Happierabroad is not technically necessary unless you're a shitskin

[publicduende]

I am here and too deep in the jungle to leave. Yet, I constantly regret swapping Italy or the UK for this place.

I know how that feels.

We will see.

[Shemp]

Being a permanent outsider is one of the reasons I'm a permanent tourist versus a settled expat. No life freer than that of a financially independent tourist who rents apartments by the week.

Being a permanently moving traveller sounds very romantic, especially if you have passive incomes and you don't have to worry about paying for your next hotel or sightseeing trip. It's not for everyone, though. Some, I dare say most, people, thrive when they feel they belong to a place. This place could be home or as far away from home as possible, yet a place to eventually settle it is. Even consummate travellers need a place to land back on from time to time.

The life I lead is definitely not for everyone. I knew I would be living this way as a boy, except I was expecting to be a broke hobo. I used to visit their camps along the river next to the freight railroad they used for long distance transportion, and was always studying camping gear and techniques in preparation for my future hobo life. Computer programming was a 15 year detour, and i felt i was living a lie the whole time. Then when I retired, I immediately set off traveling and haven't stopped since.

Because of my money, my life is far more comfortable than that of ordinary hobos, especially when city living, but similar to theirs when I'm hiking or bicycle touring. I don't meet many hobos hiking in Europe because they lack my gear and knowledge and so can't go where i go (even well equipped hikers with money seldom camp in dry Mediterranean mountains like me because they are unwilling to carry huge amounts of water) but I did run into lots of bicycle hobos in the southwest American desert. They stick to the main highways, again because of water issues, whereas I carry massive amounts of water so can go onto dirt roads far from the highways. I'm pretty sure that, if i hadn't made money in computers, i would still have retired young and then been a hobo in the USA and maybe cheap parts of South America once I started to receive a minimum social security pension.

[kangarunner]

I am here and too deep in the jungle to leave. Yet, I constantly regret swapping Italy or the UK for this place.

Sounds like a good movie. If only it could get more interesting. Let's hear your story sir.