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I Haven't Been Sacked! I've Been Asked Politely To Step Aside...

With a friend of mine we have decided to stick two fingers up to the rest of the (capitalist) world and go traveling like in the good old days. Of course due to our age we'd like to do it in style, while keeping a true spirit of adventure and costs as low as possible. It seems that the job market doesn't need us any more, we are too old, too good at what we do, too cynical and not very willing to nod our heads and jump anytime a higher hierarch asks us to.

No regrets, we'd be wanting to do it for a very long time. In fact since we started working—he in the arts and I in the world of media. Having worked in these industries we have both enjoyed more freedom than the average person but even so we think that the current economic situation is too hopeless and harsh and we don't see any future prospect for neither of us or any point in carrying on working.

So, the next move will be: buying a caravan and go traveling wherever our fancy takes us. The idea is to start around March and work our way up to the colder Northern Countries by August. We have found a name for our endeavour and will call ourselves: 'Tramps with style'. It seems such an appropriate name for two baby boomers, who grew up with a strong sense of independence and respect for freedom. Our idea is to live very frugally when traveling while enjoying local produce and buying directly from farmers. We still don't know if this is going to be feasible and workable, we'll see what happens once 'on the road'.

Of course this is a challenge and it might not work the way we want it to work. It might be too much for us or it might be fantastic, who knows!


Licenziato? No,  Mi è Stato Solo Chiesto Gentilmente Di Farmi Da Parte

Io e un mio amico abbiamo deciso di voltare le spalle a questo mondo capitalista e dedicarci ai viaggi. Il mondo del lavoro non ci richiede più: in questo momento di crisi chiunque venga considerato superfluo deve essere eliminato e noi due siamo entrambi superflui a quanto pare. Il lavoro è sempre meno, la retribuzione sempre più bassa, e noi troppo cinici per abbassare la testa in segno di consenso ogni qual volta uno dei nostri superiori ci chiede di fare qualcosa di sempre più impossibile, in minor tempo, e con meno paga di prima. C'è un limite a tutto, signori capitalisti. Prima avevate solo i contadini e gli operai contro, ora ci sono i professionisti, gli insegnanti, la classe media in generale, che di medio non ha quasi nulla. Insomma siamo tutti nella stessa barca ma per qualche incredibile alchimia, la magia del 10% con in mano la ricchezza del mondo stranamente continua. Allora io con il mio amico abbiamo deciso di viaggiare in maniera frugale, spendendo il meno possibile ma cercando di mantenere un certo senso di avventura che ha sempre dominato le nostre vite. Siamo entrambi baby-boomers cresciuti con il culto della libertà e dell'indipendenza e tanti altri che ormai in pochi ricordano.

La prima cosa da fare è stato trovare un nome adatto, ci chiameremo: 'Barboni con stile': perché lo stile non è acqua e non c'entra niente con i soldi, come molti ci dimostrano ogni giorno nelle pagine dei giornali. Per anni abbiamo lavorato, io nei media e lui nel mondo dell'arte e siamo stati quindi abituati ad un grado di libertà nel nostro lavoro maggiore di altri. Ma nonostante tutto è venuta l'ora di decidere che così non si può più andare avanti e allora cos'altro ci resta da fare se non dedicarci a quello che abbiamo sempre fatto bene? Cioè, essere testimoni di quello che sta succedendo un po' dappertutto e dividere la nostra esperienza con gli altri. E' un'ottima idea a mio parere, invece di marcire a casa (o nelle regie galere) e sottostare ai capricci del mercato del lavoro (oggi tu, oggi io e intanto qualcun altro si arricchisce).

Così abbiamo deciso di comprare un camper e viaggiare in maniera economica, acquistando prodotti locali da coltivatori diretti. Batteremo le strade europee da sud, cominciando nel mese di marzo, sino ad arrivare nei paesi nordici verso agosto. È una sfida soprattutto a noi stessi e non sappiamo cosa aspettarci. Sara più difficile del previsto o molto meglio di come immaginiamo?
Ai posteri l'ardua sentenza! E si spera tanto che quei posteri saremo noi!

Nota: I posts non sono delle traduzioni e quindi variano in parte l'uno dall'altro. Mi piace scrivere non tradurre e preferisco riscriverli nelle due lingue.

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