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Liberation Travel Hacks 06/2025
Two weeks ago was my 46th birthday. Physically and mentally, I still feel like I'm in my twenties - the fact that I'm not and that my age is approaching the half-century mark is perceived by those around me - a good friend of mine had a massive heart attack, other friends have had serious cancers and are being treated or have died.
These cruel events have sent a clear message to me - life is short, fragile, and finite. We can die at any time, regardless of how big plans we make for our lives.
It means a few things to me, and I hope to you, that I am more aware of in my old age:
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1. You are short of time and prefer the local maximum to the global maximum.
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One of the problems with today's complex and global world is that we have an overwhelming number of options in virtually every area of life. As a global opportunist, I am very aware of this fact. But what we don't realize well enough is that we have quite a limited time in which to make those decisions. Typical examples:
Searching for the ideal partner/mother/father of your children. All humans are imperfect, and this process, depending on how much of a perfectionist you are, can take an infinite amount of time. Especially when all people are still also constantly changing over time. For example, if you want to have kids and you're biologically time-limited, then choose the local maximum instead of the global maximum. It doesn't have to be an ideal partner, just a person with whom you can communicate normally and agree to raise children together or separately.
Buy your dream car, and go on the vacation you desire NOW. A year from now, you may not be here (look around you as your friends and loved ones die).
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2. Spend your money.
Working all your life and dying with a lot of money in your account, a lot of real estate or Bitcoins in your wallet, makes no sense. Read the book Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life.
If you want to give/leave something to your children, you need to do it NOW, not when you're dead and they're old, too. Your children need your support NOW.
If you don't die with zero, you've been doing something wrong in your life - working significantly more than you've been enjoying your money.
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3. Avoid stress and lack of sleep.
Stress and sleep deprivation are killers; they significantly reduce your quality of life. With stress and sleep deprivation, you have less fulfilling days and live a less fulfilling life.
My number one priority in life right now is to minimize stress as much as possible and to get the best sleep I can (I find I sleep better in my campervan outside than I do in any hotel).
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4. Take care of your body.
And with every year, more! My plan for the next two months:
In July, I'll be hiking with my girlfriend the entire ridge of the Low Tatras (from Donovaly to Telgárt), covering about 100km on foot. In August, I will be cycling with my son from Bratislava to Košice and then crossing the mountains of Liechtenstein. And like this every month. If it's nice outside, take a hike (I use the AllTrails app). Get regular saunas, gyms, and massages all at the same time.
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Pavol Lupták, 3.7.2025, Bratislava
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EU
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The fact that the European Court of Justice has banned the sale of EU citizenship to rich people makes no economic sense, of course; it's a stupid egalitarian political gesture: "Rich people won't buy our citizenship!" In doing so, the EU needs wealthy individuals who can make a real difference and know how to conduct business effectively, as it is currently losing them to Switzerland, Dubai, the US, and other countries. And yes, we need them more than we need hordes of poor Syrian or Afghan immigrants, who, of course, also have a right to a better life in the EU. Still, no one in the EU thinks it immoral that it is on the backs of European tax victims, except that these rich people who would like to buy citizenship in the EU could use their money to cover the costs of the poor immigrants who are supported by taxpayers' money. But this is beyond the economic understanding of the socialist EU. I understand that rich people in the EU who get citizenship by investing there will never vote for European socialist parties; on the other hand, poor European immigrants who "Earn Citizenship by Naturalization" probably will. And as they say in the socialist EU, "Eat the Rich!"
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And where Europe ends, Argentina is just beginning - it has launched a new program to obtain Argentine citizenship with an investment of USD 500,000. It's a lot, but the Argentine passport is one of the best in Latin America, with visa-free access to both the EU and Russia, for example. And speaking of Russia, many people argue that wealthy Russian oligarchs bought European citizenship by investment. I want to emphasize that the process of obtaining citizenship through investment involves a thorough background check on the applicant. Therefore, it is up to the European authorities to determine whether the person has a clean past or is linked to Putin or any other dictator. In this case, they refused the application. For example, Russian and Belarusian citizens since the start of the war cannot apply for Caribbean citizenship (they are blocked).
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The EU banning the sale of EU citizenship, therefore, makes no economic, rational sense - it is a purely ideological decision by bureaucrats ("EU citizenship is not a commodity that can be bought"). Similarly, the shutdown of German nuclear power plants was a purely ideological decision.
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How socialism creates "Original Sins."
A 20-minute Uber ride from Rome to the airport costs €50. Uber is expensive and more complicated to get during the day. How is this possible?
Since Uber is officially banned in Rome, when you call it, you will be directed straight to a local taxi service and an officially licensed taxi driver.
There have been harsh demonstrations by taxi drivers against Uber.
One of the taxi drivers' key arguments was that they had obtained taxi licenses, of which there is a limited number in Rome, which are sold at a massive price on a secondary market (similar to how it works in New York City, for example).
Suppose someone has purchased a state taxi license in Rome for EUR 70,000 on the secondary market, which has been passed down to them by their family and used for generations. In that case, it is immoral for them to now lose the full use of that license due to Uber's entry into the market. It is unfair! (Sounds like an argument).
Just as it is entirely unfair to abolish the social pension scheme (the biggest state pyramid scheme) now. It is, after all, altogether immoral to stop paying current pensioners who have contributed to their retirement all their lives.
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What links the two cases?
In both cases, socialism creates original sins (sins for which the next generation will be angry) - it sets up a perverse system with seemingly good intentions that ultimately harms society.
Either it creates, through limited taxi licenses, a disgusting protectionism with high prices and inferior services, or a state pyramid scheme that, because of the growing population of older people, cannot work economically and results in an ever higher retirement age and low inflationary pensions.
And, in the final analysis, it is immoral to absolutely everyone who is the victim of expensive protectionism or an involuntary state pyramid scheme.
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Paraguay
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An important issue we address with our clients is the safe delivery of their documents from Paraguay, Uruguay, or Panama to Europe. Most other agencies use courier companies, such as DHL, to deliver documents from Paraguay to Europe.
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Unfortunately, we have had firsthand experience with European customs officers opening some envelopes and taking photographs of the documents being delivered, which we consider a serious invasion of our client's privacy.
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Because we value the privacy of our clients, we send their documents personally to individuals in our community in sealed envelopes, ensuring they avoid contact with government officials or customs officers.
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Of course, each of our clients has a choice and can also opt to have their documents delivered by courier service, albeit with the risk that they may be opened and photographed by government bureaucrats.
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Paraguay's Personal has launched a great postpaid package of 80GB of data (they also work in data roaming in Europe and America) for 200k PYG (€22 per month). Unspent data carries over to the next month and accumulates for the last 3 months. We have developed a method for our clients to purchase this package as an eSIM, activate it remotely from the EU, and use it without the need for physical SIM cards. No European mobile operator seems to be able to compete with this package at this price and coverage.
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A new Paraguayan Android / iPhone app to display your digital cédula or driver's license, where you can apply for a criminal record statement, plus a host of other features. You will need to register here beforehand.
(The app on GrapheneOS requires you to turn on "exploit protection compatibility mode").
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We do everything we can to make this process as easy as possible for our clients.
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Georgia
The Georgian government has abolished the possibility of obtaining a driver's license for foreigners who do not have temporary or permanent residence in Georgia.
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Bitcoin, Monero, and cryptocurrencies
As regulations tighten, "dark stablecoins" could emerge. With increasing government oversight, some cryptocurrency users may be forced to seek censorship-resistant stablecoins in the future. Recall that Monero, which is delisted on all European crypto exchanges, had 60% growth last month. And somehow, the bans aren't hurting it in any way.
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Another reason why it is essential to buy cryptocurrencies without a Know Your Customer (KYC) verification. It's only a matter of time before your information is leaked and misused, which is what happened to Coinbase last month.
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You may recall the P2P Bitcoin-to-SEPA service Lamium, which hasn't functioned for years. With Lamium, users could pay their SEPA invoice by transferring funds from their bank account using Bitcoin (BTC) for a small fee. Now, there's a new regulated service called Bringin, which is not P2P but centralized and requires KYC (you verify yourself against a passport and some form of EU address - they don't need proof of address unless you plan to conduct monthly transactions of over €10,000). Then, you can pay any invoices over €15 with either Bitcoin Lightning or Bitcoin on-chain. Both Lightning and SEPA payment processing was instant. Therefore, you don't need a bank account in the EU to pay invoices or bills.
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Privacy
Travel Hacks
When you're an IT guy, traveling can be a stressful ordeal. I'm also an IT guy, and I don't get stressed out by travel - my hacks:
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- Except for airfare, there is usually almost no point in booking anything in advance (if you have enough money, you don't have to deal with those either) because something can always go wrong (and often does).
- Suppose customs at point X requires me to disclose my accommodation details upon arrival. In that case, I book accommodation only when I am on the plane to point X.
- Unless customs require it (I travel in Schengen), I usually, with a few exceptions (like Primavera Sound in Barcelona, when there are 130,000 extra people in the city), book my accommodation just a few hours before I want to go to bed -> because I want to be as flexible as possible and not be tied down to a place I don't like (in this case, I usually prefer Booking, not Airbnb, because the other party won't be able to accept it as quickly. Although Airbnb already supports the automatic acceptance of requests, it's very unreliable, and I complain about it repeatedly).
- Since I travel frequently and often book accommodations at the last minute, I prefer accommodations that offer self-check-in.
- Plane delays are a common occurrence, so it's beneficial to have access to various airport lounges to cool off.
- I carry two passports (if there's a problem scanning one, I pull out the other).
- I have three driver's licenses (and plan to apply for a fourth in Uruguay), which I present as needed to make the most of them.
- I specifically ask the locals in advance if I need to book anything in advance. If not, I book everything at the last minute to give me maximum flexibility - often, that's why I'm going for the last minute.
- I travel with MyPokeFI global internet, so if I don't have a SIM/eSIM working in a country, or it's hard to get one because I arrive at night and need internet, PokeFI always works.
- I always have two Google Pixel phones with GrapheneOS (when one goes out, I have a virtually identical copy of everything on the other) that I charge together (so I don't need a power bank).
- And, of course, I have some basic cash.
I only get stressed about security checks (I view them more as an annoyance) because, as a security expert, I know that they are often more about "security theater" (such as the 100ml limit on liquids) than actual security. The professionals always find ways to work around it. And doing them every few days annoys me (and my fellow pilots share this feeling).
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"I do not think I can preserve my health and spirit unless I spend at least four hours a day walking in the woods..." wrote the American writer, naturalist, philosopher, abolitionist, opponent of taxes, enemy of the state, and anarchist Henry David Thoreau.
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The sack is bursting with global eSIM "Unlimited" virtual operators such as Fonus. I would point out that it's neither global (they usually cover half of all countries) nor unlimited (especially since the lower packages have data caps). If you don't have Paraguay's Personal 80 GB plan for €22, which offers complete coverage of Europe and the Americas, it's probably worth considering.
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Interesting links
Events
8-12.8.2025 WHY2025 is the biggest hacker camp in the Netherlands
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