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Liberation Travel Hacks 07/2024
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The past month-letters have been in a dystopian vein. I will take the liberty of filling this one with initial optimism. I believe many of you will share it.
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At 45 years old, I feel the freest in my life.
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I do what I want. I travel where I want. I learn only what I want. I pay for what I want (except for VAT and customs duties, which are hard to avoid).
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I am freed from virtually all obligations that I never voluntarily chose.
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It took me a long time to get to this state. For much of my life, I was under a lot of pressure from my environment, which gave me direction - what a good life should look like. Finish university, get a good corporate job, take out a mortgage, buy an apartment first, then maybe a house, start a family, and live in this "ideal world," usually in one place for the rest of my life. I tried to do this, but it didn't work; I wasn't happy, I didn't feel free.
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The critical change came with detachment from the place and the state.
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People used to say - you'll see, when you're old, you'll need to settle down and return to one place. I'm past that stage of my life. I'm turning 50 in less than five years, and I've never felt a greater need to travel than I do now. Instead of one place, I return to many favorite places. I want to settle down - as soon as I can't move and my body loses essential mobility. A friend says that sub-Saharan nomads have a saying: "Houses are coffins for living people." In a situation where I have traded my big house in Bratislava for a small hi-tech caravan (from which I am writing this newsletter) and feel significantly happier, I identify with the sub-Saharan nomads' saying.
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Detachment from the state is, first and foremost, a mental exercise. In a situation where you cancel your permanent residency, stop paying a lot of pointless taxes and levies and fees, and participate in state rituals like voting, you realize that not only has nothing in your life gotten worse, but on the contrary, you have 10% more brain capacity that you don't have to devote to bureaucracy and bureaucrats that suddenly don't exist for you. If you regret anything, it is that you did not do it sooner. No organisms need enforced central planning of their lives; it's naive to think that humans need the state for better survival. On the contrary, people who follow its nonsensical regulations and laws all their lives often live in constant fear of what would happen if they broke some of them. They can no longer imagine what it means to live freely without paying the 'uncivilized' ransom that we are told is paradoxically propelling us into a 'civilized' society.
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Of course, the existing concept of states, borders, residences, and citizenships is unavoidable.
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Therefore, the best strategy is to accept it and learn to surf the wave of global opportunism - to secure the "best cards" with the most benefits from the best countries. And get rid of all those that make you liable.
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And you don't have to have any regrets about it - you are only choosing from the options that were ultimately imposed on you without your consent - so why not choose the best?
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Pavol Lupták, 6.7.2024, London
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EU
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If I were not an anarchist and believed in the good of a democratic European Union, at the very least, as a "privacy" activist, all the red lights would have gone off for me when this law was passed. The approval of this law must mean the loss of all EU credibility for all those who care about digital privacy. I consider it a severe problem that this matter was voted on at the EU level.
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However, the EU is still in open warfare against cryptos - centralized exchanges have stopped offering USDT and other stablecoins for EU residents, which are not compliant with MiCA regulations. And to think that some people claim that excellent crypto regulation like MiCA can help cryptos. The EU is also hostile to Bitcoin Lightning, which could also already be abused by criminals.
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Georgia
- Slovak citizens usually have to wait a month for their passport to be apostilled (which is the legal deadline under which it cannot be done)
- Ukrainian or Russian citizens who already have problems getting their documents apostilled in their home country (but must have a valid passport)
- all those who live or are currently in a country that has not signed the Hague Apostilization Agreement (e.g., Thailand) and, therefore, cannot apostille documents in that country
- to anyone who has any problems getting their documents certified or apostilled
All this is for a special price of 1337 EUR (until further notice).
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Paraguay
If you use payment cards from any Paraguayan bank, do not use them to purchase digital services outside Paraguay!
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The bank will automatically deduct/deliver 10% VAT (IVA). For example, use the Georgian SOLO bank account payment card to do this, which many global online services (such as Spotify) will give you significantly better rates than if you pay with an EU/US-issued card.
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If you want to use your Paraguayan license to drive in Germany, you can get a transfer here.
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Bitcoin, Monero, and cryptocurrencies
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I got a good reference for the Gnosis Pay crypto card (for EU residents only). If you have residency outside the EU, then try the offramp card.
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I'm excited about any projects that are out of the reach of regulators, especially XMR to BTC atomic swaps or Haveno, Monero P2P exchange that already supports PayPal, CashApp, or Venmo. I have tested Haveno, and everything works, even for small amounts.
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Make BTC Punk Again - a Bitcoin audio zine released (among other things) on cassette tape, where he explains the benefits of this surviving data medium.
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BTCPrague 2024 is behind us, our keynote speeches:
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If you're an ethical crypto dealer, you can buy everything you need to run your business here.
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Travel hacks
On my UK and Ireland wanderings, I bought a Sparks eSIM 40 GB for $39.99 (1 GB for less than $1; I paid it anonymously with Bitcoin Lightning ). The 40 GB package lasts up to 365 days and is the best eSIM offer (I use 5G most of the time). You can find not only this but other offers on MobiMatter.
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As of June 30, 2024, most Caribbean countries have significantly increased the minimum investment deposit to obtain citizenship:
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- Dominic from $100,000 to $200,000.
- Grenada from $150,000 to $235,000.
- St. Kitts and Nevis has raised it in the past to $250,000.
- St. Lucia from $100,000 to $240,000.
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Unlike its neighbors, Antigua and Barbuda has extended the deadline for applying for citizenship to the end of July 2024. After that date, the minimum investment deposit increases from $100,000 to $230,000. If you're considering good citizenship at a reasonable price, now is the time.
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After 30 years, I started wearing watches again. It is not an ordinary one but a Garmin Tactix 7 Pro. And because of the following reasons:
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- I needed an adequate replacement for the Oura Ring, which only lasts two days charged and is a significant pain to constantly recharge. The Garmin Tactix watch lasts a month (!) and can still be recharged by solar.
- I can do all NFC payments with my watch. GrapheneOS on my phone doesn't support NFC payments, so this is a great replacement.
- I can finally listen to Spotify while swimming and not have to keep my phone at Bluetooth distance (with my TRI PRO Multi-Sport swimming headphones).
- I have good quality base maps for any sport or hiking and good quality navigation (and I don't need my phone for that anymore). There are plenty of apps out there for every common sport, including skydiving or shooting.
- For the privacy extremists, the Garmin Tactix 7 Pro supports a "kill switch," where you can completely erase everything with one click, or "stealth mode," where you switch to full passive mode and are untraceable.
In my case, it increases my optionality and independence in a situation where my phone dies and I find myself in an unfamiliar environment.
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Interesting links
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If you use Google Docs or Microsoft 365 and care about digital privacy, try the new ProtonDrive Docs with collaborative editing and end-to-end encryption where no one can access your documents.
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GrapheneOS has introduced a "duress PIN," which, if you enter it in an emergency (when you are arrested by the police or another criminal group), will erase your encryption keys. The contents of your phone will be destroyed.
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Events
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27-30.12 38C3, the biggest hacker congress in Hamburg
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8-12.8.2025 WHY2025, the biggest hacker camp in the Netherlands
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