Today we want to introduce to you LifePackers. Amazing couple from Poland. While answering the questions Lifepackers are saying hello from the warm Indonesia. They are traveling around the world. Interview conducted on 20.12.2017.
Please introduce yourself, what’s your name, where do you come from, what do you do for a living?
We are Ola Kusz from Żagań (Poland) and Maciej Pulit from Pulit ze Złotowa (Poland). As LIFEPACKERS, we set off on a journey around the world in October 2016 and we hope that it will last another two years
Briefly, what was your lifestyle like before?
Before leaving, we worked intensively in the production of commercials, not having too much time for family, friends and the implementation of our own passions and plans. We were too close to our professional life, which was characterized by a very fast pace and constant being at full speed. To some extent, it certainly suited us, but over time it simply … stopped.
Was there an event or moment that actually propelled you to make a change?
Certainly, the circumstances in which we found ourselves speed up this decision – after working professionally in one team, we started to be a couple in personal life 🙂 But it was also a collection of many previous thoughts, as well as bringing to the surface a long suppressed we both dream about traveling around the world.
How/what did you do to change your life?
We had to answer for sure a very important question: Are you sure we both want it? And then, successively saving, saving moving out after 10 years from Poznan, resigning from a job we loved, selling all possible personal items, ie car, electronics, kitchen appliances, furniture and even clothes!
Were there any obstacles?
The greatest difficulty were conversations and farewells with family and friends who, on one hand, enjoyed our happiness, but on the other (for obvious reasons), they wanted to somehow stop us and have definitely closer.
What has prevented you from making a decision to change?
It seems to us that we had to see this decision and many factors must have contributed to it 🙂 We had to experience everything we experienced and meet at the right time so that such a decision could be made. Later there was certainly a bit of anxiety and ignorance before it happens … what’s the right decision? How will we organize it all? That we will not make it with something? But such fears are completely natural, everyone probably has them, especially when the life changes dramatically! Luckily, we’ve hardened in the former work.
We are constantly afraid of changes, searching for the best solutions, rational decision making, quick response to random changes, etc. Despite everything, we were highly motivated and confident in this decision, we also did not consider its change.
What was the hardest thing to let go of from your previous lifestyle and how did you overcome it?
The most difficult things was and is still ‘distance’ with family and friends. Unfortunately, nothing will compensate us for the absence on a family Christmas Eve, dinner at Grandma’s, a walk with a godson, a cup of coffee with a friend or being with someone in difficult and beautiful moments.
Can you describe a typical day of your life now?
Oh, this is a really difficult question because it’s different every day. In addition to the two approximately 3-week stops in Nepal and Thailand, we do not stay longer in one place. We are interested in so many things, we want to see so many and experience so much, that despite appearances, we have to hurry anyway (however weirdly sound like this).
Each day is full a lot of unknowns for us. We ask about things that we have not asked for a long time, because we just knew them. Nothing is obvious, starting from the language we use, because English does not work in many places. We try to learn at least some basic phrases in every country we visit.
In principle, we check everything from the place where we are going to, specifically, the convenient location for hitchhiking. We never know how long it will take us to travel, and only sometimes we know where we are going to spend the day. We check the prices of suburban buses, the place where to eat a meal, what to eat in the given region and of course what to see there. We ask local people, we buy a bad sim card, the internet is so bad that it makes it difficult to load a post, we discover a nice spot, we are disappointed with some famous location, we try fruits that we have never eaten before, we buy a dish that despite the order without chilli has so much in it spice, that we breathe fire, we drown in the rain, fry in the sun, forget to brush our teeth, we have no place to do the laundry, we bathe in ice water, we have everything moist, in the sand, the arm in our backpack rips, the sandal breaks, unknowingly we pay for various shit. We take a lot of pictures and we do not have time to edit them, we are frustrating.
We jump into clouds for joy, we move, we learn, we inspire ourselves, we talk a lot, we have time to think about what is happening around us, we meet fantastic people, we end up with a visa, we can not get up-to-date information in places created for this, we feel lost, tired, we plan what’s next, we land in the hospital, we escape the rats, spiders, scorpions or snakes, we touch elephants and we watch rhinoceros’, we sleep in the desert, at the medical point, in the Buddhist monastery, we walk through the jungle, high mountains, we get volcanoes, we dive and sail, we save, we look for opportunities to do, we keep hands, we talk about Poland, we listen about other countries, we have changeable moods, we write blog posts, write to e-mails, we call our families and close friends, we slowly realize that some relationships are very weak, we do not know what will happen next , we do not know when we will be back, we do not know what our life will look like, but one thing we are sure of: we love each other and we do not regret one thing that has happened!
What is the best thing or the best moment regarding your new lifestyle?
What we value most is the fact that we get to know the world around us, each other and ourselves, as much as possible as a pair. Spending with each other virtually every moment in various situations, often also extreme ones, we observe ourselves in every installment. There is no option for any camouflage. We also tremendously appreciate everyone we meet on our way and from whom we can learn so much. Without a human element for us, this trip would be much poorer. We are extremely grateful that we can experience all of this. Of course, we also value some kind of independence, the ability to decide every moment of our day, what we will do and where we will go tomorrow 🙂
How do you feel about your lifestyle in regards to your mind, body and soul?
We are definitely changing and constantly learning. We try not to close our minds to anything that we have contact with. This, despite appearances, is quite a challenge, because for almost 30 years we have lived in one religious and cultural circle. During this time, we have already somehow shaped, and now as if we learn to look at many things in a different way. It is difficult to get rid of prejudices, objectivity and evaluation, but we learnt it. We experience many difficult to explain situations, ‘coincidences’. We meet many people who share their experiences and spiritual beliefs with us. We watch, learn and try to sort everything out.
As for our body, apart from completing several scars after falls on a motorcycle, close to a third-degree meeting with a coral reef, burns on the exhaust pipe or scratches and abrasions of various kinds, we feel that we live healthier. We eat more regularly, we think more about what we eat, we have access to delicious, cheap and healthy fruit, and we move more than before the journey. We have constant contact with nature, which we love, and it also seems to us that our body is doing very well 🙂
Do you have any regrets?
Nothing, really! Even if we do not get there, somewhere where we really wanted to be and lose because of that a day or two, we try to believe that it had to be like that. Often, in such situations beautiful things happen, we meet people, we experience situations that would not have happened if we did not find ourselves for various reasons in a given place. Of course, we have better and worse moments, but we believe that all of them are needed. They shape us. Regret does not really change anything, so why bother?
What do your friends and family think?
We feel great support from our loved ones. At the beginning they were all a bit scared, but ‘the worst’ is probably behind them;) We fully understand their fears, so almost every day we try to send even a short message with information about where we are and what is happening to us. We also notice that they support us strongly, although of course they do not always understand our decisions. We are very happy that we have such wonderful relatives who accept our choices and trust us 🙂 We also get a lot of signals from distant and closer friends that they respect our decisions to set out on a journey, somehow even admire and watch our actions with bated breath . This is very nice for us, although we tell everyone that it can also 🙂
Has your change inspired anyone else to change anything about their lives?
Oh yes! We have heard many times already: ‘Like lifepackers we went hijacking’, or ‘We felt like lifepackers’. Friends say that our decision made them think about their own lives and that we gave them a kick to act. I think we have just become such a ‘tangible’ example for them not to be afraid to fulfill their dreams, and to take challenges in various fields. It’s probably because we’re ordinary, real people that they’ve known for some time. What’s more, both friends and strangers write to us asking for advice, because they plan a longer journey. We are happy that we can support them!
What advice would you give to anyone who was thinking about making a life change?
We would like people to listen to their own hearts! A great change for everyone will mean something completely different and there is nothing to compare to others. The fact that one is happy with what he do, does not mean the same thing will give happines another one too. In our opinion, you can not be discouraged, only you have to be hardworking and persistent. And above all, we recommend to start this great change from even a small decision giving the right direction 🙂 If someone would like to embark on a journey, maybe start by setting the date of departure, route, or buying a cheap flight starting his adventure in a few months (we did so) ). If someone would like to live in another place on earth, he can find a few months volunteer at this place or at least buy a guide and make an initial action plan for the coming months of preparations 🙂 In our opinion, it is very important to decide and in a sense visualize this future, which I want to reach 🙂
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