Introduction
Hello and welcome to my new website www.byebye-ratrace.com. What's it all about? What's my "mission statement"? My guaranteed 27 level MLM program to make you $3234 a day for only 2 min's and 34 seconds work on your pc? No easy way out here, but for those interested, the true story of one man's attempts to quit the ratrace and realize a lifetime's dreams... Over the coming weeks, this web-siite with be expanded to reveal my progress in this sometimes seemingly near impossible quest and whether or not I succeed, I hope to be an inspiration to anybody else out there with the same vision. In the future, I hope to expand this site to build a community of like-minded people. Please return again and chart my progress. Thanks, The Ratman (alias Jon)
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Lonely Planet guide to Buachet
| On yer bike - Getaways... |
I'm currently sitting in a small restaurant in Buachet enjoying an early mid-morning Chang beer and “pad grabao neua”, so I guess this could be the right moment to put pen to paper and get started on some new field notes. Naturally, should also mention that I am going to blame you as prime motivation to get started on the mid-morning beer – need some lubrication to get going. ;-)
Not having been back to Buachet for over a year, I was naturally interested to see what progress had been made in the intervening period. The long promised skytrain hadn't yet materialized, the village drunks hadn't yet sobered up and the crowd of enthousiastic nurses waiting for me at Buachet hospital was as large as ever, so it wasn't long before I felt back at home.
For those of you unfortunate enough never to have visited Buachet, I have compiled a concise guide to the town in the style of Lonely Planet which can be found below.
Boerenkool & rookworst
| Groovy stuff - Food for thought (and for your belly too!) |
Preparing classic Dutch food is not as difficult as you think. Follow our simple and straightforward instructions and surprise your family with this heart warming winter dish.
Top backpacker tips
| On yer bike - Silk route to the East |
Hello, this is Jon from Holland with some super tips for travellers. Firstly, to saving money on laundry costs is easy, simply just don't wash your clothes. Shoplifting can drastically reduce your shopping bills and doing a 'runner' from those old corner street vendors is a must for cost-conscious backpackers. Of course toilet paper is a luxury - my friend Frank, also from England, doesn't use it either, not even when back home in Europe. A good way for cheap travel is to latch on to the many fat, ugly Russian chicks that frequent the Bangkok to Penang route and promise them a good time if they'll lend you some dosh. This sometimes backfires and you actually end up in their company for a few days, but you can always scrounge some more money off them... Stealing girls underwear has no economic gain, but what the hell. Finally don't forget the cigarette butts kids - free ciggie if you collect enough...
Afghan presidents and EU democracy
| Rantings and ravings - Red tape and meddling politicians |
On its European Union @ United nations website, the EU proudly writes:
"A spirit of democracy in Afghanistan" - the EU provides assistance to support democratisation
Sommaire: 20 August 2009, Brussels - Today, the second presidential election in the history of Afghanistan is taking place. The EU provides assistance to support the democratisation process.
"There is a sense and a spirit of democracy in Afghanistan. That spirit is crying out to be expressed. The EU and others are here and offer support...", says Svante Kilander, Sweden's Ambassador and representative of the EU Presidency in Afghanistan.
Democracy is of course one of the greatest ideas ever invented by mankind, but is sadly often misused, manipulated and trampled upon by power-grabbing politicians.
100 Watt lightbulbs and 'do as I say and not as I do' politicians
The other day, I bought a traditional 100 Watt incandescent light bulb from my local supermarket whilst they were still in stock, since it will become illegal to manufacture or import these from 1st September 2009 under new EU legislation. Of course it's claimed that this will save up to 15m tonnes of CO2, which represents a hefty decrease of 0.00375% of the 4 billion tons produced every year in the EU. But wait... Since I use my light bulb only in the dark, which most of the time is in the winter, the 90% of the energy not utilized for light generation by my bulb helps warm my house and save on central heating. I've signed up for a “green” electricity account, so that this heating is produced from renewable resources. If everybody could do the same, vast amounts of fossil fuels needed by gas fired central heating systems could be saved, making the polar bears very happy. Naughty Indians
Hello. How's your Karma? Thought I'd send you a postcard (in the best possible taste; art and all that.) I'm now in Khajuraho, India, having walked across the border about 10 days ago from Pakistan. Khajuraho has a collection of Chandellan temples about 1000 years old which are famous for their sculptures depicting a variety of everyday activities, ploughing the fields, dancing and most of all, sex. It's a sort of 'Kama Sutra' in stone – it's given me a few new ideas! There's even one group of men proving that a horse really is a man's best friend! Hoping this card will inspire you. Take care, Jon. Party bus to Iran
The good news is that we're now moving out of Istanbul, the bad is that we're heading for the middle of a slum. Glancing around my fellow passengers, I throw caution to the wind and attempt to start a constructive dialogue. “Hi guys. Whose funeral is it actually? Is black in fashion in Iran at the moment?” Least I tried. Suppose it's time to put my somber face on, which given the fact that I've jettisoned all my alcohol isn't difficult. On the other hand, I could spend a few days dead for tax reasons. Big nosed 'Farangs'
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