“Insanity: Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results”
This, Albert Einstein’s brainy quote was our motivation to go out there to see the world, to find some answers, to live the life. We chose the difficult route and decided to quit everything, get out of our Comfort Zone, leave the system behind and hope everything was going to be all right. Yes, on one hand you are insane to follow the routine, on the other hand you must be insane to try to get out of the routine. Let’s change insane to adventurous. Well, I have always been a little ‘loopy’ but my British partner wasn’t. A middle aged, middle-class, hard working, law abiding British citizen dreaming this life-long dream to go around the world, to visit new places, to watch and learn. But you know how it goes: a job, a house, a wife, kids, a dog, a car…OK, It’s all gone now except for the job, but it’s the kind of a job that can be performed from every place in the world. Actually, from every place in the world that has wi-fi, preferably free. And what’s more, he went out with this crazy idea of living the life of a location-independent nomad because somehow he believed that the possession of a British passport will open up all the doors in the world for him. Honestly, what arrogance!
So one day he put his finger on the map of the world and it landed on Thailand. Thailand was to be our base for Asia. Living in this more or less central Asian country would have enabled us to ‘jump’ out to nearby countries. We applied for a so called multiple entry Visa, that allowed us to stay in Thailand for 9 months. (First cold shower – ONLY 9 months). We landed in Thailand – an absolutely stunning country worth every single day and penny spent there. Unfortunately, instead of planning our trips to nearby Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Nepal, India, China, Mongolia etc.etc, we kept planning our visits to Immigration Offices to pay for the extension of our already paid for Visas, and… we had to keep planning our (necessary) Visa runs to get extensions on the extensions and to pay even more. Planning was essential to be here and there on time, to apply on time and to pay on time. We made the math and learnt that this visa enterprise cost us on average £80 a month plus our time and anxiety. What’s more, from being decent, middle-aged citizens of the European Union we became Farangs (which to my mind, honestly is quite racist: Farangs this way – it reminds me of, well, I visited Auschwitz some time ago, so you know, this way, please…). We became ATM machines and subject to every financial abuse possible. All this is not about Thailand and its people. It is about The System. ‘Welcome to the Machine’.
Our finances were melting quicker than snow in the Sahara Desert, so we decided to come back to our safe European Union zone and reorganize ourselves because we weren’t giving up! We stopped in the Polish city of Krakow, (Poland is My ‘native’ country). My British partner, who replaced ‘Fish & Chips’ with ‘Russian Dumplings’, liked Poland so much that we decided to stay longer and he had to apply for a Residency Permit. He went to the appropriate offices (with me ‘in tow’) and experienced dismal service. The official [seated behind a glass screen] was literally throwing paper after paper, demand after demand to complete in Polish [standing – no seats], while others were approaching this post and looking over his shoulder. OK, he is in Poland and trying to learn Polish – breaking his tongue and making me hold back my laughter not to discourage him, but for God’s Sake, this was the ‘postition’ servicing foreigners – so some kind of help and patience would have been appreciated – (wishful thinking!). Anyway, while he is waiting for the formal response (told he would be notified by email in two weeks) received an official letter advising that he was being checked by the Foreign Affairs Department, Polish Police, and Krakow City Council and to advise if he formed any threat to Poland’s security. In the meantime there are bombs exploding randomly, a major migrants’ problem unresolved, the EU’s financial woes, UK Brexit vote – men, women and children having to remove clothing and empty baggage at the airports – even having to throw away a bottle of water (albeit purchased at the Airport) – all as a result of the ever increasing bureaucracies inability to cope!
If you think that travelling is pure pleasure I would say, maybe. But there are consequences of this life style – which ironically is becomimg more and more popular and common. You are out of your comfort zone and THEY exploit people who are therefore in that zone. When you are part of THE system doing your daily routine, generally you do not notice it. You are happy with your job/life (or not), and generally you are in your comfort zone and that’s OK. However, once you decide to ‘Step Out’ – you quickly learn, ALL is not quite as you imagined, and that is the…. Essence of Life as a Travelling Nomad.
One more thing. I wrote a poem some time ago that turned into a hit song (only in Poland, unfortunately). It has been a hit in Poland over 25 years now. Since I quit my job, the royalties from this song is my only income. However, it now transpires following the newly elected government, that my song has been banned because there are words taken out of context and without asking what the author meant (it shouldn’t make any difference anyway) that contain: “There is no God.” I think that THEY want me to realize that if there is no God there is no money
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