The art of faith.

So im thinking of moving to Thailand again. Starting off fresh again for the hundredth time. I guess we learn and grow but for some reason I feel this need to move again will be judged negatively by others as if I cant commit to one thing for a long period of time. I don’t understand it. Is it because my path leads else where and in my head I know this and constantly keep wanting to move. Or is it due to not being able to commit. My cant I commit. Is there something wrong with my personality or is it that I’ve never been truly comfortable with what i do.

Now this may sound silly but im so excited to move and be free, make my own choices again! Its something I cant contain and I am struggling to wait.

Now there is a catch as always. If I move I may not be successfully, ill try damn hard but what if? Or i can be successful. But if I stay with the Job I have whos to say it wont get better, security with this job. I know my pay check. I know it might increase over time. Starting your own project you have no idea the out comes. What if I fail. And come home and start at square one all over again. What if my lover leaves me because of this. What if her family dislikes me.

Truth is I am a creative soul and there is no way around it. I love creating. Whether its art, or website, or small businesses! I love coming up with ideas! Most of them so far have failed and I guess that’s okay in a sense. I just need that one chance of success. And im fucking frightened I don’t find it.

A wise man

A wise man is quite, allows the sounds of the earth, the movement of people and the despair of the homeless to speak for him. I used to wonder how quickly I could go from being sheltered with food and clothes and beautiful luxury, to being poor and homeless. From my calculations depending on how the money disappears or gets spent lets say 3 months. And so I am three months away from the lowest class in society. Yet I have been working my ass off for the last 5 years. And so this is where it makes no fucking sense. Why work a job you don’t really enjoy, to pay for an apartment you don’t really like, pay for friends who don’t really amuse you. Follow rules you don’t agree with and at the end of the day get it all thrown in your face. With no Thank you. Not even a quiver of genuine sympathy coming from a sole in a 100 mile radius. But you will keep pushing through it all. So your kids can grow up with money, be spoilt. Go to expensive schools. Do drugs and becomes snobby rude fucks that have no street wisdom or an ounce of knowledge towards a class under there stature. Yes the parents need to pay more attention and raise there kids right. But is consumerism the answer. Is this constant need to buy have and get, really the future of this world.

Greed. One man Jeff Bezos sits with a net worth of $111 billion dollars to his name. That’s 1.6 trillion Rand. Give or take. It only takes 20 billion dollars to end world hunger forever.

Now imagine this world. The rich get richer. The poor stay the same. But no one is starving, freezing or dying.

So why do you get up for work everyday? Because you believe, you have no choice. No choice at all. And honestly you have all the choice in the world.

Shit, probably gonna come across a few issues but you can work them out. Imagine living within your means. You work 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. Staying in a beautiful two bedroom home on the beach. Writing blogs, or painting. Traveling to as many places as you can. Free of will. No boss. No rules but your own, and the law of course. Picture it now, the bliss you would feel.

And so a wise man said nothing at all. He allows the sounds of the earth, the movement of people and the despair of the homeless to speak for him. And so a wise man once said, nothing.

What If the gun jams?

I have been waiting for this day, sitting riddled in anxiety to the point my brain feels numb and communication is something of the past. It is funny how my past experiences of situations have always seemed worse then they really are. Like have you ever had to hide a dead body? Im sure the mere thought of actually doing it would scare you half to death, the blood, cleaning up all the evidence and then deciding how you will live with it for the rest of your life. Well there is no dead body. Or any evidence of such a thing, but I have been lying in bed for the last 4 days frightened out of my mind. Diving into my writing, I guess trying to come up with any reason to prove to myself that I was correct and they were wrong. As any sane human does. Justifying from each olive branch I pass in my mind how unfair things are. We all do this, some better then others. And at the end of the day I will sit there in silence reply yes and no to all statements and hope I get out of it alive. That is if they will allow it to be that simple.

No on second thought, lets imagine they do not let me off that easy. I guess that’s how pigs at slaughtering houses feel. They get let out this tiny cage, they have been cooped up in for about 6 months, seen nothing of the outside world and just when they begin to smell freedom, the truck pulls up to the slaughterhouse. And this is the very thing im frightened of, not know what’s around the corner. Now I’ve never been to good at arguments or heated meetings as my brain and memory turn off during times of stress, like genuinely what worse time can there possibly be.

Imagine its world war 2, you are a tank operator driving down a narrow road in the bush, when suddenly you get ambushed with your twenty men, bullets flying, blood everywhere. You climb down to the guns cockpit aim your giant two ton gun at the enemy, you are locked on ready to pull that trigger. And when you do the gun jams.

Well story of my life and instead of ammo it is things I cannot remember in stressful situations. So in all actual fact I do hope this meeting goes smooth or at least my gun doesn’t jam. But If it does, I have plenty of armour, and a sweet face. I do hope I get out this one alive.

Thank you for reading. Leave a like ♥️

A Sunday session.

You see as humans we are plagued with enormous stress and pressure. And as humans we forget things. Mess stuff up. But does this really mean we are not good enough. In actual fact you have hired a human not a robot, you stupid creature. Come back in 10 years and we might just have what you are looking for.

So for now deal with the constant fact that we are indeed humans. Some better then other, I guess. I have no idea how we measure this. But the good part is im giving you a slight understanding into my mind.

And a wonderful mind at that. So how did I feel spending my last day before work begins in a cold basement parking lot genuinely enjoying my day? Well I came to realize that the more I write the more people will know. Considering these articles may live on the internet for as long as mind kind can survive this dirty rat race.

Truth is im lying to you, im actually writing cause I have nothing to do. And work starts tomorrow after my disciplinary hearing. And I think I may have found something I like. Blogging.

It’s not to tedious nor does it use energy or money. I have my whole setup right here on this little device. Pretty much total sci-fi talk if it was 20 years ago. Non the less we can all pretend this new age of technology doesn’t frighten you all. Amateurs.

So as this story goes on it has started to get darker here and my girlfriend has become more tired with every olly she performs. I do give it to her the perseverance in her, is a trait I’d like to steal. She is growing increasingly upset as im not watching her skate. So as for this post im done. Hope you enjoyed

Yours Jesse

Why do you feel you need to travel. Really good advice!

Some feel the need to travel brings a sense of well being and on many cases this probably isn’t far from the truth. During your times of travel you discover, learn and broaden your mental horizon.

When I was 18 I had a girlfriend, blonde hair, great body, and an obsession with wanting to escape. She believed the grass is always greener on the other side. Researching, praying even. Longing for that trip over the great sea’s.

Her family situation wasn’t all that great but then again she was spoilt rotten and the longer it took her to escape the worse she thought of her life.

Finally the day came, she boarded that flight, 17 hours later arriving in Vietnam. Chin up high and mind as curious as a busy beaver. She forgot one thing. The advice a gave her before she left. “The grass is only as green as you water it, the problem you have inside your mind journey with you no matter how far you travel”.

You see she wanted to travel because she us not happy with her home situations. Life was hard, and her home town didn’t excite her. She became greatly depressed and lonely on her travels. Drank and partied away the rest of her money with in a week of her stay, this was due to her terrible lack in responsibilities though might I just add.

The once glamour girl from little old Port Elizabeth, Summerstrand. Became a dirty tourist begger, scamming people into giving her money with lies falling every which way. To finish off the story she ended up in a Bali prison for 3 Months. Over staying her visa due to not having enough money to renew it.

Let me get to the point. Some travel because they are running away from something, bad marriage, job they got fired from, family or even avoiding the law in there own country (Met a guy with this story, at the time of talking he was on the phone with his drug dealer cooped up in a dodgy bar. No surprise there). Keep in mind , when wanting to travel, run towards the paradise not away from hell. Sort out what responsibilities you may have, before you get that ticket.

Trust you don’t wanna end up in a Bali prison eating bread and being picked on cause you look like a transgender whore. Excuse my French.

Be consistent, keep love in your heart and travel well.

Yours Jesse

Cheap travel food tips and tricks.

So when moving to Thailand I came with just enough money to last two full months. And If I ran out of budget that would be it. Game over. The financial stress was enormous. But I me and my friends found ways to save money. Its simple.

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL

Don’t go spending money on fast food or types of dishes you are used to from back home like burger, pasta and pizza. This is not always the speciality especially when I was in Thailand. Local food I couldn’t even pronounce was cheaper and more affordable. From a Burger costing 210 baht to a dish of Pud Thai the traditional Thailand dish costing anywhere from 40 baht and up depending on your region.

Eat local and save big. Try new dishes and don’t be picky. In some food courts around Phuket Town a full dish of food can cost around 20 baht. Surprised much?

STREET FOOD

This is a good one. From chicken braai’d push carts to fruit trolleys being lugged around the streets, your 24/7 buffet has arrived. But do be aware, with great power comes great responsibility and with great street food comes great food poisoning.

Its similar to gambling sometimes, you got to find the cart that hasn’t been sitting in the sun with raw chicken since 6am. Mostly your fine, and will walk away unscathed. Other times youll find a great partnership with your toilet and the so called bum gun. But fear not, your chances are slim and far between. The reward is worth it, oh god it is worth it.

If you are a worry’er like myself or have a big next day, stick to the fruit trolleys and iced coffees. These heavens can’t steer you wrong.

FAVOURITES

Vegetable fried rice plain

Vegetable fried rice with chicken or beef or even duck.

Pud Thai is a traditional dish but I cant handle the peanut butter after taste.

Fried Frog, a must try if alone and looking for some tasty fun.

EATING BUGS

One of my favourite topics of conversation when It comes to strange food.

How do you eat bugs without them making you sick!?

Well honestly because they are delicious! Crunchy and usually have a few spices to change things up. The bigger the bug the harder I find it to chew but non the less they are still good. Give it a try or at least dare someone to do it.

Bugs also fill you up really quickly. One night in Bangkok and left my wallet in the hotel and had a few baht tp get by for dinner. Bugs seemed to be the way, casually sitting in a stripper bar eating grasshoppers like nothing was up. Good times Thai culture showed me the better things in life. Enjoy them chips.

Held up in a hotel in Malaysia by gangsters

It was during this strange transition in my life where I was uncomfortable with my life choices and wanted more from life. At the time I was staying in Phuket town, Thailand at the Patra Mansion Hotel/Apartments. Life was great, room service everyday, a giant pool downstairs and people with similar interests everywhere you look.

At this point in my life I wanted to go visit Japan and since my visa run was coming up this was the perfect time to visit or move to Japan. Upon my visa run, this time I was traveling alone without my mate NIC. Cant really remember why. but he was going to join me a week later in Malaysia.

– Lady sniffing glue outside the hostel.

First Day there life was great, decided to stay two weeks to relax and Hangout with some of my Party friends that side as that’s all visa runs really were, one crazy party.

1 night I met this guy, Lets call him Peter for his sake. English guy with enough money to travel the world and still have some. Well at least that’s what I thought. Later that evening at about 2am all the bars had closed we suggested to go home. Once On the scooter taxi on the way home he decide to take a video of us as any good tourist does in the center of dodgy town at 2am. Seconds go by and I hear him stopping the scooter and screaming “They Took It!” Over and over again. He then proceeded to kick the steel garage door we were parked next to threatening the driver to get his phone back. As he assumed the driver was in on it. Which in fact he was.

(- One drunken night with a good friend.)

We decided to walk home as it was just down the block. On the way home we passed one last bar. As one does after the night we had. Idiots we were. Sat there for about 5 min and a Malaysian biker gang of 6 Skinny men on Scooter stopped by demanding we leave with them. I told Peter this is not a situation he will be able to handle alone and so the security at the bar chases them away giving us time to bolt down the street and disappear in our hotel.

On the way to “Tipsy Tiger” Only the best hostel in George Town. We began to give it some speed. At we reached the back entrance to the hotel. We both heard the noise of a scooter getting closer and closer. And there he was, our original driver/gang member. Trying to force Peter onto the bike with force.

At this very moment i realized this oak Peter comes from Europe, cant defend himself. And lacks in mean muscle. Now I’m no gym bunny but I do come from Johannesburg in South Africa.

I wack this driver/gang member over the head with a closed beer can. I then shoved Peter into the hostel but the driver came back for another chance, somehow cutting my arm open I was done. Time for rage! I started bashing this man over the head time and time again repeating how easily I can kill him in a Demonic voice feeling more and more powerful with every hit.

Once my possession of some sort was over when locked the door of the hostel. To my surprise the owner had called protection of 10 Bikers and when I went out side to see if they caught the Gang member. He was being pulled off the roof as he was trying to break in to get us.

(-Photo I took as they handcuffed the gang Member.)

Basically I spent the night at the station giving my side of the story and expressing it was in self defense. Heavily intoxicated too.

Drove back the next day in a taxi with no chairs and requested to leave the island by the Police. I spent the next two weeks hiding myself in a hotel room with the presence of a gang member, sitting outside just as a reminder that if I step foot outside they will get me.

Mayalsia, all fun and games until someone gets there phone stolen.

Yours Jesse

What is a visa run?

A visa run is a short trip over an international border designed to reset the visa in the originating country of the trip.

Many countries which have visa-free travel or grant visas on arrival have a set amount of time that you can be in the country. A classic example is Thailand who allows passport holders of many countries a 30-day stay in Thailand without a visasometimes for curtain passport holders like myself can extend to 90 days. If you fly out of the country and get an exit stamp in your passport, you can reenter the country to reset the clock and get another 30-days. Almost immediately.

In 2017 I was staying in Phuket for several months and I did a visa run to Malaysia, George Town. I found a ticket on a bus 12 hour journey to Malaysia, e would stay for 1 night in a hotel booked by the visa run company and in the morning drive back to Thailand for a small fee of R2500. Upon entry I received a 90 day Visa.

There are rules you need to research before you try doing a visa run because not all border crossings are the same. In the past, Thailand has given different length visas based on how you entered the country (land vs air). You could have flown into Thailand, but if you left over a land border and crossed back, you might have only gotten 14-days on your return. Make sure you do research on the current rules before you do a visa run.

Many countries do not allow for visa runs at all. If you enter the United States as a visitor, going to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean does NOT reset your visa. This is done specifically to prevent people from doing visa runs. If they allowed visa runs, someone in Detroit or San Diego could stay in the country indefinitely by just doing short hops over the border. Even if you were to fly to Europe and back, if it seems obvious you are just trying to reset your visa, you might be denied entry. America’s Greatest National Parks

Other places like the Schengen Zone in Europe, have a total amount of time you can be in the zone over a set period. In the case of the Schengen Zone, you can 90-days out of any six month period. Going back and forth over borders doesn’t reset anything. It just pauses the clock on your 90-days. If you used up your 90-days, you’d have to leave the Schengen Zone for 90-days before you could come back.

3 Quick Tips for Visa Runs

Before you try and do a visa run, do the following:

Check the rules for the country who’s visa you are trying to reset.
Do research on other travelers who have done similar visa runs recently.
Research on what the cheapest method of doing a visa run. There might be cheap flights available, or it might mean getting on a bus.
Investigate to see if you can renew your visa inside the country. This might end up being the easiest solution of all, which would negate the need for even doing a visa run.

Yours Jesse

Ways to get cheap flights that really works.

IT’S THE WORLD WE LIVE IN, TRAVEL. and the questions we ask. hacks, tips and tricks to some of the cheapest flight around.

Some say its all about the platform, website you use. Others say its all about your timing, and when you book that flight. I say it both. And im gonna prove it to you.

My personal website of choice is cheapflights.co.za. simply select your departure point, insert your arrival point. straight forward right, anything but. Here come a couple of tests to prove your timing is everything.

For this experiment we will use a 1 way ticket as we are pretending to travel somewhere for an extended amount of time and do not intend to return with in 30 days. Or do not know when to return. “But what about the proof of a return ticket?”. We can “rent” a legitimate return ticket for 24 hours for just a few Rands onwardticket.com. This allows us into a country and gives us an open end travel time without having to book a date to return or purchace a return flight we may never use. So lets begin.

Dates

Today is a Monday 18/11/2019. I will now book flights with four different departure dates and the cheapest flight price next door.

Departure in 24 hours time

Departure time in 1 week

Departure in 1 Month

Departure 6 Months

Now as you may have noticed booking super early and last minute and booking super late 6 months in advance is great price wise. but no one is really gonna book a flight 6 months in advance unless its a granny. We are the new generation, we need gratification. We need proof. And this is why time matters when booking your flight.

A normal flyer would book a month in advance, giving him or her time to plan and stratergize, get Visas together and even probably save. But we have already done all that in just a few hours. we have our travel hiking back pack ready at the go, no responsibilities just drooling over the smell and humidity of Thailand’s streets and beaches. or Possibly a concert in Paris. whether you are trekking through East Asia or Visiting your long lost relative for a wedding you wont survive. remember, timing is key. Don’t pay twice as much on the ticket and struggle through the rest of the journey.

Yours Jesse