Now, I've never been caught in a very serious situation where I had to pull any sort of tricks to get past a border, a checkpoint or simply out of an area that is turning against me. But then again as a contrarian since the eighties I've always followed stories about things like these, which was a good "database" to have when the madness of 2020 hit, which is another story soon to come.

So this will be based partly on what I've seen others do, and partly on areas where I've got some experience, in many ways from the social engineering part of it.

Why post this in Bitcoin? Well its highly relevant for many holding Bitcoin, and if you ever have to use getaways like these then Bitcoin is supreme ;-)

In many cases you might even be able to pay your way in Bitcoin too, especially in the more capital intense cases, where you'll meet aware and maybe even connected people as well!

I grew up in boats, and since 98 had my own sailboats for 2 decades, as well as an old, 52 foot coastal vessel that I used on & off as a liveaboard, lots of real freedom in that!

Now the seas are totally unforgiving, any real fuck ups can't be fixed, but then also when you've got the basic skills you can learn rapidly once you leave a shore behind. I've only crossed one easy ocean solo myself, seeing nothing but the sea and skies all alone, so in a way that fits in well with writing this, see me as someone experienced who can get things done, but who would need to step things up to do the Atlantic or Pacific.

Which is the position you could be in after maybe as little as half a year, or even a few months for the totally hyperactive.

How? Well in many cases the yachting community is very open to recruits, someone who is willing to work, help out, and actually learn rapidly is often very welcome!

Could you relocate right now to as close to one of the marinas that are frequented by seasoned sailors right now, getting any kind of job and income there? Maybe that could even be a low level job where it is natural to go around asking marinas for a better job? Hitting them directly with no connection to the area at all is way harder, and might block you from asking in the future, but who knows, maybe you can pull it off?

If you get that job, and/or if you get a foothold in the community, can you then get your own boat? Most marinas have old or partially damaged boats lying around that they really want to get rid of, could you get their trust on getting one of those out of there? You might even get a good project for free! Or Bitcoin, of course.

Once you've got that, just go for it, set sail and trust that you'll learn rapidly, If you fuck up and learn from that you'll be perceived as a prospective, real member of the community. People will want to teach you, they might trust you to help them out with work, and some might be looking for extra crew for a crossing...

Now I'm writing this as a piece on "grey" areas of freedom, not totally "black" as in leaving without a passport. Few crews will ever want someone onboard that could turn into a real problem once they meet customs after the crossing, and of course every country have at least some rules around leaving. You'll have to check this out yourself, and that can include getting to know a bit about what rules might be a little flexible in your case, but only after people trust you, which could take a few months.

Another possible route for you might be commercial sail trade. Yes this still exists! As an example there is a company that operates an old style, wooden schooner from the Caribbean to Europe, transporting rum that is of course sold as a premium. There is even a brand new, old style wooden ship under construction! (I might check on these for a 2024 update later)

Whichever way you play all of this one great thing about it is that now you do have a fully legal, viable escape route, where you might even just leave on your own boat, legal if you see things coming early enough, or in a force majeure situation if things like a civil war takes place. Or simply an economic collapse, in which case the still has some fish in it :-)

Think you totally need a ton of cash to pilot a plane? Better check again!

Of course this is requires some real payment up front compared to the harbour hobo route, but it might be far less than you'd believe. Why? Well there are students who start a log book to then take years getting to the numbers required to go solo, and then do the exam. You'll even need more hours this way, so you can spend years preparing this route.

Can a student with a handful of hours request a certain location, then maybe bail? That is totally up to you, as with the maritime route its all built on trust, you'd need to game it one way or another.

Actually I did somewhat game the microlight community a bit. In my agency I got a gig as a consultant, which was to break new ground in drone piloting for a real estate photography company. I'd already done a few hours of flying by then, but the work was all about regulations, prototyping the ruleset for a drone pilot school. And this project gave me a direct line into the national regulator, via their newly appointed functionary for drones.

I got the license, then discussed with my partner if our company should invest in getting a microlight license for me, all legally and with an eye on getting far better deals as consultants. Then when I'd gotten an hour on a microlight and an insight into that community the drone organization had a literal coup set up by another company and a real sociopath, and also the company that I did this work for was sold to Murdoch of all people...

Still we were so close to getting in on the game, and this is a game where people who are able to relate well to a very clear and actually sane environment of regulations are welcome. How do you really make it into the community? That is of course by getting an actual license. Guess what, whenever anyone in the industry wants to discuss something with this particular, national regulator they "casually" ask for a meeting, then fly all the way there ;-)

My plan was yet again to become the underdog, a microlight license was totally within reach in terms of cost, and even though I knew they'd snicker behind my back I'd still do bloody the same: ask for a lunch meeting and then be at the table! (Will write more on underdog gaming later, it can be wonderful)

The added bonus for these aerial loopholes and options is also that maybe even most will at least know about Bitcoin, few get a pilots license without learning and keeping tabs on technical stuff in general, and of course also in many cases financial. Maybe Bitcoin within this setting can even be a huge opportunity?

Are there grey areas for those willing to take on risk? Sure there are some at least! Alaska and parts of Canada are very lax, you can get hours cheap there, and if I recall correctly there are exemptions for the wilderness. Hell, if you get a license you can get ahead in Africa!

There is a huge bonus in this too. Even with a few hours in a log book and a good grip on the theoretical parts as well as lingo you could go to backwards countries, hang around, ask if anyone can get you some hours. Especially in third world countries you'll meet one type of people only: the privileged and protected.

Also you'll meet them on an equal footing, where its natural to eventually get into some small talk about other stuff, maybe you even want to get settled in that country with a business, but that its hard without some help? If you're then flying with anyone like the son of a president or general and they like you... The limits are then only in your imagination and social skills!

Now could have added several sections for this since its on land, but since the out of luck skint persona is the safest for this type of thing that will be the focus. So better have a story for how you got a tiny bit of Bitcoin from someone, you don't really know what it is and so on... ;-)

I've never done the classic hobo thing jumping on a train, but if you know your way around spaces where you're not supposed to be this can be easy and relatively low risk. What is important is that if you get caught you totally have to be classified as a useless fucker who just needs to be thrown out ASAP, not someone that should be interrogated and thrown in anywhere. Game this for each situation before you commit!

There are great videos out there about guys doing this even during the worst 2020 madness, railyard teams probably didn't believe any of the BS in the first place, and if so they'd have even better motivation to throw you out and not in. What I've seen online is within Schengen, other more international borders might of course have very serious checks, you'd totally need intel on that before attempting anything.

But still, the way things are going, you might end up doing this to get out of a local, 5-minute city lockdown! And when we get there, maybe even bribes via Lightning will be a thing!

The same goes for buses to a certain degree. I know that the wife of my former business partner made it all the way from North Europe to Mali with no testing or other BS, right in the middle of the worst phase. She just did it the African way I guess, hopping on whatever cheap bus that took her closer :-)

It will be way harder to do this without any tracking or surveillance in many cases, but also perhaps the drivers are very happy making a little extra? Maybe there are others doing the same thing as you, especially at the bus or train stations that you pass by? Any chat can give you very valuable intel, and the more you get to know the better mental, big picture model you have.

Could you do this hitchhiking? That certainly would vary a lot, but then things like these require you gaming you way out anyway. What about truckers? Anything can be gamed!

To finish off this piece I'll add a tiny, last ditch plan that I had. Although things never got super serious where I was in 2020 I still did prepare to a certain degree, like setting up a fully anonymous and legal phone where I could even order food or pay a taxi with cryptos via debit cards.

What could I then use that for if things got really serious? Well, if I'd order food 2-3-4 times every day then eventually someone would come around who would happily swap their motorbike and uniform for some of my gold, hell if I'd offered enough gold I'd get their personal, fully operational smartphone too!

Its all a mindset, and it does not have to be stressful at all, why not learn about something new anyway?

Freedoms are there for those Rebel Nomads who grab them ;-)