Category

Narrative

Stories from my perspective with the sake of telling a story

Narrative, Update

Things Don’t Go To Plan – So Don’t Plan, Just Come Visit Me!

If there’s one thing I learned two years ago after getting robbed and starting over again by getting a job, is that life never goes to plan. Getting robbed didn’t teach me that, but showing up at work one day to learn our startup’s getting chopped up and sold for spare parts, and suddenly ending up jobless did. Life doesn’t go according to plan, so you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. You might be better off planning for it to go off plan. Despite „planning“ to work at this company longer, I’m suddenly jobless again, as of…

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Miscellaneoes, Narrative

Maruf Hops Maps On Hold

It’s getting close to year since I wrote my last real article on Maruf Hops Maps and it’s made me realize I don’t know what I want out of this blog anymore. What started as place to write about exotic fruit, travel destinations, and stories buying weed has turned into a website with an unclear purpose. I’m putting this blog on indefinite hold until I find a purpose for it. To find out where I am right now, check out my /now page, which I will continue to update, and to learn who I am, check out my about page….

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Miscellaneoes, Narrative

My Advice to HelpX Volunteers

I arrived on a sunny Tuesday I didn’t know what to expect other than it was a permaculture home. It was my first time volunteering on a family’s permaculture home. You don’t get to choose your brother’s and sisters unless the profile that led you here mentions you’ll be ‘one of the family’. It was time to found out how this family volunteer works and if we click. Families have their habits and rules and my stay with Hemon and Katie in New Zealand was no exception. Some habits are hard to get used to, like limiting m internet to…

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Narrative, Travel

The Myth of Freedom Camping in New Zealand

In the future, I predict silence will be stupidly expensive commodity, and unadulterated nature even rarer. Right now lying in my tent beside a tree-encircled pond, near a flowing river under pounding rain in New Zealand. It feels like nature, except for the droning bass in the distance, which shatters any notion that I’m alone. Once I embraced the fact that I’m a loner, being alone is what I desire most in this hectic system called life. With three quarters of New Zealand’s population on the north island, I thought I’d find peace and nature on the untamed South Island….

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Narrative, Travel

Stuck in a Rainstorm

I am writing here because I am stuck in a rainstorm. It’s been four days since last sun, four amazing days. Now I want to leave, but the rain won’t relent… It rained non-stop last night and thank god my tent is mostly waterproof. Otherwise, I’d be wet right now, trying to write this. Then again, had yesterday shown sun, I would’ve continued my travels towards New Zealand’s famed west coast. Instead, I’m resting cozily against my backpack, in a soggy tent, between an almost flooding river and the highway somewhere near Motueka. I’m here because Ben & Annie, a…

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Narrative, Travel

Riding a New Years Adventure

New Year’s Day, I wake up to the usual obnoxious bass blares from atop the large hill where the main stage sits. It’s 8:15, I’ve fully rested and whoops, I’m late for work. I walk past the vans and tent to the kitchen and I see – Crap, nobody woke up. I’ve been here five days already and I’m the only one here now to make breakfast. How did I go from staying in a house in Whanganui to camping and cooking in a valley on New Zealand’s South Island at a music festival? I didn’t know this event existed…

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Culture & Immersion, Narrative

The Māori Mindset

Travel brings many insights, by hitchhiking, many more. I decided, I’m not going to plan anything in New Zealand. Why should I need to? I’ve come with the belief that, to experience New Zealand, you don’t need to plan anything. All you need is basic preparation: a tent, a bag, a thumb, and a smile. In my first two weeks, I’ve seen countless mountain ranges, sand dunes and stunning beaches, but the most interesting experiences were with the locals, both indigenous and colonist. My first driver was a friendly racist named Peter. He worked his ass off employing a team…

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Narrative, Travel

Journey to Cape Reinga

There were no roosters to cock-a-doodle doo this morning, instead, at around six, a symphony of birds, mosquitoes and other unseen forest animals squealed out a resounding wake up call. I feel groggy; I got six hours of sleep separated by five hours of jet lag insomnia. Sleeping in a bushy forest is always mixed bag of goodies, you never know how hungry the mosquitoes are, or if you’ll find a flat spot to pitch your tent where nobody will see. I’ve had worse than this. I start the morning with my pack up and slap dance: fold my tent…

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Narrative, Travel

Jet Lagged in a Forest Somewhere in New Zealand

From the sleepless flight from Kuala Lumpur to the two hour interrogation at airport customs, New Zealand’s throwing hurdles at me. I woke up today at 2:30 pm on the floor of my hosts disheveled loft somewhere in the boonies outside of Auckland. I don’t know where I am, and the lack of WiFi and GPS is keeping that secret from me, however, in my sleep deprived state, I managed to ask my host, Andrew, which way the nearest grocery store is, before he left for work in the morning. “That way,” he pointed away from the direction we came…

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Narrative

Life Lessons from Drug Deals

“Hey Amigo!” Shouted a scruffy voice from behind me as I walked down a dusty street of Cartagena. A scruffy man cruises towards me on a shaggy bike, as I keep walking. His bike has seen better days. Both handles supported large Costco sized plastic bags full of junk and his hunched posture tells me that he didn’t buy that bike. Furthermore, he’s not looking too good either, with a few teeth missing. He calls out, “Cocaine, Hierba! Do you want?” I’ve should’ve kept walking… It’s my first month in Colombia and second day in Cartagena, where I’ve escaped from…

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