March 2020- The majority of people, myself included had no idea how weird and how much life was never going to be the same. I was in my mid 30's, recently divorced and living with my girlfriend at the time next to the beach on the Gold Coast of Australia. My work involved me flying around the country often working in some pretty remote and unique places on big expensive machinery. I remember watching the news reports in the early days of the pandemic wondering how it was going to effect us so far away in Australia. Suddenly it was at outdoor step and I had no idea how much this would change me. I was like most others, waiting for the government to make a plan, cook up some vaccine that we can have so we can all go back to normal. During this time I had separated with my girlfriend and was spending the majority of my time with Jess, watching the world get weirder and weirder. Things were not making sense to me. 1.5m distancing, mask wearing, stay at home, don't exercise for fear of getting sick.
I got a phone call asking if I would go down into NSW for a stint of work. I didn't really want to go because I had not long gotten back from a stint, things with Jess was very exciting but the biggest kicker was I would have to self isolate in hotel quarantine for the two weeks once I returned back to Queensland. (Click here to read my in depth account) Every day things got weirder but now there was a vaccine available. People had concerns about how well this had been tested, what are the potential long term side effects given how quickly it seemed this had been rushed through. I was one of those people. In fact I had more and more questions as I counted down the days in isolation. Things got nasty at this point if you remember? People getting arrested and assaulted for non compliance, the vaccine was getting pushed hard, anyone that had questions or different views then what was getting pushed by the oh so trusty mainstream media were getting abused, attacked and vilified online. Shit show. It seemed like there was an agenda being pushed and after watching the way Australia looked up to big brother America and the WHO for guidance along with most western countries I knew that I no longer wanted to be a part of this. What followed for me was lots of information seeking and I opened up the rabbit hole big time. There was so much going on under the surface that I had no idea about. I didn't know who Jeffery Epstein was, I had never heard of Blackrock. I didn't understand how big pharma were in bed with the mainstream media who are  all owned and run by the same people. These same people who profited massively while the majority of people suffered with losing their jobs, business and loved ones. Depression, domestic abuse and suicide also was on the rise meanwhile "our leaders" like Boris Johnson were having multiple private parties ignoring the harsh rules being imposed on his people. The pandemic was the biggest transfer of wealth in our history and it exacerbated inequalities between the very wealthy and the rest of us. The more information I found out the angrier I got. I had very little trust in the government to act in our best interests previously and now it was a literal Humpty Dumpty laying shattered on the ground never to be put back together again.
Around this time Jess and I decided that we no longer wanted to participate in this way of living. Rent continued to rise, fuel prices were out of control, trying to buy groceries was a joke, power prices soared. Does anyone else feel like we are just being drip feed with our money, and more importantly our time into a collective IV that trickles into the 1% of elites that are running the show? What kind of existence is this? It's modern day slavery in my mind.  We just wanted to have a little bit of land away from all the noise so we could grow our own food, have animals and live a simpler way of life away from an ever increasing, over reaching and governing country. So we decided we was going to work hard, save and move to Mexico. We were both more than happy to risk our "safety" in hope of something better. This is where our journey started. Our initial plan was to buy a RV in America and cruise around Mexico until we found a little quiet town, away from all the tourists by the beach somewhere. We didnt know how we was going to achieve this but we knew somehow it was going to happen. During this time Jess and I had been growing and taking psilocybin in the form of magic mushrooms, working on our minds, beliefs, our spirituality and really priotrising growth. I really believe this was critical in getting us to where I am today. It opened my mind to what's possible when you start to get rid of thoughts, habits, friends, and thinking that doesn't serve you. I have had a lot of prior conditioning, left over baggage, and limiting beliefs that were not serving me. I am so lucky to have Jess by my side as she has shown me so much with her words, actions and her beliefs. I will write more details about this part of our lives as it has been so life changing in other blogs because I hope it will reach and help others in the same way its helped change me.
The point is once we did a lot of hard work, we made space for the positive changes to come. Jess started learning and working in the decentralised world (contact us if you would like to know more) and on one phone call to a Canadian she got asked if she had heard of what's happening in El Salvador. When she mentioned El Salvador to me I immediately thought of the gang violence, murders, and kidnappings that I had heard about. I even have friends who along with their families had to flee El Salvador, live in refugee camps before finding safety in Australia in the early 90's. How ever once we started researching and learning about their new President Nayib Bukele and his radicle and progressive ideas I felt something inside of me start to glow. We continued to research and within 48 hours I knew this was a great opportunity. I was buzzing like a old fridge. Mexico had always seemed great but kind of like a pipe dream. The route to victory seemed to have revealed its self to us in a very natural unforced way. We have had a few different ideas and plans along the way as our journey has unfolded. Our plan once we got overseas was to buy land, and set up a smallish retreat space where people can come and work on their body mind and soul. Spiritual, physical and mental growth. We wanted to build the property being resourceful, grow our own food and have animals around us that we take care of while working in with the local communities around us. So at one point we was looking into buying property in the hinterlands of the Gold Coast with the thought being, lets have a go at it here, make our mistakes here where we can recover quickly, learn the skills we need then bounce. That was going to be a 10 year plan though so it got scrapped. We went back to the plan of buying a RV in America, having some adventures as we travel down into El Salvador. We ended up having a financial set back in the crypto world and lost the money we had allocated for buying flights and a RV. It's a volatile world there but risks are needed sometimes to make big changes. This forced us again to reconsider our plans. We decided that having a RV was a financial liability not a asset as it left us open to break downs, maintenance costs, buying a dud etc. We also had been hearing word that there could be more travel restrictions and lockdowns so we really didn't want to have to boost it quickly to El Salvadort and leave a RV on the side of the road or sell it for pesos.
One of Jess's best friends had told her that she had done something called a "Workaway" actually in El Salvador back in 2017 where all they had to do was look after someones house, plants and pets while they were away from home for a few weeks. In exchange for their time they were given free accommodation and food. When I was hearing about this at a Childs 1st birthday party, my brain started going crazy with possibilities and suddenly screaming kids were far far from my mind. We looked into www.workaway.info and saw all the opportunities that were available and the penny dropped. We can go overseas, head to Central or South America, pack and travel light so if we need to get to El Salvador in a hurry we are only one quick flight away AND we can learn so many skills, make connections, experience so much culture and travel as we make our way into the next chapter of our lives! In keeping our mindsets, living by our beliefs, ethics and codes, not forcing anything we had been shown a way to make our dreams a reality.
There were still some hurdles to contend with. I was still working a job that was breaking my body, and keeping me time poor. I am for ever grateful to my late grandparents Malcom and Ruth for leaving me a very generous amount of money with their passing on from their time on Earth. This aloud me to become debt free, invest money into making a passive income, (please contact me if you would like to know more) quit my job and allow me the time to learn a new skill in options trading where I can in time make a income from only working a few hours a day. (Please contact me if you would like to know more) This period in time really felt like everything was alining perfectly and a flow state was really happening in real time.
We left the Gold Coast halfway through Augest and moved in with our friends Strell and Tom who have 1.5 acres out towards Toowoomba. Its been so good being out there away from the noise, the traffic, the fast pace of city living. It took a few weeks to get used to the concept of not working but being around the animals, helping Tom and Strell with their house, projects and especially their animals has been a truly enjoyable experience. If you asked me 5  years ago would I like the change I think we would be having a different conversation. It's funny how our ideas and values change with time. The key is not being so attached to our perceived identities, doing what's right for ourselves and making decisions not based on people pleasing.
Today marks 1 month until we clutch off. My brother Matthew and his wife Teagan will be flying in for a few days to spend some time with us. We will sneaking down to Tasmania to say goodbye to my parents for a couple of days. The rest of the time we have will be spent with Jess's family before we depart. Thank you for reading and following along as we navigate this next chapter of our lives. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, thoughts and suggestions. Our friendships, connections, and experiences help shape usand time is our greatest asset. Hold onto the special moments, because we never do know what lies around the corner which depending on the way you look at life can either be scary or exciting. I chose excitement!!
 







Danny and Jess. October 2023