' (un)certainties: Thoughts About the Future: Our plans and those who have inspired us

Monday 25 March 2013

Thoughts About the Future: Our plans and those who have inspired us

Up on the roof of the house in Bogota you can almost always see an electrical storm a way off. We gaze in fascination, gasping and swearing each time the mountains are back-lit, never tiring of that far-off event. The cumulonimbus clouds hover above the landscape like an armada of giant cerebral cortices. In a flash, something over there has been pointed out. Maybe that's where we'll go.

We have a few things on the cards which we can't quite talk about yet that will keep us tied up for the next two or three months, but after that we shall begin the next phase of our adventures.

Fat little caterpillars. We've been gorging ourselves. We thought we had itchy feet in London. And yet, here we find ourselves, holed up in a city afar, hopping from foot to foot. Though our bank balance is diminishing quickly we find our desire to travel expanding, our ideas of how to do so proliferating.

Emma already has bags of experience hitchhiking, in Eastern Europe and in Central America, and I've been lucky enough to bag three or four rides since we started travelling. Like any other novice I have my reservations and anxieties about hitchhiking, but they are overpowered by my desire to get on with it.

As well as hitchhiking, we plan to volunteer on farms and at local community projects. This provides us with an elegant solution to having very little money and wanting to take part in and contribute to the spaces and places that we will pass through. And of course, without any (or at least very little) money involved, we are relying on and contributing to gift economies. We will exhchange our skills, time and  energy for food, shelter and learning.

The last few months have been incredible for us, but we're ready for a new type of experience. Rather than just stopping by at places, or passing through, we want to interact more with the people that live there, and to contribute in any way we can to their communities.

Though we're holed up and often stationary now in Bogota, we've been able to use the time to start tapping into the vast wealth of exapanding knowledge and communities dedicated to gift economies. There really is a lot out there to learn from and, eventually, contribute to. Here are a few of the sources we've been feeding from, all of which are available for free online:

Books
Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein "Traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends have reached their extreme- but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transiation to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being."
The Moneyless Manifesto by Mark Boyle. Mark has been living without money (in the UK) for many years now, and here you can read about the how the whys and a whole lot more.

Blogs
Hitch The World- "Cheeky fucker" who has hitchhiked around most of South and Central America and writes beautifully about it.
Open Destination- Solo female hitchhiker (has hitchhiked in places most people won't take (or operate) a tour bus to (e.g. DRC, Afghanistan)
TomsBikeTrip- One of my favourite blogs. Tom is a seasoned traveller who shuns air travel and writes about his experiences with an honest heart. He's made a very well received film and book about one particular(ly profound) journey in his life which unfortunately we don't have the means to experience yet. I urge you to watch and read.
That Emily Chappell- Absurdly brilliant cycle blogger who has a LOT of miles behind her and hopefully many more to come.
Solbeam- A travel blog a cut above the rest. Her writing is beautiful, rendering her experiences valuable for all who read.
Acrobat of the Road- This intrepid chap has hitchhiked in many places, including Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan when that fella George W Bush was having his way there.

Organisations
BeWelcome- A lovely alternative to CouchSurfing which with strong non-profit values.
World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms- You volunteer on an organic farm and they provide a place to sleep and some food to eat.

Films
Ancient Futures- A very close look at the worth of gift economies and community and then, sadly, what happens when that breaks down.
















5 comments:

  1. Thank you Layla. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed reading. I also spend a fair amount of time searching for and reading good blogs, hence the list ! It's lovely to be on your list!

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  2. My friend spent a few months with the organic farm lot, on a horse ranch just outside Madrid. He loved it!

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    1. A horse ranch...that sounds fun! There's so much variety available with wwoofing. Over here in Colombia most of it seems. Be in paradisical mountain jungles! Thank you for your comment Laura

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  3. Hey Guys! a friend of mine talked to you here,in Bogota, and he was the one posting this awesome blog on my FB. I do agree on that fun feeling you get on gazing a storm at a far distance. When the rush of the day keeps people from looking up to the sky, I always take my time to search in it, an electrical storm which can give me hope, no matter how tiring my days can get, there's still something worth putting a smile bigger than my worries. Fascinating flashing which enlightens tired souls here!
    Yei Lotus

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    1. Yei, thank you for your comment! You're right about how it enlightens you. We love to unwind just watching the storms. It's really good to hear that you are enjoying the blog :-) Are you a friend of Jorge or Diana?

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