle. For Bong Gu this was just a normal day. This is what we usually did every day. She had no idea this time it was different, and we were going to a place we were not actually supposed to go. She had no idea about the ticket forging, the security guards or all the stress I was going through by having to play Metal Gear in what is probably the most sought after tourist attraction in the world.
Once in the jungle path, our senses heightened, we were alert, careful, perceiving every detail in our environment. Suddenly Machu Pichu wasn’t important anymore, we had made it far enough already, we had walked 30 km, slept out and fooled the entrance guard. That was more than enough for me, whether we make it not is unimportant, whatever happens after now it’s just a bonus.
We avoid the trip wire, sneak through a hole in a fence and jump up and down the terraces until we can see the herd of sheep-like tourists following their tour guide. We were in. Pretending we had gone to take a leak, we take out out phone and take some pictures of the place, hiding our fear of being caught, keeping an eye out for the park rangers and trying to blend into our environment as much as it was possible for a black dog and a boy that just came out of the dense jungle.

While enjoying the view from the top of the ruins, we also enjoyed our little secret, knowing everyone around us has no idea what we went through to be here. We scratched Machu Pichu off our bucket list (even though it wasn’t even on it to begin with) and exited the ruins through the main entrance together with the thousands of tourists on their way out.
Part 5 – Lima

 

After some weeks in Cusco, we went to Lima for about a week to see our uncle that was casually visiting the city at the time. Lima was surprisingly appealing, and this was yet another time where I was wrong in thinking I knew Lima without having ever been there.

As I hadn’t heard anything good about Lima in the past, I just assumed it would suck. Things you hear about Lima as a foreigner are that you will get robbed and the taxi drivers or people in the street will kidnap you and they will extort money out of you. Nothing like that happened to us, not in Lima, not in the three months we spent in Peru, not in the sixteen months spent in South America so far. We never felt threaten or under any kind of danger.
Lima was great, it was relatively cheap, food was great, people were friendly and welcoming, we got to couch surf a few times, for the first time since Salta and had great experiences, as usual, nothing worth mentioning though.

 

Part 6 – Paracas

After Lima we needed a break so we went to some cities in the south: Pisco, Ica, Chincha, they were all terrible. the air and noise pollution were scary. People were a little scary but not so much, even the worse places in Peru are better than the best ones in Bolivia, so coming from Bolivia almost anywhere is nice.

After those cities, we went a small beach town called Paracas, where we decided to stay. We did the same way as in Cusco, first we got a hotel for the night and first in the morning, we went to look for a more permanent place.

All the rooms were more or less the same. We settled for one that as nice and clean, had privacy and it cost the same I was used to paying elsewhere, a hundred dollars a month, so we paid for a month and spent the next 30 days relaxing on the beach and writing stories about cats that get into some sort of troubles.

 

Part 7 – Choquequirao

After Paracas, we decided we couldn’t leave Peru without visiting Choquequirao, so we went there and I wrote about it in the previous post so I’m not gonna write everything again.

 

Part 8 – Iquitos

To get to Iquitos from Choquequirao took us about ten days, changing boats about 6 times, starting at Ivochote, and going through Camisea, Nuevo Mundo, Sepahua, Atalaya, Pucallpa and finally Iquitos.
The boats were filthy, loud and super expensive but that’s what I get for going off the beaten track, later I found out that the reason foreigners didn’t take that route it was because it costs about four times more than going straight to Pucallpa or Yurimaguas by bus and then catching the ‘Henry’ boat to Iquitos from there.
The reasons I wanted to do the trip by boat instead of buses were because I knew it would be easier with a dog and because I had romanticized the experience of crossing the Amazonas by boat. I thought that is what South America is all about and that’s what I came here for.

In the end it really sucked, really expensive, loud, dirty, hot, full of mosquitoes, slow and we didn’t see any animals in the wild. It sucked but it was also all part of the traveling experience, so it was ok that it sucked because traveling sucks sometimes and that’s just the way it is, I can’t expect everything to be nice all the time, life doesn’t work that way.
Iquitos was really nice though. Again all my preconceptions were wrong, people online describe Iquitos as hell on earth, a crime-ridden slum where everyone’s out to get you. It wasn’t like that at all though and even in the slum area of Belen, it felt much safer than anywhere in Argentina. In the end the only ones out to get us where the mosquitoes, and a couple stray dogs.

 

Part 9 – Ayahuasca

If you check online, ayahuasca retreats in Iquitos got for about a thousand dollars a pop, I could pay like five, or maybe ten. I guess I could say I’m good at finding something that is lost, or something that is cheap, that’s actually one of the few things I’m good at, so if someone can find ayahuasca for five dollars that’s me.
The easiest way to go about this kind of things is usually through Couchsurfing. Couchsurfers know what’s going on. I checked the Couchsurfers in Iquitos and about half of them were ayahuasca shamans or had ayahuasca for sale at a fraction of the price of what it costs anywhere else. So I just wrote to the only one who didn’t have bad references and stayed with him.

The thing about ayahuasca though is that most people won’t give you the ‘medicine’ just like that, instead they will put on a whole show or ‘ceremony’ as they call it, during the one they spit on you and force you to smoke or at the very least blow smoke all over you, they touch you and they sing for at least four hours so that you won’t feel ripped off by paying hundreds of dollars for a few hours of a show in a country where the average person makes about 10 dollars a day.
Now, if you don’t know me, I’m the person that can’t even make a phone call because it’s too awkward. How can I let some stranger spit on me? I don’t want loud music and having to talk to others, I just want to stay in a closed room and hallucinate by myself, in silence, without having to interact with people in any way, and just letting my mind go wherever it wants to go, or wherever I need it to go.

Choquequirao and Ayahuasca were pretty much what Peru was all about for me. No, not Machu Pichu, truth is that I’d choose visions and hallucinations over tourist attractions any day. So when the five dollars ayahuasca ceremony my host prepared for his surfers came my way, I just swallowed my pride and let them spit and blow smoke all over me, only to have the chance of trying this unique experience (weird) people from all over the world come to Peru for.
In the end I didn’t have any visions, I just got sick, like very sick, with vomit and diarrhea, dehydration, nausea, dizziness and everything you are probably familiar with if you’ve ever had a hangover.
The fight or flight reflex was triggered on me every few seconds during the ceremony due to the deafening volume of the music, the air pollution and the fact of being in a dark room with strangers doing strange things, so I couldn’t really concentrate on the visions as I was too busy trying to no die from the excruciating stomach pain. Trying not to faint, trying not to vomit to keep the ‘medicine’ inside for as long as I could so as to reap off the benefits of it.
There may be some benefits to ayahuasca besides the visions, but the side effects are just too unbearable for me that I doubt I’ll be trying it again, in the same way, I wouldn’t be getting drunk again anytime soon because I dislike vomiting and feeling generally unwell.
My body reacted to ayahuasca in the same way it reacts to alcohol or any poison, by trying to get rid of it as soon as possible. The ‘shamans’ explain that as the ‘medicine’ wanting to clean your body and get rid of the toxins in it through vomit and diarrhea but the fact remains that the body thinks its a poisonous substance and can’t keep it inside for long.
For some people, if you’re a heroin addict, for example, I can see what benefits could have to treat your body this way, but for me I don’t think I have anything to clean my body from, I’ve never smoked, seldom drink, I don’t eat meat and I never eat processed food, I exercise often, eat my fruits and veggies and have a stress free lifestyle, I was just doing it for the visions and to try to get more inspiration for writing.
Everyone’s body is different and everyone reacts to it in a different way. My experience was not a good one but I would still recommend people to try it because life is short and the hallucinations will most probably be well worth the side effects.

It is for that that I may give it another chance someday, just not anytime soon.
After that, we took the ferry from Iquitos to Santa Rosa, swap sim cards with some random foreigners on the street and crossed the border into Colombia.

 

Part 10 – Conclusion

 

 

The time spent in Peru was overall a great time. Far better than the one spent in Argentina, Chile or Bolivia.

What’s the worst thing about Peru? By far Cumbia Peruana. It’s the music people listen to all the time everywhere. And it sucks, and some bus rides and boat rides last for a few days and you have to listen to the same music all day and all night long, because there’s no break from it, every restaurant, shop, on the street everywhere, there’s no escape. Sometimes you vomit because of it and you just want to die. The good thing is that every once in a while it will be mixed in with some cumbia or reggaeton, usually it isn’t though.

Alcohol prices are high, a beer costs about twice as much as a decent meal and a bottle of wine equals the price of four meals. It’s not really expensive, just expensive compared to everything else.
It’s not possible to extend your tourist visa in Peru, so if you decided you want to stay longer than three months you have to either leave and come back or overstay and never come back, both are not good options I guess.
What’re the best things about Peru? People are nice, there are many things to do and it’s really affordable. I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than 3 dollars on a meal or more than 10 in a hotel. Then there’s also the variety of landscapes, weather, food, and culture. Of the three months, we spent here, one was in the mountains and valleys of the Cusco area, another one on the beaches and desert of the Pisco, Ica and Chincha areas and the third on in the Amazonian jungle with tropical weather. There’s something for everyone in Peru, ok not for everyone, but for many and there was definitely something for me here.

 

 

50 things you need to know about Choquequirao

 

1. There are three roads to get there, Cachora, Huanipaca and Yanama. Cachora is the most popular one and the items below are writen from my experience on the trek.

 

 

 

2. About budget, the whole 4 days trek can be done for about 100 soles, if you’re camping, avoiding the ticket control and carrying your own gear. You will be spending about 30 soles for the bus from Cusco to Ramal and back, 10 from Ramal to San Pedro and back, 5 for every night spent at a camping ground, making a total of 20 for four nights and around 40 to 50 soles for five days of food at the campgrounds, assuming you will be having two meals a day each meal costs around 8 soles, it all totals around 100, say 200 if you choose to stay in private rooms instead of camping or 300 if you will be paying the ticket and having a few beers. And say 2000 soles if you want to do it through a travel agency because well, it’s a travel agency.

 

 

3. The pros to doing it with a guide is that they cook and set up the camp for you, that way you can have your hands free to swat mosquitoes, and sometimes they even tell you a bit about the history of the place. The cons are that you need to talk and listen to them, and to the other people in your group (socializing takes energy and effort), that you need to give them money and you follow their schedule and rules (you can’t venture into the jungle to look for a treasure if you feel like it).

 

4. Its safe, everywhere. There are no thieves or pickpockets, no one will scam you or rip you off, everyone is nice, but many tourists fall off the cliff and die. The road is really narrow, and at some points, you need to stand at the edge of the cliff to wait for all the horses to pass you by, some horses and mules are exhausted and they push you over and then you fall, and you die.

5. To get to Ramal de Cachora you take the bus to Abancay from “Cusco Terminal Terrestre”, it takes around 3 hours.

6. The ‘Terminal Terrestre’ in Cusco is located in front of a gigantic market called “El Molino” where there are about 6 outdoor gear shops where you can buy all your camping equipment at extremely cheap prices before getting on the bus to Abancay, most shops open after 10am.

7. The buses to Abancay leave every 2 or 3 hours and cost 15 soles, 10 if you bargain or 20 if they see you looking hopeless. Anyway, don’t pay more than 20.

8. You need to get off the bus at a town called “Ramal de Cachora.” So you check your GPS (mapsme works well in South America.) and tell the driver a few kilometers before to drop you off. If you fell asleep on the bus and missed your stop, you can get off at Abancay and take a bus back to Ramal.

9. From “Ramal de Cachora” you can take a minivan for 5 soles, a taxi for 50 or walk a few hours to “San Pedro de Cachora.”

10. Mercedes, a woman in town has the friendliest and cheapest accommodation in the city at only 15 soles for a private room, if you stay in a hostel expect to pay 40 for a shared one. Her house has no sign but it’s the one with the Peruvian flag on the roof half block downhill from the main square on the way to the mirador. Just tell her the boy with the black dog sent you.

11. If you arrive in Cachora before 4 pm there’s a great street market where you can buy fruits and vegetables at 1 sol a kilo, an enormous plate of food for 5 soles or any supplies you may need for your trip at ridiculously cheap prices.

12. The road from San Pedro de Cachora to Choquequirao is intense, if you just can’t be bothered you can hire a horse (caballo), a mule (mula) or a porter (arriero) for about 40 soles a day, it’s the same price for the locals, they’re not ripping you off.

13. From Cachora to the starting point of the trek (mirador) you can take a mini van or car for 5 soles or walk three hours. Notice that if you choose to walk every car that passes you will bless you with a thick cloud of road dust as a way to welcome you to Choquequirao. And if you choose to take a car they leave town starting at around 9 am every day.

14. The shop where the cars drop you off (near mirador) has amazing food in very generous portions for 5 soles a plate drinks included, this is the cheapest it will get, from then on it’s either 8 or 10 soles a plate.

15. The heat is brutal, unless you’re a fire elemental, or you get really lucky to have some clouds that day.

16. You better take a mask because every horse that passes you on the way will leave the road full of dust, so will every hiker and every gust of wind.

17. The road is never flat, it’s either heart-exploding steep or a knee-destroying down hill slope.

18. It’s a really nice walk, except because of the heat, and the dust, and the rocks, and the mosquitoes, and the flies and the horse dung.

19. Its possible to do it at night while its still cool, and if you’re afraid of missing the view there’s not really much to see besides a river valley, not different from the one you can see from the top of any mountain elsewhere.

20. Dogs are allowed everywhere, camps, ruins, shops, you name it, I mean just in case you didn’t notice her in the pictures, for Bong Gu and I, everything went as smoothly as it could have.

21. There is no way to charge your phone on the trail.

22. There’s no internet anywhere after Cachora.

23. There’s no electricity at night, they use solar panels during the day.

 

 

24. It’s totally possible to do the treck without any camping gear as there are two campsites that have rooms for rent, the first one is Chiquisca, 19 KM from the start of the trail, it’s fairly easy to make it there on the first day, the second one is Maranpata at KM28, you can make it there the second night, explore choquequirao on the third day (it’s huge) and spend the night in Marampata, in the morning of the fourth day you hike back down to Chiquisca and sleep there or continue onwards to town.

25. The first day you will be going downhill all day, it’s recommended (by me) to do it in zigzag to lessen the damage to your knees.

26. The second day you will be going uphill.

27. Water along the trek comes from streams and it’s mostly safe to drink, but like with any source of water in the countryside there’s always the chance of explosive diarrhea if you’re not used to it and you don’t purify it, so drink at your own risk.

28. Beer goes for about 15 soles a litter at any of the camping sites, alternatively the local drink of choice is some sort of fermented corn drink called chicha. It looks like milk and you will see the guides and porters drink it by the gallons.

29. All the people you meet on the way will ask you where do you come from and where are you going. So you better learn the names of the camping sites or wear your headphones so you don’t need to listen to them.

30. Don’t get lost.

31. Take toilet paper.

32. Take sunblock.

33. Take insect repellent.

34. There is a cave some 10 minutes away from Maranpata where there are said to be human remains of some people that were buried there before the time of the Incas and there is an entity called “El Abuelo” that’s supposed to look after them and it causes some sort of harm to those who venture inside it. Yes, you read that right.

35. Every village has it’s own sorcerer/healer/shaman called “Apu” that takes care of healing some people that were harmed by “El Abuelo”. Apu is not a real person but a magical being that sometimes materializes in the form of a short person with wings. (!)

36. It’s totally possible to avoid the ticket control. There is just one person watching the whole city of Choquequirao and he works from 7 am to 5 pm, get in before or after that time and there’s no one. Alternatively just walk around it, everybody’s super relaxed and even if they catch you they probably won’t mind you “lost” your ticket. Sometimes there may be someone in the official campsite but with so many tents there its very possible that he won’t notice you, they didn’t ask me for a ticket when I went there. And its also a possibility to camp in the ruins and enjoy the protection of the ghosts of the fallen Inca children.

37. If you want to pay for the ticket it costs 60 soles and 30 for students but you can just tell the guy to give you the student ticket for 30 and give 10 to him as a bribe as the way to save 20 soles. They are chilled like that.

38. The official campsite in the ruins is free.

39. That music in the campsite though.

40. If you are camping at the official al site its possible to ask the cook of the group tours to cook an extra plate for you for a small fee.

41. Some tour guides don’t care, they take up to the main plaza and then leave you there to “explore” by yourself.

42. If you’re going there to look for treasures or the lost gold of the Incas, consider that the jungle is dense and there are no trails, remember to take a machete, thick clothes, insect repellent and some digging equipment. Also consider that there’s a legend that says that every night of August every year, the gold of the Incas glows in the dark at exactly 12 AM.

 

43. When you finish you have the option to stay and live forever near the ruins and become a mountain dweller or you can also continue on to Yamana. From Choquequirao, take the hiking trail going up the hill from the main plaza to “Abra Choquequirao”, then walk down the mountain until the “Maizal” and you will reach the main road in about a day and a half, there you can take a bus or car to go to a different place.

44. If you want to continue to Machu Pichu, the app Mapsme has the route for the trek on it but it would take you like a week so you better take food or be ready to forage and catch your own food on the way there. Also, there’s a chance you get lost and turn into a lama.

 

45. Alternatively just walk back to Cachora, take the minivan to Ramal and flag a bus going back to Cusco or onwards to Lima. If you want to go north get off at Abancay and take a bus north. Notice that to go back to Ramal from San Pedro you need to ride in the trunk of the car for some reason.

46. If you want to sell your camping gear you can do it at any of the shops that rent gear in Cachora.

47. If you seriously want to go there in search of gold and treasures be aware that people who are probably better equipped and have more knowledge of the area than you have been searching for treasures there for the last few decades. There are active sites and archaeologists working on them, and the locals at Maranpata say the gringos took the gold 10 years ago and that they helped them load them into their helicopters.

 

48. If you’re going there expecting to discover a yet unknown, lost Inca city, be aware that hundreds of tourists will pass you on the way there and there are always at least a dozen tourists on the site.

49. If you’re going there for the landscapes and sights, I would recommend you to take a taxi from Cusco to Tambomachay instead and make your way back along the valley through grasslands and gorges while checking out all the ruins on the way (picture below).

50. In other words, take Choquequirao for what it is, a tough but super cheap hike that will end up in some amazing ruins.
And if you have any questions drop me a line on brunomaiorana@mylastvacation.com or wechat/instagram: mylastvacation

 

 

 

From Buenos Aires to Bolivia

It took us almost eight hours to reach the Argentinian border in Quiaca to cross to Bolivia. We hadn’t had neither a meal nor a good sleep the night before so the long bus ride felt even longer. the city of Salta was pretty terrible, but the other small ones were really nice, Bajo Pampa, Humauaca, and Quiaca. they all had this cute small friendly town atmosphere. we walked towards the bridge that connects the two countries, happy that it would all be finally over.
We had been caught up by a strike in Buenos Aires that delayed us a few days, that means by the time I arrived at the border the papers I had spent so much time and money to make so that we can cross borders with a dog were already expired. but it was kind of worth it, I hadn’t been to buenons aires in a good 12 years and I was happy to walk on the streets I had walked years before, remembering the things that happened there and imagining things that didn’t happen but it would have been cool if they had.
It was kind of shocking to see the contrast between the rich and the poor, I dont think I had ever seen so many homeless people sleeping in the street in any other Argentinian city. it felt a bit like being in India, with all the rubbish on the streets and the dogs eating from it, nevertheless the city was bright, baffling, bursting and beaming with beautiful buildings and begging bums, or maybe it wasn’t maybe I just wanted to use some words that start with a B, either way, I’m glad I went there and took bong gu on a walk around the Palermo park. while we were enjoying the sun and the lake I thought I could probably see myself living here in the future, for like a year top.
We always hear that Buenos Aires is the most dangerous place in Argentina and we have to be careful. not once did I feel in danger though, but it may have helped that I know martial arts, I speak the language, can talk my way out of virtually any situation and I have a kick-ass dog dressed as a police dog always by my side. it also helped to see all these tall blonde tourists looking lost with their cameras and lonely planet books in hand. if somebody were to get robbed it would for sure be them before me.
Back to Bolivia now. to our surprise we found the border was not a real border, people were crossing the footbridge back and forth and there was no one to check on any kind of paperwork for anyone. some were crossing with animals as well. either way, I had already spent more than a hundred dollars on this papers so I looked for some office to show them to someone.
The government officials couldn’t have cared less whether I walked into Bolivia with a dog or an elephant. it was all the same for them. they pointed me to an office called SENASAQ that’s supposed to be like the SENASA in Argentina where they check this kind of papers.
The office looked like it had been closed for years, there was a lock pad securing it from the outside and even spider webs clinging to the window. I ask around to see if someone knows when it would open but people didn’t even know there was an office there. finally, after asking about 10 people someone tells me they will open again Monday. it was Saturday afternoon.
From my first interactions with Bolivian people, I found what other travelers told me about them to be true. they are apathetic and don’t care about you at all. that all sounded great to me, as I really didn’t want to talk to them anyway. I had come here to write a book not to make friends.
Their avoidance of eye contact and monosyllabic answers felt like a breeze of fresh air coming from a place where everyone needs to share and socialize like all the time. it was awesome, people ignored me completely, I might as well have been in laos.
I had also heard a lot about how Bolivia is the cheapest and safest country in South America, so I figured it would be a perfect place for a writer to focus on his work without having to worry about money or people or getting robbed.
When you go to a country for the first time it’s always nice to take a few days to relax in the border town to learn a bit about the local language and how to use their money. So after exchanging money, I walked straight on the main street all the while thinking I would check into the first hotel I find and spend at least half an hour in the toilet.
The name was the ‘center hotel’ because it was located in the city center I assume, so bonus points for creativity. as I walk in, there was a young girl sitting at the front desk, she was staring at the computer screen and didn’t even acknowledged I was there. I greet her and ask her if I can stay here with a little dog. she says yes and hands me a key. just yes, nothing else. it was that easy. in Argentina if I ever wanted to go somewhere with a dog it would have involved at least 10 minutes of negotiations and getting shouted at, after drowning them in paperwork and explaining that there are rules they should follow or I could call the police on them, they would sometimes let me in. here it was just a yes, saving myself a ton worth of stress. and again I would have probably gotten away with bringing an elephant into the room, ok maybe not an elephant but a monkey for sure. Or a decently sized alpaca.
For the looks of it, I’m guessing this was the best hotel in the city, the price 90 bolivianos or about 13 dollars. people told me a hotel would usually cost about 20, so for this price I was expecting the Bolivian equivalent of the Hilton Hotel.
I was wrong, it had running water for only a few hours a day, it had no electricity, not because it was a bad hotel there just wasn’t electricity anywhere in the city, and that was fine, I still have a power bank I can use for the time being. I didn’t really have high expectations in Bolivia anyway but I was somehow expecting electricity.

I had been warned that Bolivian food was the worst food in the region, but I didn’t care either as long as it was cheap. I had plenty of good food in Argentina, so a few months on fresh fruits mainly, would probably not be so bad for me.
Bong Gu is alright, she doesn’t care if it’s Bolivia, or Argentina or China, as long as we are together everything will be fine. or maybe she’s fed up and will run away to become a Bolivian mountain dog or something.
Uyuni, it seems to be the place where everyone wants to go in Bolivia. Do I really want to go there? not really. but I might as well as its very near and we have to be somewhere anyway, so we might as well be in Uyuni. Nothing bad could come out of it. Probably.

Hi, I also wrote this

Whether you like it or not The minute you set foot in china you automatically Become an A-list celebrity.
Everyone will be staring always Because that’s Just how it is.

That means every time You’re in public You have to smile to everyone, They want to shake your hand, they want to take pictures with you, and asking the same questions over and over again

It’s a surreal experience really, Could be fun for a few weeks But it’s definITely Not fun to live like that, You see them pointing at you, you hear them whispering, and it’s super creepy when they follow you home and stalk you

They always look at you very deep in the eyes, its an extremely personal interaction

And that led me to hide my eyes under a cap Or sunglasses For a very long time because I was afraid of that extreme intimacy You have to offer to everyone Every day and everywhere you go.

And I have asked myself what would be the most compassionate way to behave towards myself and towards them In this kind of situations

It is an extremely shallow interaction, In the one, they are only interested in you because of your image And that leads me to ask myself if I’m just a monkey Or clown that is here to amuse people so they can take pictures with me
Or do I have anything else to offer the world besides my image?

They don’t speak any English because of course they don’t, So there’s no chance of any meaningful interaction And they are not aware that the same questions they want to ask me I have answered them at least a few dozen times this week

What I learned from all of this Is that The way I react to this kind of Situations has a very high effect on my spiritual practice

To be completely honest people in China are just super annoying and gross And they go out the way to make you feel uncomfortable, They smoke in the elevator, stare at you all the time, They spit and relieve themselves everywhere, They are super loud, and all of that actually helps me To be a better person.

I am not the one disturbed by the noise, I am the one disturbing the noise. I am not the one being disturbed by the smoke, I am the one disturbing the smoke

That’s just the way China is, it has always been like that and it will always be like that, and There is nothing I can do about it, but it’s the way I react to it that makes the whole difference

I could either get annoyed by those things and be unhappy Or I could understand that that’s just the way life is, And I could go with the flow, have a laugh and have a good time with them, I know they’re all nice people deep inside, Sure they’re not perfect, they have their quirks, but there are good enough

It’s when we try to control things that We create suffering, We try to control ourselves, to control others, To control China, To control the situation

China is not perfect, no place is.
Our planet is not perfect, People are not perfect, I am not perfect, and life is not perfect, There will always be problems and inconveniences everywhere we look

It’s my choice to Focus on the good or on the bad things I see Every day. Yes Chinese people still smoke in the hospitals and that annoys me, But they also do a million nice things for me.

Some of them wake up at four in the morning to start making the fillings for the Mushroom steamed buns I will eat for breakfast, An old lady works the whole night cleaning the park where I will go for a run, Another old man stands the whole day in a crowded polluted and noisy street selling bananas that I will buy, And the list goes on and on. And I am extremely grateful to all of them

We suffer when we expect from life something it cannot give us.

Dogs bark, Babies cry, and Chinese are terribly Loud, dirty and obnoxious, but kind deep inside and That is the intrinsic nature of things

Dogs bark, babies cry and bruce posts some cheap philosophical reflexions Disguised in what it could have appeared to be just another rant about China, But in the end, it wasn’t, In the end, it was nice
Thank you for reading

Hi, I wrote this

When I was In South America I thought that If I move to Europe everything would be better.

After spending a few years in Europe I was still feeling empty inside so I thought well, maybe If I move to Asia everything will be better there.

Few years in Asia went by and nothing had really changed So I thought ok, once I go to Australia THEN I could find peace and happiness.

After a year in Australia, I realized I wasn’t happy there either, so I needed to go back to asia where there were still a few countries I hadn’t been to And could start a new and exciting Life somewhere.

After a few more years in asia I was somehow still not happy, So decided I have to move to New Zealand, THERE I will find financial and emotional stability.

And I did! I had finally found what I’d been looking for, Oh wait… no, i didn’t, New Zealand sucked ass for me, I lost all the money I had and came back to Asia because it’s always easier to find a job here.

It’s been three years since NZ, And even though this story is an oversimplification and a million adventures went on in between, I’m guessing you understand What I’m trying to say

Now I live in a tiny one bedroom apartment In a backward Chinese city, I sleep on the floor next to my dog and use my jumper as a pillow. I have no job, not much money, no career nor any material stuff.

What I do have though, is a message to transmit, And the means to convey it in a way everyone can understand it. We don’t need big words To express big emotions.

I know what you’re thinking right now, Peace and happiness come from within And they don’t depend on the place where you are, the things you have or the experiences you had.

And you would be right to think that way of course. But Most people reading this already know, that more means less, we can only be happy once we stop craving Things and experiences and all that hippie stuff. But There is much more to it all.

Throughout the years I Had read many books On how to be happy and peaceful and had tried Different meditation styles or retreats, like Tibetan or Theravada Buddhism, vipassana, And they all worked well for a while and gave me a temporary boost that could last for a few days or a few weeks. And after that, i started feeling miserable again Because i was trying to force all this knowledge, understanding and techniques When i just Wasn’t ready for it yet.

I was trying to force myself to be peaceful and happy In the same way that people on facebook try to impose Their views and interests on others.

Instead of allowing myself to just be, I kept getting stressed and upset at myself for not being good enough. For not being kind enough. for not being peaceful enough. For not being happy enough. And guess what, that just created more suffering.

How can I be happy if i think there is something wrong with me? If I think I’m too fat or too slim, or I’m not smart enough, Or not experienced enough or Haven’t traveled enough, or i think I’m not peaceful enough, Or I feel lonely, or I want to make myself feel bad for some mistakes I made in the past.

And I would end up blaming myself for all the problems in this world as well. The animals are still suffering because maybe I’m not vegan enough, The environment suffers because I’m not freegan enough And i waste too many resources, The people suffer because i don’t Go to enough protests to stop the governments from making people suffer and people around me suffer because I’m not kind enough to them.

And guess what, taking all the blame didn’t help either. All these years I WAS good enough and I WAS doing my best. I just couldn’t see it because of a lack of understanding. Lack of wisdom to be more accurate.

When we want to feel bad We will find a way, and when we want to feel like we are the victims Of an unfair world or system We will find a way to Accommodate the facts To fit our own conjectures and views.

How can I be happy if I don’t love and accept myself? If I don’t appreciate all the good things I do and keep on Focusing on the bad ones.

Now, I am not claiming to be enlightened or having all the answers, I just want to share my experiences in hope that someone will find them useful.

I don’t need any prize or praise, That’s why I like this blog That we can set it up to no advertisements So as not to inconvenience the readers.

And if I were to die tomorrow you will know exactly what I was thinking and feeling.

At the same time, i got to a point in my life Where I stopped thinking ‘maybe i shouldn’t say that’, Instead i’d think ‘okay let’s see what happens’.

And is this commitment to honesty and truth the one that allows me to be writing this right now.
It allows me to be honest with myself, to understand what I really think and feel and why, and being able to share it with the world.

I am a simple person that maybe in his arrogance Truly believes he has found a meaning to it all.

It has found Its purpose in life, To serve, to be happy and to help others Find happiness By sharing with them The means, and thought processes I Found useful myself.

I am, after all, a scientist at heart, don’t believe in any new age of magic kind of stuff.
What i do believe in is truth, understanding And the idea that only you are in charge of your thoughts emotions and feelings.
And whatever it is you think it’s preventing you from being happy It could be seen with a different light if you so choose to.

It is said that overthinking is the Major cause of unhappiness and depression, In this case the opposite can be said as well.
Overthinking can be the way to see things more deeply And understanding you have everything you need to be happy. And every reason for it as well.

A good starting point Could be to be kind towards your body.
I used to be the person Who would sit Down for two hours In the same position trying to Meditate, Until my back And my legs would hurt.
Without knowing it, I was being aggressive to my body. Trying to find peace through violence.

That’s Just one of the many mistakes I made and intend to share with you all So that maybe Together, we can come one step closer to being (and feeling) better.
Thank you for reading.

Bruce

How to leave for good

Ok, so you decided you had enough of this place and need to move on with your life. Life is about learning and you have already learned all you needed to learn from this place, there’s nothing else for you here and it’s time to leave for good.

You may come back or you may not, the good thing about burning your bridges is that it allows space for new things, opportunities and experiences to come into your life, a blank page waiting to be written because the old ones ate each other up somehow. But that’s not for everyone, some need the security of knowing they can always come back here in the future if they need to.

In my case though, I prefer to think the countries where I used to live have been taken over by the Russians, my old workplace has been shut down due to upper management incompetence and my ex-girlfriend died in a tornado.

If someone knows about me and about my lifestyle, 2 questions I get asked often are “How to do it?” and “what’s the hardest part?” I am hoping this post will be an answer to both of them, how to do it?  Just keep reading, the hardest part is leaving of course, after that everything always works itself out.

This attempt of an instructional is actually a guide I’d like to use as a way to motivate myself to do what I need to do. It could maybe inspire others, or not, but I am writing it so I can read it in the future when I need to leave a country again and don’t know where to start. Or have doubts about whether this is the right thing to do or I am making a mistake I will regret forever.

I will be listing a thing to do every day that will take you closer to your goal, but you could also replace days by hours if you want to or have to leave in a rush.

First week (or first 7 hours):

Day 1: Book a one way ticket, any ticket, to anywhere, doesn’t matter if it’s for next week or for next month, if it’s a 10 dollars Ryan Air/Air Asia ticket or a 2 dollars subway ticket from your place to the airport, what counts is to have a physical proof that your dream is slowly coming true, and the more of them you have the harder it will be to chicken out.

Day 2: Tell everyone you are leaving and you have a ticket already. This will give you pressure and motivation to do what you need to do. Don’t make a big deal out of it though, if you do, everyone will make an even bigger deal out of it and give you lots of drama, just drop it somewhere in the middle of a random conversation or as a facebook post, something casual like “Anyone In Antarctica next month?”

Day 3: Make a list of all the places you have always dreamed of going to, and why. Be honest with yourself, no one else will know and you can burn the list tomorrow.

Examples:     Brazil – football – big butts – beaches

                  Colombia – learn Spanish – Shakira – cocaine

                  New Zealand – sheep – the lord of the rings – sheep

                  Japan – ninjas – sushi – tentacles

Day 4: Choose one place and google all the stuff you are interested in, let’s say I chose Odesa in Ukraine, I could start by googling something like:

                                       “jobs in Odessa”

                                       “Ukraine visas for xxx citizens”

                                       “Apartments for rent in Odessa”

                                       “Best pizza in Odessa”

                                       “free Russian lessons in Odesa”

                                       “best creampie in Odesa”

                                       “Pokemon cosplay group Odesa”

                                       “two girls one cup official fan club Odesa weekly meetings”

Or anything else you may be interested in, and remember, new experiences are always welcome.

Day 5: Sign up for some website that will make your life easier in the country, like Couchsurfing, meetup.

Day 6: Make a plan B in case you don’t find what you were looking for in Odesa; example:

-train station in Russian is said: xxx

-the train station is here: xxx

-train/bus from Odesa to Bucharest costs xxx money, it leaves at xxx every day.

-address of homeless shelter in Bucharest: xxx

Day 7: ???

Now that we made it to the end of the first week of planning, we’ll head straight to the second one in the one we will be taking care of stuff that needs to be taken care of before we leave.

Days 8, 9, 10: Getting rid of stuff you won’t be needing anymore, anything you can’t take with you must go, give them away, sell them, exchange them for sexual favors, use alchemy to turn them into gold or just plain dump them in the trash.

Day 11, 12:  Packing.

Day 13: Hide your stash somewhere only you can find it in the future. A good stash could be for example a clean change of clothes and some money, just in case there’s some emergency and you need to go back to that city you’ll always have something to start with from zero. And don’t forget to add some stuff to confuse archeologists from the future, something like random symbols with a strange drawing, a random key, and coordinates for some random point in the middle of the ocean.

Day 14: Saying sayounara

How to answer awkward questions and comments from Chinese people

Question: “Have you eaten?”

Right answer: “Yes, you?

Wrong answer: “No, not yet”

Very wrong answer: ” No, unlike the Chinese, we don’t need to eat at a specific time of the day, we can just eat when we are hungry”

Comment: ” Let’s go out to play”

Right answer: “Play? You mean hang out? Sure, let’s do it”

Wrong answer: “What do you mean by “play”?”

Very wrong answer: “Sure, what do you want to play? Football? Basketball?”

Comment: “My English is not good”

Right answer: “Don’t worry, I can understand what you say”

Wrong answer: “Try singing more English songs in KTV?”

Very wrong answer: “Well, you only learned English for like what? 15, 20 years?”

Question: “Don’t you miss your family?”

Right answer: “Yes, of course, I call them every day and I go to see them twice a year”

Wrong answer: ” I haven’t talked to them in a couple of years, I’m not sure what they’re up to”

Very wrong answer: “No”

Comment: ” Eat more! Eat more! Drink more! Drink more! Ganbei! Bottoms up!”

Right answer: “Ok, ok, thank you!”

Wrong answer: “I can’t, I’m full”

Very wrong answer: “No”

Comment: “We are friends now, ok?”

Right answer: “Yes, of course”

Wrong answer: “Means I’m in the friendzone already?”

Very wrong answer: “Oh, come on, we met like 5 minutes ago, why do you guys all have to be so needy?”

Question: “Why are you here? why aren’t you in Beijing or Shanghai?”

Right answer: “I’m going to Beijing tomorrow and to Shanghai right after that”

Wrong answer: “Here is nice, you know that’s the way life is, some people are here some people are there, we can’t all be in Beijing or Shanghai all the time”

Very wrong answer: “Why would I want to go to one of the most polluted and dirtiest cities in the world, where everyone one wants to cheat me because I look different while there are like a million nicer places to be in China”

Comment: “You can do this, you can do that, you can buy this, you can buy that, you can go here, you can go there”

Right answer: “That’s great, I’ll do it”

Wrong answer: “Ok, I’ll think about it”

Very wrong answer:  “You know in English you can’t just go around telling people what they can or can not do, they usually already know and don’t need your permission, for example there’s no need to say “you can stay in a hotel” or “you can take a taxi” because we are actually already aware of the existence of hotels and taxis, we just can’t afford them”

Question: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Right answer: “Yes”

Wrong answer: “No”

Very wrong answer: “well, hmm… how to explain… do you know what hentai is?”

 

 

Greetings from Chile

 

 

Hey guys, this is Bruce, sorry I haven’t been able to contact anyone in a while, many things have happened.

 

It’s October 2016 now and we are 6 months into our South American trip, I decided to take Bong Gu on a trip of a lifetime, from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska, on foot.

 

Why to Alaska? What’s there? Nothing really, and the trip is purely for volunteering, self-indulging ourselves and accomplish a lifetime dream, you know as we get older we start questioning ourselves and what are we doing with our lives. I want to be the person that can tell my grandchildren, if I ever have them, that I did something interesting and memorable with my life, that when I was young I walked from Argentina to Alaska, with my dog. And if they ask why, I will explain it was just the right thing for me to do at the time, and sometimes we just have to do what we have to do and there’s no way around it. As simple as that.

 

We are now about to cross the Atacama desert, and taking it relatively slowly, some days we walk 30 km, some 40 and some we don’t walk at all.

 

No major problems so far, the only nuisance is condensation at night, but my bivy is holding up relatively well, now for those of you who don’t know, a bivy sac is kind of like a tent but is also kind of like a sleeping bag, or like a cocoon where you sleep at night watching the stars without having to worry about insects, police, rain, cold, snow, people discovering your tent and murdering you in your sleep, or stuff like that.

it’s really the only option when you want to experience nature to its fullest and still be able to have a good night sleep. I tried to get Bong Gu inside it with me but it was just too cramped and tight for her, so now I have a small piece of cardboard for her that I put next to me for insulation and a poncho to wrap around her during cold nights, she uses my bag as a pillow and comes closer to me for safety and warm, and we both sleep better knowing we are there for each other.

 

The first few weeks were tough for her, so we took it slow, we would walk 2 or 3 days and then take a day off, now after a few months we can walk at least 25km every day and then she gets a huge dinner and a good 10 to 12 hour sleep. I make sure she sleeps at least 10 hours a day and she seems comfortable with that arrangement so far.

 

99% of people are just super friendly, they want to talk to me, a lot, and ask heaps of questions, we often get invited for meals and staying in their houses, I don’t think we have ever rejected a meal so far, I give Bong Gu the meat and eat myself the rest of the stuff we are given, and sometimes I also eat some meat when there just isn’t anything else. And we usually accept invitations to sleep indoors, even though sometimes I really don’t feel like socializing and answering the same questions over and over again, I still accept, mostly because of the chance to take a shower.

 

We have seen and done some amazing things, met some amazing people and every day that goes by, I am more and more convinced that this is the right way to live my life and I made the right choices through up my life, most of the times.

 

Many people tell me that I am so brave or that they wish they could do what I’m doing, I don’t think I am in a position to give anyone advice on how to live their lives, so I just nod and listen to them. I can teach English to them and their kids, I can tell them some funny stories about my trip and the people I met on the way, I can let them play with Bong Gu, and listen to them, I can do the dishes or cook some meal for them, help them clean around the house as a way to say thank you for putting me up for the night, but I’m not gonna go around telling people to give up their lives, quit their jobs, abandon all their friends and families and go travel or go for their dreams.

On occasions though, I would tell someone who really wants to do that, so I am happy to share with them what I learned on the way and give them some advice about how to find work, food, shelter in different countries, or how to live without money or making money when you can’t speak the language, don’t have any special skills and don’t have a working visa.

But I don’t tell them that I am ashamed of living in a world where people are punished for working or trying to make a living honestly and I think people should be allowed to work and travel anywhere they wished to, without the need of visas or passports. That I can’t tell anyone because it’s too difficult for them to understand. What I can do is tell them how to get all this visas and passports, how to make fake police clearances, university degrees, invitation letter, health certificates, hotel and plane reservations, how to tell immigration officers  what they want to hear and how to trick the system into letting you live your life in a peaceful, non-wasteful and honorable way without getting arrested or punished in the process.

 

As I told my grandkids, we have to do what we have to do, and sometimes what we have to do requires us breaking a bunch of rules and laws in the process, that is alright, as long as you don’t get caught and as long as you live by and respect your own moral standards.

 

A both, good and simple moral code to live by would be the following 4 rules:

1)    All life is sacred: must protect those who are at disadvantage or can’t speak up for themselves, such as women, children, the poor, the animals. Can’t eat the animals unless there is no other choice, can’t cause any kind of harm to any person or animal, not physically, psychologically or verbally, not even in self-defense, violence is never an option.

2)    Can’t cause some problem or inconvenience others.

3)    Must try to minimize our footprint on the environment as much as possible

4)    Must help other if you’re able to.

 

What do I miss about China? The language for sure, you know when you leave a country, it takes a while to stop thinking in that country’s language and start using a new one. It takes at least a few months just to feel comfortable using a different language than the one you’ve been using for the last few years. And I kind of miss not having to worry about money, getting a good meal for 1 or 2 dollars, as here in Argentina everything costs like 10 times more and is not really worth it.

 

What I miss the least is definitely the smokers in the elevator in my building, that’s definitely the number one thing I hate about China, all the other things I kind of tolerated them or ended up getting used to them.

 

What’s the best about being 24 hours a day on the go?  the first few months you feel alive and enjoy every second, but after a while you get saturated and enter in a state of constant culture shock, can’t even enjoy the beauty anymore, and you fall into the routine of walking, finding food, finding a place to hide for sleeping, then walking again and so on.

 

Is it tiring? For sure, but you get used to it as well after a few months, at the beginning I was thinking every day about getting a bicycle, a motorbike or starting hitchhiking and took some effort to talk myself into not doing it and convince myself this is the way to go, especially because I have already traveled a lot by other means but this is something new, something unforgettable. We must keep walking no matter what, it’s just what we need to do right now.

 

With so much time to think, we can’t avoid thinking about the future, after Alaska what? We are not control-freaks that need to have our whole life planned otherwise we would feel scared or insecure, whatever has to happen will happen, and new experiences are always welcome. But it doesn’t hurt to dream when you have plenty of free time and nothing to worry about. finding a job and settling down? Yes maybe, someday, in Russia for sure, but can’t let the dreams about the future spoil me today’s adventure, today’s a precious day.

That should be all for today, I’ll keep you guys posted and well, you know, be happy and stuff.

 

Bruce & Bong Gu

 

 

 

On the china situation

On the china situation

Can you tell me some stuff about china? I’ve never been there and it’s hard to imagine what life must be like there.

Sure, so what would you like to know?

Well, I know you want to talk about politics, so I’d like to take you out of your comfort zone and talk about art instead, and agriculture, and technology, and fashion.

Fashion, really? So we are to write about Chinese fashion.

That’s right, can you?

Ok, let me try, they copy stuff from Korea, sometimes japan or America, and… that’s it. The End.

How about the suits?

Oh right, yes, they wear suits for farming, construction work and all kinds of manual labor, I guess you could call that fashion trend.

How about in summer?

Especially on hot summer days, they all suit up to dig a ditch or collect the rubbish.

Could it be a case of dress for the job you want kind of thing?

Could be

What other fashion trends have you noticed over there

In the way some western guys roll up their sleeves, the trend here is to roll up the lower part of your shirt, so instead of your forearms is your belly that’s showing.

Maybe they want to amaze the femeninas with their manhood.

Do you think it works? Should I try it?

Yes please, and take lots of pictures.

Something else that caught my eye was that sometimes they wear their jacket like a cape, and sometimes only in one arm is in while the other sleeve hangs loosely on the side.

Interesting, unique I would say, so how about organizing a Chinese themed fashion show?

I don’t see that ending well.

How about the electronic stuff there?

Throughout the years I had many good and bad experiences with electronics here, for example, I bought a PSP in 2009 and it’s still working alright, I bought a shaving machine and it just exploded the first time I plugged it in, there are lots of awesome stuff but lots of rubbish as well.

There are many rules you need to follow when buying electronics in China, the first one being that if the brand is very well known like Sony or IBM then the product is probably fake and you will be paying a lot for rubbish. Your best bet would be to buy a small Chinese brand that maybe is not so big so they have no reason to make knock-offs of it.

The second rule will be: anything you buy on the street will be half price online. Third rule, your Chinese friend know better what to buy and where. The fourth rule, if it looks too good to be true is not necessarily too good to be true.

For example?

Well, some things may look dirty cheap when seen with foreign eyes but they aren’t actually,

For example, I have bought some new formal shoes or suits for about 2usd at some big supermarkets.

I thought we were talking about electronics, but well that explains the fancy farmers. What else?

I bought a second-hand E-Bike for about 130usd. Can’t take trips out of town but it does take me to work every day. In Taiwan, it would have cost me at least 10 times more.

Western Governments say the batteries are expensive to produce, is that true? Or what is the truth behind solar/electric powered vehicles?

But you said you didn’t want to talk about the government.

Oops.

Ok, western governments can’t do what they want, even when they know it’s the right thing to do, they must do what big corporations want for whatever that reason may be, so oil producing companies put pressure on governments for delaying the development of electric powered vehicles, how they do that? By charging huge taxes to companies who want to develop clean energy or creating patents on the batteries so no company can afford to develop it. The Chinese government in the other hand doesn’t depend on big corporations to manage the economy and take their decisions for them, because they ARE the big corporations, all of them combined, as Marx would put it, they own the means of production. So they can do as they please, and even though they do many many terrible things this isn’t one of them.

Broken clock?

Exactly, even a broken clock will be right twice a day, so a few years ago they banned oil powered motorbikes from all the major cities, now I know what you will say “laws in China are not really laws, they are just suggestions”

I wasn’t gonna say that.

Fortunately, though, this is one of the few laws that are actually heavily enforced.

But most of the electricity we use comes from burning coal anyway so isn’t it the same in the end.

Yes but they have taken steps to greatly reduce noise pollution in all the big cities, in the most populated country in the world, that’s got to count for something and they minimally reduced air pollution, because most air pollution is still caused by cars, buses, planes, the meat industry and factories. I am always the first one to criticize them when they do something wrong so I must be fair and point out the good they do as well, on the rare occasion that may happen.

Well, I am happy to hear you criticize the government because that means you have freedom of speech, oh wait…

Very funny, now I want to know what is the general sentiment of the people outside China if you’ve never been here, how do you imagine it’d be like?

True I’ve never been to China but I’ve been to India so that’d be my point of reference for a densely populated place, I guess I imagine China as total chaos and anarchy, rubbish everywhere, noisy, crowded, or maybe a strange mixture of India and Japan, with the Japanese ant-like fast-paced kind of lifestyle plus the chaos of India. I imagine everyone shouting at me at the same time and everyone trying to cheat me, how far am I off?

It could definitely be like that, but then you travel a few hours outside the city and there’s no one there and people are nice.

If there’s no one there how can they be nice?

First, there’s no one, then someone comes and they are nice.

What if no one comes?

Then no one is nice, but because there’s no one there not because people are not nice in general.

What if a dog comes?

Then we can pet the dog or play with him.

Or her.

Or her.

What if you get bitten?

I thought life was too short for “what ifs”.

What happened to your south American trip?

Next year for sure.

But you say the same every year.

I know, but this time for real.

If you don’t come I’ll go and get you and drag you all the way down here, and drag your dog.

You don’t know where I live, no one knows but me.

So if you die tomorrow no one will find your body or cry for you.

That’s right, it will go unnoticed.

Actually, I know where you live.

Where?

In China.

But which city?

In chun chan chin.

That doesn’t sound like a Chinese city, they always use 2 words, you used 3.

Chan pan wan?

No, that’s also 3

Pin ton tun?

No, and that sounds Vietnamese.

Kung fu chu chu?

That’s 4, getting worse.

How about your impression of living there.

Well, it’s not like living in Thailand, Japan, Korea, where there are foreigners everywhere and people have already had decades to assimilate the idea that there are other countries out there and sometimes people from there make it this way.

China has opened up his doors relatively recently, so people outside the big cities have probably never seen a foreigner in real life so you would be the first one, and guess what, they will be surprised so they will stare at you, a lot.

Isn’t that scary?

It is somehow, most people are friendly though so they smile or say hi,

Others look very scary and they want to check you out, you know like a white guy going into a black neighborhood, they check your clothes from head to toe to see what you’re wearing, then look at you deep in the eyes to see what you will do next. This doesn’t mean they are dangerous, it’s just their way to deal with something they have never seen before, and they will easily crack a smile if you approach and talk to them in a friendly way.

Biggest culture shock so far?

What came as a shock to me at the beginning was the huge difference between individual rights and collective rights, individual rights always come first, as opposed to in the west where you need to “respect other people” and stuff like that.

For example?

How many examples do you want?

Can you do 7?

I can do 12.

7 is enough for now.

Ok. 1) Someone making noise late at night, we can’t complain because his individual right to make noise always comes before his neighbors’ rights to sleep.

2) Someone smoking in the elevator/bus/train, we can’t complain because his individual right to smoke anywhere comes before other people’s rights to breath.

3) Someone cheating your money, we can’t complain because his right to cheat you comes before your right to not get cheated.

4) if you want to cross the street you have to run in between the cars, they can’t stop because their individual right of getting where they go very fast comes before your right to cross the street safely.

5) Someone takes a dump in your doorway, can’t complain because his right of taking a dump in your doorways comes before your right of not having someone taking a dump in your doorway.

6) Someone shouting at you or at others, can’t complain because that’s his right.

7) if you have a job and the boss doesn’t want to pay his employees, that’s his right.

Sound like a pretty terrible place to live.

Well yes, I  mean I live in a 20^th floor so every day when I come in and out my choices are either taking the elevator with the smokers or taking the stairs that stink like urine because people use them as toilets.

Those are not good options.

But there are some good things as well.

Tell me next time?

Ok.

 

 

People from couchsurfing 3

Part 3:

1 – Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones

18_ Luggage.
1_ either small luggage, because it’s troublesome to carry many things over long distances, or very big one because they carry a tent, sleeping bag, mat, food, water, broccoli.
2_ massive
3_ more than they need
4_ a bag of potatoes
5_ slightly less than groups 2 or 3
6_ same as group 2

19_ Social behavior
1_ loners
2_ social butterflies
3_ outgoing, socially competent, but sometimes they find it hard to trust strangers
4_  imagine Waldo, (where’s waldo) with Kramer (Seinfeld) personality
5_ same as 3
6_ same as 2

20_ Preferred Activities
1_ surviving, parks, free stuff
2_ beer, taking pictures, sightseeing, facebook, second-hand markets, beach, bars
3_ pictures, sightseeing, restaurants, museums
4_ dancing Macarena
5_ worrying
6_ same as 2

20_ notes on specific nationalities

21_ Other notes
s:
they all live in their own world within their own borders, we all do, and well, there was supposed to be more to it but I got tired of writing so much so this will have to do it.

oh, and all the groups come together in Thailand, for some reason.

 

 

People from couchsurfing 2

part 2

 

1 – Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones

11_ Percentages
1_ 5%
2_ 60%
3_ 25%
4_ 2%
5_ 5%
6_ 3%

 

12_ Couch requests timing
1_ as their means of transport are not reliable their requests are usually for the same day or a few days in advanced.

2_ they usually know when they will arrive so they will send you a request anything from a few days to a month in advanced
3_ they know exactly when will they arrive, how and where from, they will send you a request anything from a month to a year in advanced, this are very short holidays for them so it has to be well researched and planned and accommodation has to be taken care of well in advance.
4_ Any
5_ few weeks to few months in advanced
6_ few weeks in advanced

13_ Couch request quality
1_ usually copy and paste, because they have a hard time finding internet and no time to plan, often no computer, but when they have time they will surprise you with a very personal request
2_ usually copy and paste but changing the names and maybe referencing something on your profile
3_ very well written and personalized requests, and they usually want you to know they are not on Couchsurfing to save money but to meet and interact with the locals
4_ the kind that makes you think ‘what did I just read?’
5_personalized telling you about their jobs, major in uni, work experience and why are they traveling, more like a CV than a couch request, they want you to know they are decent people, not tramps.
6_same as group 2

14_ Behavior as guests
1_usually respectful and considerate, they often clean up the house, do dishes and make sure they don’t intrude or invade your personal space, on the downside they are probably hungry and smelly because they may have been a few days without a shower or warm meal, they may on occasion overstay their welcome.
2_ Usually good guests, sometimes they buy some groceries and cook a meal for you, or buy you a few beers
3_ very respectful and always make sure they are not crossing any boundaries, they bring some nice gifts or wine sometimes
4_ you’d be surprised
5_ Couchsurfing is usually a one-time thing for them so they may not seem very comfortable at times.
6_ same as  group 5

It should be noted that all the groups get along very well when they are sharing a host or at the meetings, they know they are different in many ways but are their similarities that brought them together in their paths, and they share the same Couchsurfing spirit.

15_ Numbers and gender
1_ most of the times it’s a boy alone, occasionally 2 boys or a couple
2_ boy or girl alone, couples, groups of 2+ friends
3_ man or woman alone or couples
4_ boy alone
5_ boy or girl alone
6_ same as 5

16_ Employment
1_ they’d do anything
2_ they would sometimes take some jobs if they are for a short time and doesn’t interfere with their plans too much
3_ they wouldn’t take a job unless it has been previously arranged and organized in their home country and it’s related to their field or major.
4_ again, you’d be surprised
5_ same as 3
6_ they don’t usually take jobs abroad

17_ Notes on some details and relationships between groups
1_ they sometimes would like to be more like group 4, some they try to hard and you see they are faking it and others can sometimes become 4s because of unexpected circumstances, like the loss of their passport or immigration policies. a seasoned 1 can become a 6 when it’s dragged along into something he doesn’t want to do or has done hundreds of times before. some 1s they think they are 4 but they are just 1s
2_ they would oftentimes envy 1s, dislike 3s and are somehow indifferent or unaware of other groups.  some 2s think they are 1s but they are not.
3_ they envy 2s and would like to travel like they do, they think 2s are very brave, if only they had done that when they were their age. they dislike 1s and look at them as homeless souls who have strayed away from the herd. they are often very similar to 5s in many ways but not always. some 3s think they are 2s or they would try to hang out with them, for example, they may go to the backpackers’ hotel but stay in a single room instead of a dorm, eat a good meal somewhere else and have a beer with the backpackers afterward.
4_ any relationship applies
5_ admire 1s and 2s, if only they had that freedom.
6_ they like 2s and think they belong to the same group

End of part 2 of 3

 

 

People from couchsurfing 1

We will reference groups of people using numbers from here on, group 1, group 2, etc

1 – Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones

Table of contents:

1_ Brief description
2_ Examples
3_ Nationalities
4_ Transportation
5_ Duration
6_ Budget
7_ Accommodation
8_ Age range
9_ Clothes
10_ Diet
11_ Percentages
12_ Couch requests
13_ Behavior as guests
14_ Numbers
15_ Employment
16_ Social behavior
17_ Activities
18_ Notes

1_ Description:
1_ People who travel in a difficult or very low budget, sometimes because they have very little money and sometimes for the thrill of it or because it’s more fun/interesting/challenging.ult or very low budget, sometimes because they have very little money and sometimes for the thrill of it or because it’s more fun/interesting/challenging.
2_ Young travelers who travel with an over-sized backpack, hence called backpackers
3_ Mid age travelers who enjoy a more up class and comfortable holiday
4_ “That guy”
5_ People who, either because of their environment or upbringing, feel some kind of remorse for being traveling instead of working/studying in their home country. (They will usually justify their trip with the excuse of being working on a book, doing some kind of research, working on their thesis or something their families and friends back home would approve of.)
6_ People who are traveling because of unforeseen circumstances, or are not sure why they have to travel.

2_Examples:
1_  Dimitri, who crossed Africa overland by bicycle just for the heck of it
2_ Jennifer, who took a few months off in between uni and work to backpack around Europe for a few months or doing a year-long working holiday in Australia.
3_ Tom, who has 1-week holiday a year, last week he went to Paris and this year he’s going to Bangkok.
4_ Arthur is traveling because he had a dream, in his dream someone told him he should walk barefoot along Karakoram highway with a shovel, and his metal detector looking for precious stones, or Florian who came by unicycle from the Gobi desert birdwatching along the way and he wants to show you his bird sketches (which are pretty bad).
5_ Richard went to Germany for a month to “test the waters” and see if it would be a good place for him to settle down in the future.
6_ Yaniv just finished high school and his parents said he has to take a year off and see the world before he goes off to the military service…

3_ Nationalities
1_ Mostly Russians and European
2_ Any, ok maybe not Russians.
3_ North Americans, Europeans, Middle Eastern, Indian, Australians.
4_ Europeans, especially eastern Europeans.
5_ Mostly North Americans, occasionally Japan, Korea, Singapore, HK.
6_ Mostly Israelis.

4_ Transportation
1_ Mostly hitchhiking and cycling, they may walk occasionally but it’s not natural to them, it’s more like “hey look at me, I’m walking from one country to another”
2_ Low budget airlines, buses, trains, they may hitchhike sometimes but it’s not natural for them, it’s more like “hey look at me, I’m hitchhiking, I’m so brave”
3_ Airplanes, taxis, they may use public transport occasionally but it’s not natural to them, it’s more like “hey look at me, I’m taking the bus in a foreign country, I’m so brave”
4_ Usually walking and very seldom some unusual transport like horse, skateboard, tuc-tuc, rickshaw, and sometimes they travel with their pets, somehow.
5_ Airplane, bus, train.
6_ Taxi, bus, train, flights.

5_ Duration
1_ 6 months +
2_ Anything from 1 month to 1 year.
3_ Anything from 2 days to one month
4_ 3 months +
5_ Anything from 2 weeks to 6 months.
6_ 2 months to 1 year.

6_ Budget (in USD)
1_ Anything from 0 to 2.000.
2_ Anything from 1.000 to 10.000
3_ 10.000+
4_ Could be anything, really.
5_ 3.000+
6_ 2.000+

7_ Accommodation: (as I have encountered all of them through Couchsurfing, either by hosting them, being hosted, sharing hosts or at a public gathering, it’s implicit they all use Couchsurfing in some way or another. I’m sure they are people who don’t use Couchsurfing on their travels, diplomats or something, but this article is not about them, now these are other forms of accommodation they use besides Couchsurfing.

1_ Usually tent, outdoor sleeping, knocking on people’s doors, churches, temples or some form of squatting.
2_ backpacker hotels, obviously, I know some people call them hostels or guest houses but I don’t think there’s any difference.
3_ hotels
4_ as they are usually in unusual places at unusual times they often get invited into people’s houses and sleep there, but randomness is their forte, so they could be building a shelter out of recycled materials they found laying around, or you could find them in a cave as well, or inside the rubbish bin, anywhere.
5_ hotels, backpacker hotels.
6_ backpacker hotels.

8_ Age range
1_ 18-35
2_ 18-30
3_ 30+
4_ 20+
5_18-40
6_18-25

9_ Clothes
1_ Discarded clothes, rags
2_ second-hand clothes.
3_ the north face, Columbia things
4_ either very sloppy or very well dressed
5_ better than most
6_ same as group 2

10_ Diet
1_ dumpster diving, gathering, foraging, leftovers, canned beans and spaghetti
2_ discounted/reduce things from the big supermarkets, beer, fast food
3_ restaurants
4_ squirrels
5_ restaurants, fast food
6_ same as 5

end of part 1 (out of 3)

 

 

List of countries

Oh, sorry i forgot t tell you, we don’t use fighting anymore

Why not?

I don’t know, people just stop using some words and phrases over time so that new ones can take their place.

Can I still use ftw.

I don’t think so, they wouldn’t know what you mean.

Kind of like quoting Monty Phyton?

Yeah, something like that, wait, how long have you been off the internet?

I don’t know, a few years, I remember when I was using it last time people were making fun of Justin Biever a lot, I didn’t know who he was, but his name kept popping up, so I looked up a song and it was somehow catchy ‘one less lonely girl’ do you know it?

I don’t think I do, and I don’t think they are making fun of him anymore. I think he may be an adult now.

Can I say call me maybe?

I’m not sure.

Oh yeah, I got that list you asked for the other day.

Which one?

List of countries you’ve been to.

Oh yeah.

I realized it wouldn’t be possible to check out the passports because I had to take out too many stamps over the years to make space for new ones, and threw them away. That’s how I managed to run out pages last year for the first time, and also it’d be kind of a show off to list every single country, the exact number it’s something people should keep to themselves, something private, kind of like the number of sexual partners they had.

Well, actually saying you won’t do something because you’d be showing off, sounds like an even worse way of showing off, but anyway you’ve got a point and it’s somehow interesting so keep going.

So I figured the easiest way would it be to list the countries I spent more than 6 months at or in (I’m not sure which one to use, at or in?)

Yeah, that makes sense, no one cares about a place you just spent a few weeks at (or is it in?), many people travel for a few days or weeks.

Exactly, well anyway, I figured I should make one every 10 years, it may probably also help people have some kind of chronological guide into all the previous posts, so here’s the list:

2005-buenos aires
2006-barcelona
2007-berlin
2008-india
2009- thailand-china
2010-china-japan
2011-australia-korea
2012-korea-taiwan
2013-new zealand
2014-china
2015-china-present

Nice, and now what?

Nothing I don’t know, oh wait, yes I know, now, here is the list for the next 10 years, it’s probably not going to go this way at all but if someone were to ask me to make a plan for the next 10 years from now, a plan I should stick up to no matter what, this one would be it.

2015-china
2016- travel in south america
2017-travel in central america
2018-canada
2019-italy
2020-iran
2021 travel in africa
2022-russia
2023-pacific islands
2024-japan
2025-korea

You are 30 now in 2015, so it seems like a good plan to make the list every 10 years that’s every decade of Bruno’s age.

Bruce’s age.

Right, Bruce’s age, so if you go to all those places in the next 10 years what about your dog?

That’s the reason I’m still in China because I love her too much and can’t leave her here by herself, I know if I ever leave China and have to say goodbye to her it will be the hardest thing I’d ever done.

I guess you’ll have to stay in China then.

That’s the only way.

Here’s when you point to the unfairness of Chinese political system and society, how all the countries are terrible because they don’t let you travel with your dog and China also doesn’t let you stay here forever so sooner or later you will have to say goodbye to her, you’re just postponing the inevitable.

My freedoms have been taken away a while ago by governments and their immigration policies, but I’m still better off than most people, I have a job and a salary at the end of the month, I have a nice cozy room with a bed to sleep at night, hot shower, plenty of food, people who understand me and accept me how I am and a dog who loves me unconditionally, what else could I ask for?

You could ask for internet.

I have internet.

Yes, you have a few Chinese websites that you have somehow manage how to operate but how about facebook, google, gmail, youtube, 4chan, cracked, you don’t miss them?

Of course I do, but they also took too much of my time. This holiday I climbed the mountain a few times, I went hiking, I played football with my students, I walked around the lake a few more times, I got to catch up with many people, I wrote here, I got to clean and look after all the turtles, hamsters and rabbits I have, spent time with dog I went out with my CS guests and had many beers with them and I still had some time left to play some games and read. If I had had internet I may not have done many of those things, so if I had to choose between Facebook or checking emails and my dog, I’d choose dog every single time. I know I have given up on all the people I have ever met in my life. Without gmail or facebook there’s no way to get in touch with them, but the dog’s still worth it, I’ll just meet new people in the future.

That’s actually very sweet, a side of you I hadn’t seen before and I didn’t know you had.

I didn’t know I had it either, anyway, looks like that’s it for today.

Yeah, it was fun, let’s do it more often.

Sure thing.

 

 

WHile hitchhiking in NZ

While hitchhiking, I got picked up by this guy, he was 82 and told me the story of his life.

He had been working as a sailor and got to go to many countries in Asia and South America. He was thrilled to meet people from distant lands. Lived by himself in a very remote area of New Zealand. Only 20 people lived in his town, so he was feeling a bit lonely.

He invited me to stay at his place for a few days and offered me some cookies and coffee. Was so glad to have someone to talk to, someone to keep him company. After some time, thinking about that good experience, I remembered another experience I had with the elderly.

It was about 3 or 4 years ago when I was in Perth. I had just finished some meditation at the budhist temple and on the way back, accidentally stepped in someone’s front garden.

A very old guy came out and started shouting “GET OUT OF MY PROPERTY!!” in a hostile tone. This leaves me to wonder how will I be when I’m 82.

Will I be a greedy person who is afraid of strangers or will I be a friendly guy who picks them up and invites them in to have some cookies?

If I’m the first one, I have to say sorry to you all.

You have to understand I’m this way because I’ve been hurt before and that made me afraid of people, especially people who have less than me, because I’m afraid they will take the things I worked so hard to achieve, ok maybe not so hard, but I worked for them.

I’m afraid they will take my precious.

And if I’m the second guy, I should say welcome to my house, this is my address: “—” and you’re all always welcome.

I’ve been helped by tons of people throughout my life, been given money, food, and shelter in countless countries. Been taken care of when I was sick, been kept company when I was lonely and given me a jacket when I was cold.

My experiences taught me I’m not alone. We have to be kind to each other and now it’s MY time to pay it back. Because it’s just the right thing to do.

 

 

About a warrior

Driver: Where ya heading mate?

Me: Heading far towards the horizon, where the forest meets the sea, where the light fades away and only shadows shape the landscape.

Driver: Whatever, jump in.

Me: You have my gratitude and therefore shall be rewarded for your troubles.

Driver: Where are you from?

Me: From the forgotten territories.

Driver: Where’s that?

Me: It’s a different world, full of thieves, dwarfs, magicians, and assassins

Driver: And what brings you to New Zealand?

Me: Nothing but the unrelenting quest of a warrior’s true path.

Driver: Are you a warrior?

Me: A warrior I am indeed.

Driver: Yes you are.

 

A glorious day

 

about 30

 

Man, I’m almost 30.

You’re not even 29.

Almost 30 is terrible!

Why?

Well, I’ve been wasting my life. I don’t want to turn 30 and realize I’ve never cycled around South America, never took the Trans-Siberian across Russia, never climbed Kilimanjaro, never saw the northern lights.

That’s crazy, what have you been doing with your life?

I don’t know, time just slept away somehow.

Just like that?

Yeah, I don’t know what happened!

It’s not too late you know.

I know, but still…

There’s still time!

Evolution of hitchhiking

 

Shall we use a sign?

Signs are for beginners, we are pros now!

We don’t need one?

When we started hitchhiking we used signs because we were shy, we didn’t know what to do or where to stand and wanted the sign to do the job for us.

And now?

Now we are pros, we don’t need a sign, or a backpack to look like backpackers, or a map to show our driver where we’re going or a compass, nor we need those books and glasses we used to carry around while hitchhiking to pretend we were harmless students.

So what do we need now?

A drink of course.

You mean an alcoholic drink?

Not necessarily, any drink would do it, sometimes even a fruit or vegetable, carrot, and apple especially because they are not messy to eat.

And how to do it now?

Drink in right hand, left thumb up facing the cars you want to stop.

That’s it?

That’s the magic of it you see, same as at a party, the drink conveys the message that you are very relaxed and they should pick you up because you are awesome.

Or drunk.

Either way.

Another day in NZ

 

Someone’s hiding in the dark

 

I’m always hiding in the bushes at night. Hiding from the people and the police because I find it sickening the fact that I live in a society that has to pay for sleeping, and frowns upon those who refuse to do so.

Often wondering if there are others like me out there, people hiding, in the same city, maybe in a nearby bush, people who are also wondering if there are others like them.

Probably there aren’t. Well, there are millions in poor countries like India, but those are people who don’t have a choice, so I don’t really feel as they are the same as me. Because I do have a choice, I do have a bit of money to pay for rent or for a hotel, and even if I didn’t, I know few of hundred people that would let me crash in their couch.

But still I choose to sleep on the street or hide because it’s my nature. Because it’s something I seek instinctively. When I’m just walking around somewhere I always keep an eye out for places to sleep, where I would be concealed from people, protected from the elements and the wildlife, where I can have a good night sleep.

And it’s not about the money anymore, it’s not about saving money it’s about doing what I feel like doing and about being by myself, because most days I don’t feel like socializing and talking to people, most days I just feel like walking around during the day searching or gathering food, and find a shelter for the night.

That’s what feels right, my body wasn’t designed to sit and play league of legends for 14 hours straight, it was designed to look for food and shelter, to survive the cold, the night, the predators (now we call them police), to adapt and thrive in a hostile environment.

It just feels right somehow.

 

backpacker hotels in new zealand

Why dont you want to stay at the backpackers’ hotel like all the other foreigners in new Zealand?

Because they are lame.

But it’s the norm, young travelers here are expected to stay at the backpackers’ hotel, didn’t you hear?

Actually, I did hear it, and it’s still lame. I’m not gonna pay for sleeping, at least not for sleeping in a filthy crowded place, for that I can just sleep on the street. When one pays for a hotel, one pays for privacy, if you’re not gonna get that why paying in the first place?

As I said, social conventions dictate that they HAVE to stay at the hostel, share the room with many people, and socialize with them, of course.

That’s nonsense, I don’t want to socialize! |What am I supposed to talk about with all these people?

I don’t know, you’ll think of something.

And what if I can’t afford it?

In that case you borrow money from someone and stay there any way.

Crazy, do you even know how expensive those places are?

Yeah, anything between 20 and 35 dollars for a dorm room depending on the city.

Alright let’s say its 30, that’s almost a thousand dollars a month for a dorm room, it’s just too much.

Well, you’re not in Asia anymore.

Regardless of the country, let’s say it costs 25 per night, and they have 15 rooms with 4 beds each, that’s more than 40.000 net profit a month and they don’t pay taxes, they give you no invoice, they don’t pay their employees because they always have someone working for accommodation, they charge you for things that are provided free in any other country, like internet and towels. There’s is not a single hostel or backpackers hotel in New Zealand that provides free internet and that’s like the very basic thing they should provide for travelers, well besides the bed of course.

How do you know so much about this places if you don’t use them?

Alright, alright, I did go to one in Auckland when just arrived in New Zealand, they said it was 32 dollars and then they said it was 5 more per day if I wanted internet.

Yes, they are a bit overpriced, but I think most people who stay there don’t really pay for the bed, but for the experience, they get to meet many people in a very very short amount of time.

Like speed dating.

Exactly like speed dating, you know they are young, they are on holidays and they want to have fun. What is 30 dollars if you can meet 20 people of the opposite sex in a relaxed environment and enjoy the sexy time with some of them?

I see. So they pay to hook up. That means I’ve been doing it wrong all this time.

It’s ok, you didn’t know. You thought they were just paying for a place to stay because they are rich and too good to sleep on the streets.

Well, whatever. I’m not all that into promiscuity anyway.

And you don’t have to, you can also meet that special someone there and you know you can actually find so many free stuff there. Things people left behind, like tents, sleeping bags, laptops, lots of clothes and gadgets.

Who would leave their laptop behind?

They just forget them or get tired of carrying them around so they leave them there.

So if I pay 30 I can get a girl, new clothes, a tent and a laptop?

And more, sometimes people leave behind food and shoes.

Food, girl and laptop? Really?

Really.

But still, 30 dollars, oh man.

You could always sneak in, worse case scenario they kick you out, they’re not gonna call the police, doors are always open and the staff doesn’t know most of the people staying there.

You and me? Sneaking in together?

Yeah, and him.

Him too?

Yes.

Alright, this trio could work!

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

About Vanuatu and my life

The other day I got picked up in a van that was carrying 10 people from a country called Vanuatu, which I’ve actually never heard of before. I felt like I was back in Asia when they started playing this party music very loud and singing along.

They said that in Vanuatu, they can’t leave someone on the street, so when they see someone hitchhiking they HAVE to pick him up, because of their upbringing they can’t choose not picking him up.

When they see someone without a place to sleep they have to take him in. That reminded me of some other experiences I had in other countries, like getting denied service at some hotels in China for being a foreigner. Being harassed by Japanese and Australian police, being robbed at gunpoint in Argentina and many more. Man! While in Japan, I met so many people that would just only not help you out, but they would actually go way out of their way to make your my life more troublesome.

The night went on and after the ride, they invited me to stay at their place, I found they were living in dorms with 60 people from Vanuatu and in that village, there were 400 of them. I found that they lived in precarious conditions and got exploited by some kiwi landlord and contractor, same as me when I just arrived in NZ. They didn’t have internet or phones, but they were so happy.

Of course, they shared their food and drinks with me. The special drink from Vanuatu is called cava. It’s not alcoholic but they extract it from some kind of root, it makes them very relaxed and calm, like smoking week, they said its like drinking weed.

When I tasted it, it was just terrible, terrible taste, so I asked them why dont they put some sugar on it to make it taste drinkable, they said noooo and they laughed at me, but for me it was just the logical thing to do because that thing tasted so bad, like vodka. I don’t understand how people can drink vodka, tequila, sake, soju by itself, it’s just disgusting.

There are many many Pacific Islanders here in New Zealand, picking fruits and doing farm work, and I remember that before I went to Korea, I had had the chance of visiting many other countries, but after living in Korea for 9 months, I thought Korean people were the nicest people I had met. Then I moved to Taiwan and changed my mind, Taiwanese were by far the best.

Now, if I had to make a chart with the most hospitable people I’ve met it’d be something like this:

1- Pacific Islanders (Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Cook, etc)
2- Muslims
3- Taiwanese
4- Korean
5- Others

And still many people ask me if I miss Argentina or if I plan to go back there. I always say I don’t know, but what I actually want to say “probably no, or maybe just on holidays” but that’s a very cold answer, people don’t like cold answers even though they are honest. They want a warm, fake answer. A reassuring lie instead of an honest truth.

The thing is, that  I’ve been to just so many other amazing places, places where I felt welcomed. Places where I don’t need to live in fear of thieves, guns, and corrupted police. Places where not everyone’s out to get me. Places where I can go out at night without worrying about coming back alive. I can find a job and don’t need to constantly look over my shoulder to make sure no one is following me to kill me or mug me.

Tourists keep going on and on about how marvelous a place Argentina is, well, of course, it is if you go with foreign money that is worth like 5 times more there and you stay for just a few weeks or a few months, but if you have to live and work there, oh man!

And after I say I don’t know if I’ll ever go back there, they ask me “and what about your family?” The answer I usually give is that they are alright and we manage to keep in touch online, but what I actually  mean to say is that my family will have to understand that their son, nephew, grandson, etc, is happy somewhere else and that is not because of them, is because of me.

Traveling is not just something I do, is part of who I am.

Something I have to do for myself and has nothing to do with anyone else.

And me leaving argentina had nothing to do with them either, it was just something that needed to be done.

The reason I chose to live at the edge of the knife, to jump from the bridge to the cargo train instead of running behind it and hopping on the last wagon. Digging a hole in the ground to sleep and swimming to the other side instead of taking the ferry is that I actually enjoy the thrill of the fight. I enjoy the challenge. The hardships. It makes me feel alive and somehow happy. But hey that sounds just so dramatic, doesn’t it? Sorry about that, here’s a rainbow~

A night at burger king

23/6/2013

I have decided to talk a bit less politics and talk more about my daily life, feelings and thoughts. Of course, sometimes I feel down and a bit worthless like most people do, but then I think about it and realize I’m actually really lucky and most people reasonably envy my lifestyle.

It’s unique and strange, but quite interesting also, because I chose to live without using money, or using way less than everyone else, I’m usually in different countries or different cities within a country, try to live in the moment and learn something new every day.

I know what you’re thinking, living without money = freeloader, but actually is not like that, not at all! But more about that later.

Also, I meet many new people every day and learn from them as well

Yesterday it was Saturday, the 22nd, I was stuck without a place to sleep, as usual. Well not as usual, but it does happen a few times a week.

And as I cant pay money for accommodation for reason I will also explain later, my options are usually 4, Couchsurfing, knocking on the door, finding some other place (abandoned building, car, empty room) or sleeping in the bush

Yesterday I got stood up by my CS host after waiting for 5 hours int he cold, so gave up on that one, it was way too cold to sleep on the bush and I knew it would have been quite dangerous as it was literally as cold as it gets in New Zealand. very windy and dry air that making it hard to breathe.

So I found a burger king along the highway, got in and asked them what time do they close, hoping they would stay open all night, and I could have just stayed there and sleep during the day in some park.

They said they close at midnight, and I thought “oh man, I am fucked in the ass” as there was nothing else around, it was 8 pm, so I said well at least I still have 4 hours off the cold.

Sitting on a stool for 2 hours, thinking and dreaming. 3 other guys were sitting at a nearby table, looking at me.

I thought, hey, how nice would it if they invited me to stay at their place, but then I thought ufff, they actually don’t look so friendly and I would have to socialize, and then we would find all the things we don’t have in common. But hey, what the hell, is that or having no sleep. I knew I would have to walk all night long because its hard to knock on people doors after midnight, people are scared and with reason, and that’s providing I could even find their houses in the darkness.

Anyway, the 3 guys left and I switched to imagining a different random scenario.

I imagined there was a big group of about 50 people, mostly teenagers, and a few adults, like 5. I noticed that many of them were heavily over weighted, so I instantly thought they were Australians on a school trip, but hey at a random burger king on the highway, at 11.30 pm, no that’s not possible, its past their bed time.

Reality didn’t care about what I think, 6 of them sat on my table and the adult in charge of them stroke a conversation.

“Hey man, where are you from?” He asked.

“I’m from Argentina.” I quickly replied.

He seemed a bit confused that I was the only person there and had no food on my table, so he asked: “Are you waiting for your food?”

I said: “Well… not really, it’s a bit cold outside so I was just hanging around.” I found that many people laugh when I say a bit cold, because actually is terribly cold.

I was aware of the fact I have this homeless vibe around me, with the beard, greasy hair, tired eyes, wearing lots of clothes and a filthy sleeping bag next to me, so he asked: “Have you got nowhere to stay?”

This is my chance, I thought, and said: “Yeah, I’m just waiting for that to… to come along.” He said I could stay at his mate’s place, one of the guys who was ordering burguers there with them.

That’d be awesome. I thought, but decided to go a bit japanesy about it and politely refuse. I said: “No, don’t worry. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“There’s no trouble.” He said. “Come and stay with us.” So I said: ‘”Are you sure?” He said of course and we kept talking, He mentioned they were from a Christian church and on their way home from some inter-churches school event. When he said that I thought ‘oh man, religion? what am I getting myself into’.

Then he said: “I don’t believe in religions, but have you heard of Jesus Christ?” I said: “Yes.” While reminding myself choices were thin on the ground.

Soon after that I found myself in a van surrounded by 10 kids ages 10 to 16, screaming around about who score more goals on the game they had just played. While they were shouting, I started calculating the odds of what had just happened, and came up with a kind of drake equation for it, some of the variables included a number of sports events they participated yearly for the ones they had to leave their city for, the amount of children that played, the amount of nights I find myself sitting in a fast food restaurant in the middle of nowhere before they close, and some of the constants were the number of fast food restaurants along the highway, the number of tables on this one, the number of adults, etc, and then I lost count, but well there were like 15 tables, more than 100 seats there, and just a few adults, chances one of them sitting next to me was easily 100 to 1, and while calculating that, and some kids staring at me, I thought to myself ‘this night took an unexpected turn’.

Now is the morning after. I had a great night sleep in a warm bed with clean sheets, a nice breakfast, a hot shower, and it was the time to face what I was most afraid of since meeting them. They said they were going to church and would you like me to come along, so I politely explained to them I was not really into religion and felt a bit uncomfortable going to church. I thanked them for everything and said I would be on my way and may try to make it to Queenstownn before nightfall.

They said: “Oh its alright, you can stay another night if you want to, you dont need to come to church.”

I said cool and now is almost noon, I’m typing this while they are in church, used the first hour to clean the kitchen and to do all the dished of the dozen children who had breakfast before leaving, so now can sit on the computer without feeling guilty.

True story.

 

About the bus

 

Let’s take the bus!

Na, I’d rather walk.

Why is that?

I just don’t like the bus.

What, are you too good to use public transport?

No, I’m just too poor to use it. It costs a lot, so as long as I have feet I’ll walk, run or ride the bicycle. If I ever get my legs cut off, I’ll then maybe… take the bus or the train.

But do you know how far is it?

Yes, it takes 4 hours walking from here.

How can you walk so much?

That’s because I don’t see walking as a waste of time like most people do. For me it’s nice. I get time for me. Time to think, it saves me money, I get exercise, I meet people, I find stuff on the way, I discover new parts of the city, what could be better?

With the bus, I have to spend money, which I don’t have and spend so much time sitting, which I don’t like. Sitting is the worse, also as with most other posts, the idea for this post came up while walking alone aimlessly.

Best ideas come when you are walking alone, without music, without distractions, just you and the road.

In the bus there’s always people bothering me, they want to hug me, or take a picture with me.

It’s actually quite tough being famous because sometimes you just don’t want to talk to people and smile and be polite, sometimes you just want to be left alone.

Sometimes you just want to walk, at night, through the park, thinking of rainbow dash, or thinking of a girl you used to know, thinking of what kind of bird it is the one that’s singing that beautiful song you hear in your mind while you’re making spaghetti, that songs that goes something like this “totororototo totorororo

totorororo tororototo tororoto tororoto rotototo tororo tototo”.

Hiding stuff

Friend: Where’s your stash?

Bruno: I’m not gonna tell you.

Friend: You should.

Bruno: Why?

Friend: Well, during the years that you have been moving around, sometimes you’ve come to accumulate stuff you couldn’t take with you when you left, so they had to be hidden somewhere. You wouldn’t just give them to a friend, because you don’t want to be a burden or trouble other people with your stuff. You know they also have to move around and can’t be carrying your stuff around. You wouldn’t pay a storage room because you don’t have money and most times you are not even sure if you’ll come back to that country. So they have to be hidden somewhere.

Bruno: There may be some stuff here and there, but why would I leave something valuable behind? Why not just selling it and taking the money with me?

Friend: Well maybe you had to leave in a rush and didn’t have time to sell it, maybe they were too bulky or inconvenient to sell, maybe it was something illegal, or something that’s not valuable yet but in 50 years time might. Or maybe it was something that could get you into trouble if you go through customs with it. Knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had 100 dolars in pennies buried somewhere because you know the price of copper is always on the rise. Or some antiques, somewhere. Maybe it’s like an insurance for when you’re old.

Bruno: But then that would occupy space in my memory, I have to remember the location of the stuff, the location of the key or the password.

Friend: So there’s a key and a password, we’re getting somewhere now.

Bruno: And if I tell someone it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.

Friend: Was it a gym locker?  Was it a chest buried on some beach?

Bruno: Maybe.

Friend: If you die, nobody will find it, ever, because you haven’t told anyone about it.

Bruno: Well, if I die, then I wouldn’t need to worry about it anymore either.

Friend: I think you would hide it in nature, because a man made structure is much more likely to be destroyed, searched or rebuilt, a beach, forest, or rock, on the other hand would probably be there for a while. It should be somewhere near some places you used to live, a familiar location, a place you know better than anyone. A place you’ve walked by hundreds of times. You are always searching for a place to sleep at night in case you need to, a place covered, private. Always searching for the perfect spot to hide something in case you have to.

Bruno: It’s probably just some old books and clothes, you shouldn’t worry about it so much.

Friend: Yeah, you’re right.

Bruno: Or maybe not.

Friend: Damn.

 

Find an excuse

Friend: Why do you travel?

Bruno: I don’t travel, I’m always in Taipei.

Friend: So why did you travel before, were you trying to find something?

Bruno: Not really, but you know sometimes you pretend you are looking for something, but actually you just want to have fun looking for it, if you find or not doesn’t really make any difference.

Friend: How’s that?

Bruno: Well it’s like some people when you ask them while are they still single, they say they are searching or waiting for the right person, when actually they are having a great time looking for that person and trying different partners to see if some fits them, or another example is people who go to college or university, they don’t do it to get a piece of paper like a diploma after many years of hardship, they go there for the parties, for the clubs, the environment, to be away from their parents, because they know they will make friends for life there and hook up with lots of people, you see in the end they had so much fun in college that the paper doesn’t really matter at all, it was just an excuse to do something fun.

Same goes for me.

I don’t want to achieve anything and not looking for anything, sometimes, I just find excuses for doing what I want; for example, when I went to Germany I signed up for the language school there, just to tell people I do something, but the school was only 2 hours a day and I didn’t learn much, life in Berlin was, on the other hand, probably one of the best times of my life.

Friend: Got it, so first I have to find an excuse to do what I want, and only then I can do it.

Bruno: Yeah well, it has to be a socially accepted idea, for people with narrow minds to understand, so should be either work, study or travel, you can not just say you’re going to Romania to find Dracula or going to Russia to build a time machine, people will look at you like “what?” It has to be something they can understand and relate to at the same time

Friend: Work, study or travel, got it.

Bruno: Anything else?

Friend: I think that’s it for today.

Bruno: Alright then.

 

Lindblum

Friend: Lets go to Lindblum next week?

Bruno: Why next week?

Friend: I don’t know.

Bruno: Why not today?

Friend: Because I can’t be that spontaneous.

Bruno: Why not?

Friend: It’s just not me.

Bruno: But how can I plan something for next week, that’s scary.

Friend: So you are afraid of commitment.

Bruno: It’s not that, but I can’t think that far ahead, and if I say yes now, I’ll probably forget or change my mind, or make other plans, or just start worrying, because it’s like a burden having to think now that I have something to do next week.

Friend: But I live a miserable life so I need something to look forward to, and this trip may just be that one thing that will make the rest of this week feel less miserable.

Bruno: I see, like putting a band-aid on a scar that needs stitches.

Friend: Exactly, this trip will be the temporary solution to all my life problems and dilemmas.

Bruno: That’s so very mature of you.

Friend: So, what do you say? Are you coming?

Bruno: I told you I can go today, but if you want me to go next week, you’re gonna have to ask me next week. Preferably on the same day.

Friend: It looks like we’re never gonna do anything together.

Bruno: Well, not with that attitude.

 

whatever 13

Friend: What do you want to do today?

Bruno: I want to move to Taiwan for good.

Friend: Why Taiwan?

Bruno: No special reason, just a feeling, I know I should move there but I don’t know the reason.

Friend: Funny.

Bruno: Not funny.

Friend: So why don’t you move there, if you know that’s what you should be doing?

Bruno: well, you’ve never felt like you know that what you’re doing is not the right thing for you to do right now, but you dont have the guts to do what you know you should be doing instead?

Friend: Yes, all the time.

Bruno: Ok, so you know how I feel.

Friend: But I thought you were the master of going for your dreams.

Bruno: Wrong, I may be the master of telling other people to go for their dreams, which is different.

Friend: Still, you’re better at it than everyone else I know.

Bruno: You must know very few people then.

Friend: True, I should go out more.

Bruno: You should.

Friend: You know what you have to do, there’s no way around it.

Bruno: Yeah, I know.

Friend: So just do it.

Bruno: I’m on it. Just Not yet, is not the right time yet.

Friend: So when?

Bruno: Soon, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week.

Friend: So it’s in your plans already.

Bruno: Yes well, It’s out there, that means people know about it, the more people know about your dream the harder it is for you not to go for it.

Friend: Because of the peer pressure and what you think they would think of  you if you didn’t do what you want to do, they will see you as a weak person, a person without the courage to do what he wants to do.

Bruno: Exactly.

Friend: So that’s why you’re writing this here, so that’s it’s out there.

Bruno: Yes, you could say that.

Friend: So, you’re just wasting the readers time here.

Bruno: Pretty much.

Friend: And you’re proud of that.

Bruno: Well, it’s not like they have anything better to do.

Friend: Maybe they do.

Bruno: Probably not.

Friend: So you think.

Bruno: Well I’m not forcing them to read, they read because they want to.

Friend: They could be out there enjoying life, playing with their dogs in the park, or spending time with their friends and families.

Bruno: Well at least I give them something to read.

Friend: So very considerate of you.

Bruno: What can I say? That’s what you get from a free blog without advertisement, from me to them, no catch, no small print, and tell you what, from now on I’ll start answering the readers questions as well, so if you have a question or you want me to talk about some subject in particular just drop me an email or just post it in the comments and it will be answered as a new post, how cool is that?

Friend: Not cool at all, I do have a question I’ve been wanting to ask you though.

Bruno: Shoot.

Friend: How do you go about choosing which country you’re going to move to next? everyone else I know wouldn’t even dream of doing something like that. It’s pretty adventurous.

Bruno: As you said, you should start going out more, and about the country, first of all, it has to be a place I hadn’t been to before, and it would help if there was a prospect of some kind or something waiting for me there, like a job, a special person, or an opportunity of some nature, if there’s nothing of that, maybe I feel attracted by its language and feel the need of learning it, or I feel attracted by the culture and think I could learn something from it. Then, there’s the money issue… nah just kidding, money is not an issue anymore, I’m confident I could make a living anywhere.

Friend: And by a special person, you mean there has to be a girl you like there.

Bruno: That would be a very nice prospect, of course, unfortunately, most of the times that’s not the case.

Friend: Is there a special person waiting for you in Taiwan?

Bruno: I wish there was, because that would be just the extra push I need.

Friend: Why not trying http://www.taiwancupid.com? the number one dating site in Taiwan.

Bruno: Are you advertising some dating site now?

Friend: Just saying.

Bruno: Meh, I don’t want to meet a girl on a dating site, I’ll save that card for when I’m like 40 or like really desperate.

Friend: Actually you’re probably gonna be blind by the time you’re 40, why not just using it now?

Bruno: Because it’s creepy.

Friend: Yeah, so you can find creepy people like yourself.

Bruno: Hey I’m not the one dressing up as a kigurumi, now that was creepy.

Friend: Again with that? I told you it’s over, I’m not into it anymore, terminado amigo.

Bruno: You crazy freak.

Friend: Whatever.

Bruno: Whatever? Really??? Is that the best comeback you’ve got?

Friend: …

Bruno: Come on, I know you’ve got it in you.

Friend: Whatever man.

Bruno: Much better.

They deserve your smile

Hitchhiking means conquering the land

it means breaking free from conventional thought

it means starting to think outside the box

realizing there’s a whole world out there

and it’s all yours

realizing things can be different

if you want them to

understanding you have been lied to

understanding things are NOT different in the real world

because there’s no such a thing as the real world

we all live in our own world

the one we believe to be our real world

so actually you have not been lied to

well yes, you have, but not on purpose

they were telling the truth

their truth

they were telling you about their world

because most people live in a world of fear

they are afraid of other people

so they are afraid of hitchhiking

because it involves trusting people

it involves letting yourself go

it involves doing something different

something unexpected


it requires you to challenge yourself

to face your fears

to understand yourself

who you really are

why are you here

and why are you doing this

it requires you to live

to shut down the auto pilot

and take control of the ship

take control of yourself

of your emotions

of your fears

and just get over them

understand that you are a great person

and you deserve to get a ride

the drivers are great people too

and they deserve your company on their way

they deserve your stories

because they’ve come a long way today

they deserve your friendship

they deserve your trust

and overall

they deserve your smile 🙂

 

About finances

Most people I meet, usually ask me how do I make money, or how do I make a living, the answer will vary, depending on the person and the situation.
Depending on their ability to think outside the box, their ability to understand or interpreting new ideas, or depending if they seem to be ready or not to understand that things may not be the way they’ve been told they are.

And many times they ask me how do I manage to live without working, and the answer to that is simple: I don’t live without working, I just decided to work a bit less than the average joe.

By trying to live a simple and modest life and reducing expenses, it’s actually possible to considerably reduce the amount of money you need to earn, which in turn, reduces the amount of work you need to do.

As an example, my life in Korea goes something like this:

I usually work once a week, sometimes teaching, acting, other jobs.

One full day of work = 150 dollars a week = roughly 600 to 700 dollars a month.

What expenses do I have to cover with that: food and rent.

Rent for a modest single room at a sharehouse in Korea, in Japan, or in most European countries I’ve been to, comes at around 300 dollars a month, and you can eat modestly with around 10 dollars a day which equals roughly 300 a month.

So we have +600 income
-300 rent
-300 food
————–
000 left

As simple as that, so the reason I got to work just one day a week is that I don’t get to save any money or buy silly things I don’t need.

Another example, about my life in China or in Thailand, salary for an English teacher in China or Thailand comes at around 5 dollars a day (I use USD because it’s the currency more people are familiar with).

Working one 8 hours day shift every week would bring in around 40 USD a week, or 160 a month.

Rent for a modest one-bedroom apartment would cost around 50 a month, leaving 110 for food, drink, visa runs, lady boy, crystal meth or whatever it is you guys are into this days.

So working just one day a week we have +160 income
– 50 rent
– 110 food, ladyboy, meth
———
000 left

In Europe or Australia, where salaries are higher is even more simple than that, one month of work, fruit picking, bartending or any kind of job would bring about 500 USD a week to save, which comes to 2000 a month while life expenses, using the above equation 300 for rent and 300 for food, makes 600.

so +2000 income
– 300 rent
– 300 food
—————–
1400 profit

That means if you’re willing to work 3 months a year, you can then enjoy 9 months holidays:

+6000 = 3 months rent
-5400 = 9 months expenses
——————————–
600 profit

And if you really want to live without working, just take those 6000 you made in 3 months, and go to a 3rd world country, like Asia or South America and they will last you at least 3 times more so

6000 = 3 months work in a rich country
5400 = 2 years modest holidays in a poor country
———————————————————————
600 profit which you will need for airfares or visa runs




Visa run: is a colloquial term, which the expats use to define the system of exiting and re-entering a country in order to get a new tourist visa. If you’re in the EU you’ll usually go to England for it, if you;re in USA you’ll go to mexico or canada, if you’re in Thailand you’ll go to cambodia, laos or malaysia, if you’re in malaysia you’ll go to thailand or singapore. If you’re in Korea you’ll go to fukuoka from busan, if you’re in japan you’ll go to busan from fukuoka 😉
If you’re in india you have to go to nepal, if you’re in OZ you may go to NZ or bali and so on.




I’m aware that many of you guys reading this may have university degrees, careers, rich uncle or infinite other sources of income. 


This s just an attempt of beginners guide for people who don’t really have any skills or relatives, or people who would like to work or experience life in different countries, without being tied up to contracts or corporate life.

for odd jobs in different countries, you can always resort to craigslist, gumtree, kijiji, or any similar websites, pickignjobs.com for picking jobs, helpex.net for places to work for food and lodging, or just about any other website you find.

And if you’re a bit more reckless you can add some medical trials, blood/plasma/egg/sperm donations, reselling tickets for sports events or concerts, gambling, begging, busking, street performing, online businesses, modeling, house sitting, dog walking, taking jobs as extra on movies or tv shows, reselling stuff on ebay that you found at garage sales, or if you have an apartment or place to store stuff you can buy bulk stuff from the provider and resell them or distribute them at retail price, freelance photography, writing editing, programming or graphic design if you’re good with computers. deliver newspapers, pamphlets, open a lemonade stand, whatever.


Actually,  the possibilities are endless, if you manage to think outside the box.


I always remember how in Berlin, we used to go with Julian with our big backpacks after a concert or event, where people had been drinking in the streets, we would collect all the empty bottles and take them back to the shop for a refund. 

And if you want to get anything for free is quite simple, let’s say I’m now in Budapest and want to take yoga lessons, just google: free yoga lessons Budapest” and you’ll get a bunch of results, there are free things everywhere, you just have to look for them. try meetup.com try couchsurfing.org, and you’re all covered.

Of course that ideally I would like to be able to work for a cause, instead of working for money, that way I can feel good about myself, but when you take money out of the equation you can devote yourself to work for a cause in your free time, when you don’t need money. 




So you can work one day a week for money and the rest work because you like. Because it makes you feel happy or good about yourself, or dedicate the time to learn or do something you want. volunteer to help others or just spend time with people you like.

You’re not really gonna live a luxurious life like this, and your parents are probably not gonna be so happy about it, but hey, you’ve kind of managed to retire in your 20’s, what else do you want?

I’ll take the green salad

Remember that episode of Friends when Rachel, Phoebe and Joey, tried to explain to Ross, Monica and Chandler that they didn’t have as much money as them, and they get dragged to this fancy restaurant and they can only order a salad and a glass of water. Because they always have to go “somewhere nice”.


That’s how I feel!


Not everywhere, of course, this usually happens to me in Singapore, Japan, Australia and Korea, because there pretty much everyone’s rich, everyone has jobs and most people are not aware that in other countries people don’t, and if they do they don’t earn nearly as much as what they make here.


As for other places I’ve lived before, it didn’t really happen much if at all, because if I meet some new person in Berlin, Barcelona or most places in Europe, chances are, he or she is probably unemployed too or earns very little money as well.


If I meet someone in China, Malaysia, India or most other Asian countries, no matter where we go, it can’t  cost more than 5 dolars a meal, so there’s no need to worry when people say “let’s go somewhere nice!”

Going for a walk

Going for a walk here in Singapore and in most SE Asian countries is the equivalent of going for a hike in western countries.


A simple thing like grabbing some food usually becomes an expedition, maybe not in Japan, but most Asian countries, most of the times there’s not really a sidewalk you can just stroll around, you usually share a road with cars, bicycles, motorbikes, and many many many people.


Sometimes there used to be a sidewalk, but people have parked their cars or opened some little stall or business on it, leaving pedestrians to share the road with the vehicles.


And on that road you have to jump, because there are big holes you could fall into, then go up and down, and climb a little hill, then some steps, and then down again, then avoid all the things they leave on the way, then jump, duck, parry, avoid the sewer, mind your head, say no to the tout, skip the homeless sleeping on the way, careful with the dog, mind the gap, mind your head again, careful with the stall, the fruit box on the floor, the person selling incense,  jump the drainage, left, right,  dodge the beggar, watch out for the bicycle, the chicken on the way, the little kids playing, then the cat, the motorbike and the person running towards you because he’s missing the bus.


What should be a simple walk, becomes a platform game, like Mario, jump, run, avoid the obstacle, careful not to fall into the whole, step on the turtle and jump again. 


It’s nice though, keeps you fit, keeps you active, keeps you alert, keeps the blood flowing, but sometimes, just sometimes, I wish I could clear my mind, turn off my reflexes, sometimes I wish I could just go for a walk, instead of a trek.

Malaysia is the place to chill

Malaysia has become the best place for people like me who have no job and need to live somewhere spending very little money.

Why Malaysia and not other SE Asian country?

Well, first of all, free visa, not like Indonesia, Laos or Phillipines which charges you 20-25 dolars per month, or Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma,  where the visa fee can be as steep as 50 dolars per month.

I’m talking about visa for westerners of course, if you’re SE Asian you usually pay no visa anyway when you visit other SE Asian countries.

Secondly, no departure fee in Malaysia, that’s right some scumbag countries like Indonesia and, Phillipines will charge you a departure fee for leaving the country, because they didn’t have enough with charging you for getting into the country, now they have to charge you for leaving the country also.

90 days visa, while all the other countries in SE Asia will just let you stay 1 month, Malaysia and Singapore will let you stay for 90 days.

Did I just mention Singapore? yeah, and you know what, this article could have been talking about Singapore instead, if it wasn’t, well you know just a tiny island inside malaysia whose inhabitants believe themselves to be better than Malaysians because of the sole fact that in Singapore everything costs 3 times as much as in Malaysia.

Malaysia is quite easy to easy to get around also, not as easy as Thailand, but here most people speak English, still relatively safe, Chinese food everywhere, Malay food everywhere, Indian food everywhere, lots of islands, no rules, no hassle, and it’s nice to see that not every girl comes with a price tag as it happens in Thailand or Philippines.`

Still quite cheaper than Thailand, maybe not as cheap as Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, etc but they make up for it by not being soooo full of garbage everywhere, of course, there’s plenty of it still, otherwise it wouldn’t be south-east Asia, but I would dare to say it’s not nearly as much as in Indonesia.

All those shenanigans still make malaysia my favorite country in SE Asia, just hoping it won’t change as Thailand did.

First time I went to Thailand it was the same as malaysia 90 days visa, no questions asked, a few years later they changed it to 2 months, then 1 month and now they let us stay for like 2 weeks.


That way they make sure there are no people just hanging around, no people who just want to relax instead of doing things in a rush, and overall make sure there are no lazy people around, no lazy people like me, with way too much free time and way too little money. 

A fire inside

Remember when we were young and there was a fire inside us? All that passion, all those feelings, where are they now?

I still remember, back in 2006, when I finally decided to leave my comfort zone and moved away from Barcelona. The excitement I felt, that fire inside that makes you pump more blood, breath more oxygen, and makes you want to fly.

All the expectations, the anxiety and the fear that represented going to a new country I hadn’t been before.

Savoring a new language, breathing all those new smells, every feeling was new.

In 2006 and 2007 I was like, eat all the food! Do all the crazy things! Visit every country! Learn all the languages! Do all the jobs! Meet all the people!



I got excited while counting and keeping track of how many countries had I been to, how many jobs had I had in all the different countries, I was even amazed by all the different coins and bills from the different countries, pretending to collect them all, or collecting stamps or little souvenirs.



And every time I met someone all we talked about was our travels and were had we been and where to go next.



Even the food tasted better the first few weeks in a new country. all those new flavors and spices, all those new feelings, the thrill of the hunt, the fight for survival, the magic of getting lost in a country you don’t know, where you don’t know anyone, where you don’t speak the language, where nobody knows you.

But now, now is all like meh.. I have lost that fire and don’t know where to find it anymore.



Traveling, or surviving or getting lost in a strange place became an everyday routine, so it lost all its magic.



Like anything, when you do it for a long time it just becomes monotonous, it becomes boring.



Why do we always seek new experiences?



Where does that greed come from? That greed of always wanting more and more, more experiences, more knowledge,  more stuff, more friends, more everything.



Why can’t we just content ourselves with what we have here?



And what happens when the things that kept us going, don’t work for us anymore. 




When everything becomes bland, when everything looks the same.




When there’s nothing to do but to exist, survive and reminisce about the past.

I can take it

Once, a short time after arriving in Australia, I found myself sleeping in an abandoned car I had found by the side of the road for a few days, not because I didn’t have money, but because I didn’t have money and couldn’t find any better place.


It was not so far from the city, the only catch was that I had to cross the highway to get there, which is, as most hitchhikers know, one of the scariest feelings ever.


It was not as bad as most abandoned cars though, there were a few empty bottles here and there but no one had yet urinated or defecated on it, so it didn’t smell as bad as other abandoned cars I had slept in before.


People who slept in the open know that the worst times are usually between 3 and 5 am, why worse? Because the temperature drops drastically.


So if you’re sleeping in an old car, construction site, park, beach, tent or anywhere outdoors, you’re probably gonna have a bad time at around 3, because the cold just wakes you up, unless you’re in a tropical country of course, in which case you’re gonna wake up because of the mosquitoes.


Hopefully, you’ll have something to keep yourself busy during those hours between 3 and 5 am, something like an mp3 player, a book, a musical instrument, or anything to distract you, anything so that you don’t need to think, you don’t need to think about when did it get this bad.
Where have you failed in life.
What went wrong that.


Unless you are the optimistic type, in which case you can just keep yourself busy nourishing your already oversized ego, you can instead just think of when did it get this good. 
What you owe this great success in life to.
When have you become so independent that you can choose to sleep anywhere.
When have you become so resourceful that you can find places to sleep and food anywhere.
When have you become so reckless that you are not afraid of the police, the thieves, the wild animals, the weather or the lack of supplies?
When did you become so confident that you don’t care what most people would say?

When did you just stop caring?




Unfortunately, I’m not all that positive yet, but someday, hopefully, someday Instead of waking up all freezing and scared saying “oh god why?”, I will wake up like a boss at 3 am and say “Fuck yeah! Bring on the cold, because I-can-take-it”.

 

About KL

I always think of KL as this post-apocalyptic city, a place where life ended a while ago, and even though it’s full of people everywhere I see it as a devastated, desolated, ruined place.

Last year I thought it was the shades, but still, can’t explain why it happens only in KL.

Yesterday my friend took me for volunteer work at the Zoo Negara, and it was such a great experience, all these years living in the city I had forgotten how much I love working for the animals, feeding them, cleaning, and looking after them.

And all those months living in Korea and eating spicy kimchi, rice and noodles I had forgotten how food tastes like.

In SE Asia food has so many different flavors from different cultures and so many spices and all those smells mixing together on the street, here I always think, this is how food should taste like.

I’ll update soon 🙂

Whatever 10

Bruno: I’m sick and tired of this. Enough is enough, this system is corrupted, I don’t want anything to do with it anymore.


Friend: Oh boy, here we go.



Bruno: Seriously,  I’m not gonna worship money, I’m tired of everything and I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. 


Friend: That’s great, because I don’t want you to live on this planet anymore.


Bruno: You need me.


Friend: Yeah whatever, what happened now?


Bruno: I lost everything.


Friend: Like what? You have nothing.


Bruno: I have some stuff.


Friend: Like what?


Bruno: Just stuff.


Friend: Pokemon trading cards?


Bruno: No, some other stuff.


Friend: What stuff?


Bruno: Stuff you don’t know about.



Friend: Either way, it sounds like good news to me, if you lost everything now you are free to do anything! 


Bruno: What do you mean?


Friend: It’s like pressing the reset button. Now you have nothing to lose anymore so just start over.


Bruno: And do what?


Friend: Do what you’ve always wanted, of course, become a shepherd in Mongolia.


Bruno: What? No, I don’t want to go to Mongolia.


Friend: Why not, what’s wrong with Mongolia?


Bruno: No fruits there for me to eat, no job prospects, landlocked, flight is expensive, visa is expensive, hard to get and for a very short time.


Friend: All the government’s fault, right?


Bruno: Exactly, why do I have to go to the embassy of Mongolia and being treated like a criminal, give them lots of money and lots of papers. It’s idiotic, I was born on this planet, it should be my right to visit it and come and go as I please.


Friend: Who do you think you are? You have no rights, you little punk..


Bruno: I’m an earthling, I was born here, I deserve it.


Friend: No rights for you young man.


Bruno: Why not?


Friend: You know why not.


Bruno: Because fuck me?


Friend: Exactly.


Bruno: Whatever then.


Friend: Hahaha, poor loser! Take that you little son of a…


Bruno: Ouch, why was that for?


Friend: For wanting to go to Mongolia. I don’t know who do you think you are.


Bruno: Actually, it was you who said I should go to Mongolia in the first place.


Friend: You liar, piece of sh…

Bruno: I don’t know why I hang out with you. 

Friend: Whatever, move along. 

 

 

That’s when we knew we were alive

There were those nights, warm summer nights, when we were out in the countryside, and we felt the wind on our faces, that’s when we knew, that’s when we knew we were alive.


When we were sitting by the lake, drawing circles in the sand, and just gazing at the stars, then the wind will blow your hair, that’s when we knew we were alive.


And while waiting for a ride, by the side of the autobahn, you dropped your beer, I started to laugh, we got bathed by the sun and we knew we were alive.


On that beach so late at night, taking the dog for a walk, we were swimming in the sea, then a giant wave would come, that’s when we knew we were alive.


And even though it sounds insane, I know we will meet again, you’ll choose the country, I’ll pick the date,  and then we will laugh again 🙂

Make Love to the Backpacker

NOOOOOOOOO!!! 

That’s what I always hear in my mind when someone asks me “are you traveling?” or they say “oh, you don’t work, so you are traveling here”.

I started disliking the word traveling because I feel that if I travel I can’t live. Don’t want to be a traveler, I want to live here…    
 

So I spend too much time trying not to look like this:

 

 

And avoiding words like exploring, traveling, backpacking, vagabond, around the world, world trip.

 

Because I can’t live up to that, it’s too much pressure, too much responsibility, I don’t want to be a world traveler, I just want to be myself, I want to be modest, I want to be at the same level as everyone else and overall don’t want anyone to look up to me.

 

I don’t want to carry a big backpack with me, it looks ridiculous, I feel silly, feel stupid, feel vulnerable, my back hurts, everyone would look at me. 

I want to blend in with the locals just want to be one of them.

 

I don’t want them to see me as this person who comes from a distant land, this person who has lots of money to come here and brings all his expensive gear and gadgets in his massive backpack.

 

And how come I need so many things anyway? What should I do with them? And why should I carry them around? It doesn’t make sense. 

 

I always try too hard not to be like someone else that I forget to be myself.

 

I always tell myself, backpacks are stupid, just a trend, you don’t need one, you should be different, you can improvise and use things you find around, you don’t need to carry many things with you. 

You should be like MC Gyver or Bear Grills, I tell myself, you should eat insects and survive in the wild without a backpack because you’ve been spoiled for too long, because you are better than them, you gotta prove them, gotta prove yourself that you don’t need anything or anyone. gotta challenge yourself, gotta do something that hasn’t been done before, gotta be hardcore.

 

I wish I could be myself without criticizing others though, and without caring about them carrying a big bag or doing silly things.

 

I should be myself despite the world, despite what others may think or what I would think of them.

 

I should be myself despite what I think of myself. Ok, that doesn’t make any sense, but maybe I should get a huge backpack and carry it around so I learn to be more tolerant of the people around me and can understand them more, so I stop being such a prick and believing I’m better than them for not having a big bag and not needing as many things as they.

 

 

From now on I will embrace 

the backpacker and his friends

I’ll come running from afar  

just to give them cereal bar.

I’ll help them with their bags

give them water and supplies 

cook for them when they feel sad

or at least will get take out.

I will make sure they are feeling fine

with no worries on their minds

and make sure they get to find

themselves in Madagascar.

I make sure they’ll get good price

and don’t get the body lice. 

I don’t want them to get thrashed

nor I want them to feel sad.

I’ll make sure they’re not in pain

and they eat their Special K

make sure they don’t get in trouble

and can always find their way

Let us meet up next month in Laos

says backpacker at the bar

why not going to Macau

the casinos are not far  

I think I’ll kiss a backpacker 

and take care of him or her

I may even write a poem 

a poem for my new friend

I really like the backpacker

from the backpacker hotel

they are super cool and awesome

not like a rodent

 

I will have a beer with them

at their backpacker hotel 

then we’ll talk about their travels 

(they’ve been here and they’ve been there)

I’ll borrow their lonely planet

and take a picture with them

we’ll stay up all night together

and watch the amanecer

We’ll sing “hotel california”

or maybe they know “hey jude”

it’s not like I have a phobia 

and it’s not like I’m a prude

 

Then I’ll think that in some way, 

I’m pretty much the same as them 

so I’ll make love to backpacker

at the backpacker hotel.

 

 

 

So, I heard you like meeting people

As I’ve mentioned, when people meet each other for the first time, 95% of times, they will ask each other a set of predefined questions in order to do one or more of the following things:



1- Judge each other.


2- Predict what course the relationship will take. 


3- Place the other person in a social or hierarchical position either higher or lower to their owns.


4- Complete the first step in order to move to the next step in the relationship, which is usually: doing things together.


Note: If the “doing things together” step is, for some reason, completed before the set of questions is asked, as in the case of a group of people getting together to play a game, a sport, watch a movie or an activity that doesn’t allow for the questions to be asked at the first encounter, they have to be asked immediately upon competition of the activity. Otherwise, the participants won’t be able to move to the 3rd step of the relationship.








The questions they ask are the following:






1- Where are you from?





2- What do you do?




3- How long have you been in *insert country name here*?




4- How long will you stay?




5- Why did you come?




6- How do you like it here?




After you meet at least 10.000 people, and they ask you this same questions you can start (intentionally or not) predicting: 


1- Which of this questions they will ask you.


2- In which order.


3- The answer they would like to hear.


4- Their answer to the question they are asking.


5- And why are they asking that question? Most common reasons include:


a) – Because that’s just the way it is. They are normal people and that’s what normal people ask.


b) – Because they want to sincerely interact or get to know you, and that’s the socially accepted way of doing so.


c) Because they want something from you (money, sexy times, companionship, business partnership, etc) 


d) For you to ask them the same questions back, so they can get some kind of confidence or reassurance from his their answers either because they are somehow better than yours or because they are pleased with them.


e) – For the satisfaction that comes along when interacting with another person. We feel sociable, confident, fulfilled.




Note: 10.000 is the number required to learn the skill, after that you get 1 skill level every 1.000 interactions. Skill level determines accuracy.






How is it possible to predict this stuff? how does it work?




1rst: Our brain unconsciously recognizes a series of patterns it has seen before (these patterns have to be seen at least a dozen times before they can start to be recognized). 


For example, This guy you just met, let’s call it Kevin. Wears a hat indoors, grew up in canada, is pretty well built, travels with his girlfriend, studied law and asks you many questions. 


Your brain will remember the mental connections it made before to guys called Kevin, to people wearing a cap indoors, to law students, and so on. 




2nd: Our brain analyzes this familiar patterns, creates associations, that will later be linked to feelings or emotions we felt (to make them easier to remember and recognize in the future). 


For example, This guy Kevin, made a good impression on me, I felt like I can trust him, so from now on, I will start trusting people with similar features to his.




Bonus and modifiers:


– If you can speak 6 or more languages at an intermediate level at least, you get to automatically recognize the speaker’s mother tongue. 


Note: Target must say at least 10 words in his language.






– If you have been to at least 40 countries you automatically recognize the person country of origin or where they spent most of their life at, based only on their appearance, facial expression, and body language.


Note: To use this ability you must be at least 10m away from the target and make visual contact for at least 2 minutes.

An outing in Seoul

   

   

   

   

 

Germany

While in Germany I learned many valuable things, I learned that there’s not only one solution to a problem, there are infinite. I learned to think outside the box, I learned to be resourceful, I learned to ask for help if I needed it. I learned to give and receive. I learned it’s ok not to work or study. It’s ok to be different. It’s ok to be yourself.


And I learned something about myself that would help me understand my thoughts and manage my life a bit better. Regarding time perspective. I realized that my perception of time was totally different from others. This is no news, we all perceive time in a slightly different way. But in my case, it was a bit more than that. 



I realized that one minute for me was like one hour for everyone else, one hour for me it’s like one day in everyone else perspective. One day was like one week and the way I perceive a week in my life was similar to the way other people perceive one month in theirs. 


And finally, I understood that it was ok, to be that way.


That makes communication difficult sometimes, because if someone asks me, on a Thursday, “what are you doing on the weekend?” I would think they are crazy because, from my point of view, the weekend was still lightyears away, so most times I would say that I didn’t even know what I’m doing today.


And when they ask me what are you doing next week or next month I always think that I could die today or tomorrow, so somewhere along the way, I had lost the ability to plan ahead. I had lost that pressure that most people have to get things done or sorted out.


Was that good or bad? I found a few years later it was good because it was allowing me to live in the moment, enjoy the day while ridding myself of the responsibilities that come along when you try to control or influence the future. 


Most people I met found it a bit difficult to understand that I didn’t have any plan, no life goals, no job, no money, no career prospects, and nothing to accomplish whatsoever, I didn’t know how long would I stay in Germany, I didn’t know where I was going after, I didn’t know if I would ever go back to Argentina, hell, I didn’t even know what was going on on the weekend! 


Yet, I was hosting many Couchsurfers from different countries, getting to spend time with them, I was meeting new people every day, got to hitchhike the way around more than 20 countries, got to learn German somehow, and got to meet people that would be my friends for life. Was having a great time, right here, right now so I couldn’t care less about not being able to answer those questions like “what do you do?” or “how long will you stay in Germany?” I was like: who cares? I’m having a great time now! This is real, this is life.



I was lacking something though, it was all too easy and after some years, life in Europe had become somehow predictable.


Germany didn’t feel like home anymore, I had been roaming around different parts of europe for some months and I had lost myself somewhere along the way. Felt like there was something missing in my life, didn’t really know what it was, but knew where to look for it. In Asia.


So on September 15th, 2008, found myself on a plane towards Islamabad, but that’s for next time. 

Spain

I arrived in Spain on November 12th, 2005 with too much luggage and a mess in my head.


I was going to meet my father for the first time in a long time and I would have to live with him (and talk to him). That was something I wasn’t entirely comfortable with, and by not entirely comfortable I mean that it scared the s**t out of me. But I knew I had to do it because it was the only option I had if I wanted to live abroad.


Notice that “abroad” at that time for me meant anywhere but Argentina. Because i wasn’t happy there, and I thought if I just go somewhere else, all my problems would disappear.


They didn’t of course, because there wasn’t a problem with the country I was at, the problem was in my head and it was gonna stay there until I find a way of dealing with it.


What was the problem? Insecurities, paranoia, low self-esteem, social awkwardness, difficulty to communicate with others, inability to give and receive love or affection, depression, fear, anger, tons of hard feelings towards many people, hate towards society, the government, the institutions, towards myself and a few more, which were probably caused by poverty, an abusive mother, being bullied at school, and growing up in a society based on competition, scarcity, survival of the fittest, peer pressure and inequality.


Only after I understood how this system works, I was able to forgive my parents, forgive myself and everyone who “messed me up” and try to change the system so that people in the future won’t struggle the way my mother did to bring food to the table and won’t have to go through things I went through, for not having enough food. I was able to change when I learned to see beyond my selfish need to put the blame on an individual and realized we are actually all connected, for better or for worse. And once you stop looking for someone to blame, you will start finding solutions (and answers (and peace (hopefully (or at least try to)))).


I was going to talk about Spain though, my dad was working at some company so he hooked me up with some work there. That was the first time in my life that I had to suit up for work, and I kind of let my ego take over for a few months before finding out I was heading in the wrong direction. 


Did some odd jobs after that, security guard, sales rep, newspaper delivery, and one awesome job polling people, it was great because every week they sent me to a different city so I had the chance of getting to know many places and talk a dozen different people every day. Sometimes I got into 10 different houses a day, seeing all of them had different lives and problems, helped me understand the diversity of the place i was living in and that my problems were just a spec compared to what some of them were going through. Like a single mother who just came from work at 8 pm and had to cook, feed, clean and look after 4 children, or some African immigrants who lived 6 of them in a tiny filthy room, and once I went to look for the person I had been told to find, when I arrive at his place their family told me he had died a few days ago, I didn’t know what to say.


I was almost 21 then, and that was the moment in my life when I found out, after having 5 different jobs in 6 months, that the story my elders had told me about having a career, a profession, going to uni or a job for life, were pure lies, not intentional lies of course, they just wanted the best for me. But they weren’t aware that somewhere along the time when they were young and the time when I was young, things had changed.


And the understanding that if I had wanted I could have easily make a career and work forever at any of those jobs made me understand, that it was MY life and I had the power to do whatever I want with it. And that one (I realize this 7 years later), was the first step to understanding that if I wanted to, I could do nothing at all as well. 


At that time I was still somehow trusting the system, believing that capitalism and the current monetary system were somehow acceptable, wouldn’t have ran for politician but wasn’t yet so annoyed by having to wake up at 6 am to help maintain the status quo while getting myself some monetary gain plus the thought of being a somehow productive, therefore respected member of society.


That year I also confirmed what I had learned while working in Buenos Aires, that (for me) any job, no matter how fun it was, it will always get boring after 2 or 3 months, that repetition and routine were my enemies, they made me depressed and took away the joy of living, so I needed to avoid them at all costs.


Was still quite greedy though, so found myself a new job at a logistics company and decided to save up some money. Signed up for it because the pay was super high and, didn’t know it would be also the best working experience I would ever have.


Till then i had only worked with Spaniards, and this was my first time working in an international environment, my workmates were all from different countries, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Spain, Morocco, Poland, Rumania, Cameroon, Congo, etc.


Every person I met was a whole new experience for me, before working there I had never met people from Ecuador or Poland, and I don’t think I could have even found congo on a map. We were working long hours every day, so after a few months, they were like my family. 


That gave me a global perspective and I understood that even though I was working in a tiny warehouse in a little Spanish city, I was actually a global citizen, not an Argentinian citizen, not an Italian citizen or a Spanish one, I belonged to something bigger because my brothers were from Bolivia, Romania, and Cameroon.



After 6 months on probation, my boss offered me to work directly for the company, sign a 2 years contract, paid holidays and tons of benefits. That was one of those moments where there’s something you should do and something you want to do. And you have to choose one of them.


There were some tears while saying goodbye to my colleagues. But after spending a full year in Spain, I knew it was time to move on. Its usually easy to fool others into thinking you are happy there and everything’s ok, but I can’t fool myself, when it’s time to move on, it’s time to move on. And after some weeks relaxing in England, I was ready to settle down again, this time in Germany, but that’s another story.

 

more hiking pictures

   

   

   

   

Hiking On Sunday the 19th

   

   

   

   

Midnight humor

Boy: So, how did you guys meet each other?



Bruno: In Japan  couple of years ago.



Boy:  Oh, cool, what were you doing in Japan?


Bruno: Not much, just relaxing.


Boy: Just relaxing? Not working or studying?


Girl: I love it when you say “just relaxing” so casually.


Boy: Relaxing in Japan? What are you rich? 


Bruno: Yeah, I’m rich.


Boy: Lucky you!


Bruno: Lucky me!


Boy: Japan is expensive.


Bruno: Really? have you ever been there?


Boy: No, I just heard it’s expensive.


Bruno: Right..


Boy: Can I ask why do you have holes in your shoes if you are rich?


Bruno: Well, here’s the thing, I’m rich intellectually not monetarily.


Boy: And you said you just came by hitchhiking from 2.000 km away, that’s insane! you must be really broke.


Girl: Well, that we would do it anyway, even if we were rich, because of the experience. I’m pretty sure most hitchhikers do it mostly for the experience than to save money, for the thrill of it, the randomness, the adventure, the sensation of freedom, the landscapes, the awesome people you meet, same as with Couchsurfing.


Boy: But, isn’t that dangerous?


Bruno: Do you think so? have you tried it?


Boy: No, I just heard it’s dangerous.


Bruno: Right..


Boy: I would never pick up a stranger, or let a stranger stay at my place for free.


Girl: Actually that’s the best thing about hitchhiking, that all the assholes drive by, so we only get the nice people. 


Bruno: I can’t believe you just said that.


Girl: Well it’s the truth because people who are fearful or don’t trust others would never pick you up, the only ones who stop for us are are the ones who have the ability to feel compassion towards someone in need.


Bruno: Yeah, that’s the thing they are fearful because they have been brainwashed by the government and the media, but that doesn’t mean they are assholes. It just means that their perception of the world around them has been carefully manipulated and they have replaced their altruism for greed and their compassion for selfishness.


Girl: Yeah, for you everything’s a conspiracy always.


Boy: But, how can you guys support your travels if you’re poor?


Girl: Well, there’s the thing, we’re not really traveling, we are living. So we don’t need to support our travels, we need to support our life.


Boy: So, how can you support your life?


Bruno: That’s a hard one, I’m not really sure how it works out, I just know it does. I think, living a modest life may be a good answer to that question. Not craving things we don’t need. And trying to keep it simple. Maybe the most important thing for me is being flexible and knowing how to improvise. Being positive helps of course, and there’s the statistical factor also. For example, let’s say I’m completely broke and just about to hit the streets with a sign reading “will work for food”. Before that I may want to try my luck at some social event, there are tons every day on meetup.com and Couchsurfing. If you talk to let’s say 10 or 20 people and tell them you are looking for a job, chances are that someone knows someone who knows someone and can help you out.


Boy: That makes sense.


Bruno: No, it doesn’t, we’ve been pulling your leg.


Girl: Just a little midnight humor before going to bed.


Boy: Midnight humor.. I see.. well good night then, see you guys tomorrow.


Bruno: Night! 

Girl: Have a good night.

 

Sunday is…

…Hiking day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

looking for some answers

Clerk: What can I get you?

Bruno: Yeah, I’m looking for some answers.

Clerk: Sorry mate, we run out of answers last week, have you tried the shop in Travia?

Bruno: Yeah, I just came from there, out of stock also.

Clerk: How about the one in FH?

Bruno: Called them, they told me to drop by here.

Clerk: Balamb?

Bruno: Closed during winter holidays.

Clerk: Is there something else we can offer you? We have a full stock of questions on sale.

Bruno: Yeah, more questions, just what I need…

Clerk: We could order some answers for you but they may take a while.

Bruno: I don’t have much time.

Clerk: I heard someone in Esthar City had some, but that’s all I know.

Bruno: Esthat, uh?

Clerk: Yeah, not the nicest place to go looking for answers, I know. But it may be your only shot.

Bruno: I see. That’d be everything then, thanks for your help.

Clerk: Yeah, good luck.

Bruno: *sigh* I don’t want to go Esthar…

 

Whatever

Bruno: Let’s go on a trip!

 

Friend 2: What, again? A trip of the mind?

Bruno: No, no, this time is for real, let’s go somewhere else, somewhere far away.

 

Friend 2: Like where?

Bruno: Anywhere, doesn’t matter, I feel a bit stuck and it’s time to move forward.

 

Friend 2: But, I have to work.

Bruno: You’ll find a new job later.

 

Friend 2: Later when?

 

Bruno: Later at a subsequent time.

 

Friend 2: What?

Bruno: Later in a few months, or next year, when you run out of money.

 

Friend 2: What about my family and friends?

Bruno: Family will understand, and you’ll make new friends.

 

Friend 2: Family will not understand and I like my friends, I don’t want new friends, I like the ones I have.

Bruno: Oh, come on, look at the horizon, we don’t know what’s out there and that’s exciting, we should find out!

 

Friend 2: How about my girlfriend?

Bruno: She will understand.

 

Friend 2: No, she won’t!

Bruno: Well if you guys are meant to be together, in the end, you will, don’t worry so much now.

 

Friend 2: No way.

Bruno: When was the last time you did something spontaneous? Last time you decided to go on a trip and 2 hours later you were on the road.

 

Friend 2: Ok, let’s say I say yes, where would we go?

 

Bruno: That’s not important, anywhere, it’s about the trip not about the destination. You get to choose, is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to go?

 

Friend 2: Yeah, I’ve always wanted to go to Mongolia.

Bruno: Mongolia it is then!

 

Friend 2: And when are we coming back?

Bruno: Coming what?

 

Friend 2: Coming back.

Bruno: Oh, we’re not.

 

Friend 2: Why not?

Bruno: Because we’ve been here already, it’s time to move forward.

 

Friend 2: And what’s the point of it?

Bruno: No point

Friend 2: Why traveling so much?

Bruno: No reason.

Friend 2: What do we expect to achieve in the end?

Bruno: Nothing.

Friend 2: So, we will just wander around in Mongolia like lost souls, without a goal or an aim.

Bruno: Yeah. Sounds good, don’t you think so?

Friend 2: 26 without a purpose or direction

Bruno: Like that song from Blink.

Friend 2: 27 actually.

Bruno: Whatever.

Friend 2: “Whatever”.

 

Gone traveling

Bruno: I’m going on a trip, would you like to come with me?

You: Where are you going?

Bruno: It’s a trip to a new place, somewhere only I know. But I could show it to you.

You: But I don’t have money, and I need to work.

Bruno: You don’t need money, not much time either, only a few hours.

You: What kind of trip?

Bruno: It’s a trip of self-discovery, a trip of the mind.

You: oh, so it’s not a real trip…

Bruno: Yes it is, it’s a real trip of the imagination.

You: Fake trip.

Bruno: Not fake and not real either, it is what it is.

You: No, I don’t want to go.

Bruno:  Ok, so no trip.

You: Ok, I go.

Bruno: Ok, first things first, find an empty, dark and quiet room to relax your mind, turn off the lights, phone, fire alarm and…

You: Fire alarm? Why do I need to turn off the fire alarm?

Bruno: So we won’t get disturbed in case of a fire or a drill.

You: I’m not gonna turn it off, what are the chances of that happening?

Bruno: Not many, but we can’t take any chances.

You: Oh, it’s like inception

Bruno: Exactly, great movie, right?

You: It was alright..

Living like a boss (At Incheon airport)

In this post, Bruno recalls a dialogue that may or may have not taken place at Incheon Airport in Seoul somewhere around 2.45am.

Bruno: So, what’s up with that security guard?

Old weedy guy: Which security guard?

Bruno: Oh, come on! you live at the airport too, right?

Old weedy guy: No way, what makes you think that?

Bruno: I saw you washing your underwear on the toilet sink this morning.

Old weedy guy: That one wasn’t me.

Bruno: Yes, it was you, and I saw you scavenging leftovers from the fast food restaurants.

Old weedy guy: That one wasn’t me either.

Bruno: Yeah it was, and just now the security guard went crazy because you were molesting the airport staff.

Old weedy guy: Not molesting, just talking and that wasn’t me either.

Bruno: So, you’re in denial.

Old weedy guy: Ok, you got me, I’m going through some rough times and I temporarily happen to be living at the airport, so what? It can happen to anyone.

Bruno: Yeah, it’s actually pretty cool, isn’t it? you get free food, no need to pay rent or spend any money, there’s TV, music, internet, clan toilets, and it’s not cold like outside.

Old weedy guy: I used to have a real job you know, but somewhere along the way I realized i wasn’t meant to follow orders.

Bruno: you mean orders from your boss?

Old weedy guy: Exactly. Why do I have to follow orders? I don’t understand. I don’t want to do that… So I woke up one morning, turned off the alarm and said: “fuck it, I’m moving to Incheon International Airport”. I’m my own boss here, don’t need to take orders from anyone and can do whatever I want.

Bruno: How about that security guard? just now he told you to go away and you left.

Old weedy guy: Yeah, he’s just having a bad day today.

Bruno: “Fuck it, I’m moving to the airport”. You know I really like that phrase, it has a nice ring to it!

Old weedy guy: It does actually.

 

The bus is late

I took a bus from Penang to KL today, and when I bought the ticket I asked “what time will it arrive in KL, they said, “maybe 7 pm”.
 

Then I thought “why, why did I ask that?” It was the force of habit because it’s not like I have anything else to do today. So there’s actually no substantial difference if it arrives at 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 PM instead. the fact that I had no problems or deadlines was enough for me to look for something to worry about, like what time will the bus arrive.

I’ve been in Asia long enough to know that 7pm can either mean 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, and so on, depending on the country.

And actually, I’m grateful to know that’s the way things work around here, people teach me patience every day, they are my teachers every day. 

They teach me to relax, to let things flow, understand that I don’t have control and things just happen the way they happen. 

Especially in India. Where you can sometimes be up to a few days waiting for a train that’s delayed and people just relax, eat, sleep and play cards at the station waiting for the train that may or may not come, someday.

They don’t riot, they don’t fill out a complaint or ask to talk to the manager, they just wait.

 Some years ago when I arrived in Asia for the first time and didn’t yet understand how things work so I would get stressed, get pissed and complain that the bus or train was late.

But I’m a totally different person now, mostly thanks to the experiences in India and SE Asia. If the bus is late or doesn’t come I would think “whatever, there must be another one, in one hour, or tomorrow, or next week, it doesn’t really make any difference” 

I can be more like the Indians laughing and sharing food while waiting, they understood It’s about the trip, not about the destination, and now, so do I.

 

About Couchsurfing 1

Life before Couchsurfing, for me, was totally different that it is now.

Like for most people, it took everything to a totally different level, changed my perspective and opened up doors I didn’t even know were there.

 

What is Couchsurfing? couchsurfing.com is a website for cultural and hospitality exchange in the one you can meet people and stay at their places for free.

 

 

But people who’ve used it before know it’s not about saving money, especially in countries where a hotel is like one dollar, it’s about the people you meet, what you learn from them and the experiences you have.

 

 

And an idea, the brilliant idea that lets us escape the monetary system and consumerism most of us are caught up into.

 

 

Best things in life are for free and we can help people out without expecting anything in exchange.

 

 

Same happens when you’re hitchhiking, the idea is also there, the Idea that someone will let you into their cars and give you a ride, just to help you out.

 

And on my particular experience, I was brave enough to leave my comfort zone, thanks to the people I met in Germany in 2007, especially thanks to my guests.

 

 

Thanks to them I learned among many things that:

 

 

–    * It’s ok just to receive sometimes and I don’t need to feel guilty for not giving anything in exchange.

 

 

–    * You don’t need money to travel, money is just an excuse we use for not doing what we want, same as saying: it’s too cold, too hot, I’m too young, too old, and so on and
there are 1001 ways to make money without working, or in case you don’t  like money (makes your hands dirty?) there are 1001 ways to live without it.

 

* Everyone’s kind everywhere, you just need to give them a chance to prove it.

 

 

* The concept of private property is as counterproductive as it is outdated, and the childish idea that “this is mine and this is yours” just holds us back from the true human nature that it’s to be kind and compassionate to each other and share everything we have, if there’s no private property we all own everything and we are all rich.

 

 

* The world is smaller than you think and everyone knows someone who knows someone everywhere.

Traveling: part 1

When I thought about writing a blog, I had no idea what to write about, but knew what I didn’t want to write about. It shouldn’t be me complaining about something I don’t like and it shouldn’t be about trying to convince people to think like me.

It should be fun and make people think at the same time. Easy to read, and to understand. Not so long and not so smartassly-written

Sex, religion, politics? Still, a bit taboo and chances are, if you’re reading this, you know me and you know my views already.

My daily life? Ok, here we go: I woke up at noon, ate some rice, went for a walk. done.

Love? not sure what it is or how it works, I know how oxytocin works, but that doesn’t sound very romantic.

Peace and happiness? Yeah, that sounds good. That’s what people need at the end of the day, no matter where you’re from, where you are or what you think; we all just want to be happy. So that’s something that brings us all together. We all want to love and be loved, we want affection and kindness.

That could work.

Some years ago, while in China, I found myself in front of a class, lecturing on business for some reason. Sometimes more than 50 university students per class. My lectures were usually about business related topics, such as marketing, negotiations, customer service, product development, etc.

I always prepared thoroughly and tried to make it fun, but I found out that it didn’t really matter what I said in the lecture, when I ask them if they had any questions, either during or after the lecture; the questions will NEVER be about business.

Questions would be something like: *Can you tell us something about your travels?* *Have you ever been to Africa?* *Have you been to other countries in Asia?* *How many countries have you been to?* *What’s your favorite country? *Where are you going after China?* *How can I make money to travel?* *How much do you spend while you travel?*

Of course there was always some odd ones too, like: *Do you have a girlfriend?* *How many girlfriends have you had?* *Do you like Chinese girls? *Can you sing a song for us?*  *Why are you not wearing trousers?*

But usually, most of the questions were about traveling. My students were not interested in business at all. They just took business English because they thought would help them get a “good job” and that way they could save up some money to travel.

That made me realize I had much more in common with my students that I thought. We all just wanted to be free, travel, and be happy. And the reason why they were taking that class, was the same reason why I was teaching it in the first place!
I also couldn’t care less about bussiness, but if I got into the rat race for a few months I would be rewarded with some freedom tokens that could be later exchanged for leisure time.

I was lucky that I seldom got a curriculum and was usually told to do whatever I wanted as long as the students were happy, THEY didn’t care about business, and I didn’t care about business, so we usually ended up talking about travels or silly stuff for the rest of the week.

to be continued

 

Winter is here

 

Some time ago I realized if I wanted to keep having this lifestyle I would have to make some sacrifices and clothes was one of them.

Long distance walking/cycling/hitchhiking, trespassing, dumpster diving, squatting, treasure hunting, outdoor sleeping, and changing CS hosts every week for a year or more couldn’t be done with a 10 kg backpack or luggage.

For optimum flexibility, it had to be reduced to 4 kg or less. And it had to be a day pack, so I don’t look like a tourist and can blend in places like libraries, shopping malls, restaurants, parks, or anywhere you can find free food, bathroom, internet and a place to crash, which is usually everything you need.

 

But the laptop is already 1kg, and if I didn’t have it I wouldn’t be able to send couch requests, that means I would have to sleep outside. I usually also need water which is like half a kilo, that leaves 2.5 for 3 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of socks, a spare shirt and some mortal combat action figures.

FINISH HIM!!!

 

In winter I would have to wear everything I have and in summer I would have to get rid of the winter stuff.

Small price to pay for the flexibility of going anywhere, anytime, sleeping everywhere and not damaging my spine. Sounds Smart, logical, practical, and the most important thing is that it fits my lifestyle.

When this winter came in Korea, I had to find some winter clothes, right? But I couldn’t buy them new, because that would be adding more pain to the planet, because of the massive waste of resources it is required to produce and transport all those new stuff, while most people have many jackets and things they don’t need and don’t use. Everyone has a spare jacket or jumper and are usually happy when I ask them because it means I trust them. Is not that I’m broke or anything, just trying to save the planet you know.

In the downside, being flexible means you have to wear anything you can get your hands on, either you like the color, or not, it’s too big or too small or infested with fleas. This year was good though, I asked my friend Taekyung which I had known for a while so I knew would be happy to help me and was quite clean, so hopefully no body lice this year.

 

See you guys next year!

So she showed up with a jacket and a pullover, I tried them on and was like “how are YOU doing? 😉 ”

People started to notice me more, especially female people, on the street and on the train girls were looking at me, and when I noticed it they would look away or look down shyly. I knew what that meant because that’s what I’d do when there’s very cute girl, and if they were in groups they would look at me and giggle.
It was the jacket! it had to be the jacket, right?

I think it was the fact that it was quite fluffy so it did a good job in hiding my skinny arms, so when I looked in the mirrors of the subway station I thought “so handsome!!” and then I came back to myself and realized how shameless I was. Always preaching about spirituality and self-development, saying I want to be more modest and humble and beauty is on the inside and then admiring myself in the mirrors, so hypocritical!

but now I’m feeling myself again, kinda, or maybe I think too much.