Joining A Biker Gang In Thailand And Invading Opium-rich Myanmar
I told you about anarchy in Mexico. With all due respect to Acapulco and the Anarchapulco Conference — and even the great state of Guerrero — they are not nearly as anarchic as Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle, where opium is the cash crop, central governments are kept in check and militias and drug lords run…
Workationing During Carnival In Rio de Janeiro
This was not your average workation. You may have already been introduced to the concept of workation from my time spent getting to know babes and babushkas and working at the beach while in Odessa, Ukraine. The concept is simple: work + vacation = workation. For that matter, my life is pretty much a never-ending…
So You Think I Can Dance… In The Dominican Republic?
I will tell you up front. I can’t dance… at least not very well. I’m very tall and I have two left feet. That’s not a good combo for mastering salsa — so I have found out over the years. Not once but twice have I been given the boot from salsa dancing programs. As…
Living It Up In The So-Called Last Dictatorship Of Europe
If you go to Belarus looking for a glimpse of life inside a dictatorship and police state, you might just find a bunch of people having a great time while being left alone by the authorities. I’m not saying this to endorse the Belarusian government or its president for life, but the reality is, for…
Discovering The Cuba Of Africa
Discovering this country was a watershed moment for me. Although I was visiting a Portuguese-speaking island nation, it was my first time in Sub-Saharan Africa. In less politically correct terms, it was my first time stepping foot in “Black Africa.” Yet it was here where I successfully exercised my white privilege. You will see how…
Navigating The Social Dynamics Of South Africa’s Last Absolute Monarchy
As an avid reader of my blog, you are now well aware that I took a three-week trip around South Africa (the South Africa you don’t see in the news) and I made detours in Lesotho and Swaziland. Having already heard all about the mountain kingdom tucked away inside South Africa, it’s now time to…
Heuereka II: Bigger And Better
Investment presentations, a boat party on the Danube, unveiling plans to create a free private city in Honduras and screening a documentary about yours truly made Heuereka II a whole lot better than the inaugural birthday conference I threw last year in the Austrian capital. This time based in the heart of Vienna, Heuereka had…
Touring The South Africa You Don’t See In The News
I did not come to South Africa to investigate claims of blacks killing whites or rampant race-based injustices. Sure the country’s got its problems, but I wanted to see the beautiful and exotic sides of South Africa — its coast, its backcountry, its wildlife and its bizarre signage and caves, all while mixing in a…
Navigating The Mountain Kingdom Tucked Away Inside South Africa
Technically, this kingdom is not inside South Africa. Lesotho is a separate country — an enclave surrounded by South Africa. It is a mountain kingdom, though… think Bhutan. But, other than it being a mountain kingdom, Lesotho has very little in common with the kingdom of the thunder dragon. The Kingdom of Lesotho has no…
Preparing For Life Beneath The Sea In Icelandic Waters
Some of you may be under the impression that I will set up a stateless base in the Arctic or Antarctic to plot the demise of governments worldwide and starve politicians of their tax dollars, euros and yen. While roughing it around the earth’s poles can make for great fun once in a while, it is…
Measuring My Happiness In The World’s Only Wholly Buddhist State
The mountain kingdom of the thunder dragon, Bhutan, might very well have some of the happiest people in the world. But that doesn’t mean the people of the world would be more happy if they lived in Bhutan. Take me, for example. I’m a Taoist (It says so on my Instagram account) and I have…
Seeing The Top Of The World And Dodging Death By Rhinoceros In Nepal
Keeping it real, Kathmandu is a shithole. I never get headaches, except when in Kathmandu. The air quality is terrible, not to mention the place recently got hit by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake, and it wasn’t the prettiest of cities to begin with. But that makes sense. Nepal is a country of contrast. This…
Partying in the Arctic: A Trip to The Far, Far North Of Norway
I’m not in need of a Norwegian passport. But if I was ultra-motivated to pick one up and it meant spending seven years living within the Arctic Circle, I would be ready and willing to migrate… to Svalbard. Situated above the 70th parallel north, Svalbard is farther north than Antarctica (at least the part I visited)…
Exploring A Long-Lost Nazi Civilization in Antarctica
I didn’t just go to Antarctica for bragging rights or to see penguins (You already know I love animals). I was on a mission to discover a long-lost Nazi civilization in a part of the world to which few ever venture. The destination was New Swabia, or Neuschwabenland, named after the German territory of Schwabenland.…
Going Rogue as a Traveler in Nagorno-Karabakh
Even though I became a stateless man several years ago, I had never been kicked out of a country. That changed on this trip to a hotly disputed and, at times, fought-over territory in the South Caucasus. As a stateless man, it is only fitting for me to travel to places where no state exists,…
Betting Against My Country In China’s Gambling Mecca
Recently you learned that I love animals and someday when I grow old I may be a zookeeper, or rather a zoo owner. Now it is time for you to learn about another hidden passion of mine. This one has a bit of a darker side to it and could be characterized as a dangerous…
Being The Outlier In The Outback — Going Back To Backpacking
Once upon a time, I was a backpacker. I slept in hostels, partied with young travelers and quietly built an internationalization brand in between sightseeing time and nights at the club. Even though I had global (tax-free) business ambitions, I still fit in. Those days have come and gone. That doesn’t mean I must always…
Visiting Pitcairn: Life With The Modern-Day Mutineers On The World’s Most Mysterious Island
Have you ever gone on vacation and stayed in the home of a mayor-turned- … wait for it… wait for it… convicted child rapist?! That’s right. My host was the mayor, and now he is a convicted child rapist. Better yet, he is a direct descendant of the Bounty mutineers, and more than two…
Overcoming Phonebreak On Magnificent Mangareva
It was just supposed to be a stopover on the way to the ultra-isolated Pitcairn Island. Mangareva was where my French Polynesia trip would come to an end and I would brace for my encounter with the descendants of the Bounty mutineers in Pitcairn, the most difficult to reach territory in the world. Entering my…
Dodging German-Eating Cannibals In The Marquesas Islands
Cannibals? They still exist? They eat Germans? They prey on tourists in French Polynesia? No one seems to know exactly what happened. It was 2011. A German tourist named Stefan Ramin was on an exotic trip around the world with his girlfriend. Ramin died after going on an excursion with his girlfriend and a local…
Going Wine Tasting In The Tropics
Having met the seasteaders in Tahiti, Roadstered around Moorea and summited my future honeymoon destination of Bora Bora, I moved on to lesser-known islands for the second half of my French Polynesia trip. Have no worry… the fun will come. Following a pleasant flight that involved no TSA hassles — or any airport security procedures…
Honeymooning with my laptop in Bora Bora
I have yet to find my bride, but I have already found my honeymoon location. In fact, I have already honeymooned there. Some people say to reward yourself first and the desired result will come. The idea is that if you get a taste of what you want in life — even if you are…
Racing through Moorea
Tahiti is famous. Couples dream of vacationing or honeymooning in Tahiti. The island, with its rugged interior surrounded by Polynesian beaches, makes for a great getaway destination. The fact that it is the seasteading capital of the world makes it even better. But when beauty beckons, it comes from the next island over. On my…
Meeting the Seasteaders in Tahiti
The road to the seasteaders of Tahiti was a long, wet, windy one. Well, not exactly. But the road to the hotel was. It was also dark, and I had not driven in four months, let alone in the middle of a rainstorm. Kicking off my excursion into French Polynesia, I landed in Tahiti, where…
Flirting with the Moais on Rapa Nui
Love can be expressed in a multitude of ways. In Latin America, the chicas — and their relentless passion and expressiveness — can bring out the eros in me. The German tendencies inside me subside, and I embrace touch and physical forms of expression. And due to a recent discovery, even more eros has been…
Going Anarchist In A Mexican Danger Zone
It is a level 4 danger zone. “Armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero. Members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and may use violence towards travelers,” the U.S. State Department says. The U.S. government instructs its citizens not to visit the Mexican state of Guerrero, the location of the…
Cruising California Topless
California dreaming. You’ve heard it. Many people live it. All over the world, especially in cold places, there are people who dream or occasionally fantasize of moving to California and rubbing shoulders with the stars. I don’t. It’s a tax hell. But that doesn’t stop me, as a perpetually traveling, tax-free, anarchocapitalist global citizen, from…
Getting The Drug Criminal Treatment On The Way To Peru
I’m not necessarily against drug use. I am a libertarian, and I believe people should be able to do what they want with their bodies. But, I didn’t have any drugs on me, nor did anyone else on my bus, including the one hippy-looking guy. That didn’t stop the Ecuadorian police from stopping us over…
Babes And Babushkas In Odessa, Ukraine
We thought it was an English-speaking club. My travel buddies and I had already attended one English practice meetup in Odessa and days prior another one in Transnistria, the unrecognized country that broke away from Moldova. Departing our beach area apartment, we walked to the center of Odessa and found a semi-random guy waiting for…
Libertarians Gone Wild In Prague
Prague is the modern European capital of hedonism. Whether you want to score some drugs from a friendly street salesman or after-party at a club that opens at 6 a.m., Prague has you covered. While this doesn’t represent my day-to-day, everyone needs to let loose once in a while and what better time to have…