I maybe love my traveling life a bit too much.
Woke up at 0Dark:Thirty Friday morning to be in a cab to TXL by 06:00. Had already packed my bag. <3 to the Hacker Hostel.
Got to the airport. They patted me down. Dumped out my bag. I removed the blade from my boot knife (box cutter ftw) and explained the CCCamp R0ket badge. They put my stuff through again, had me walk through the thing again. Took me to a side room to open up all my electronics and wipe them down with their fancy bomb towels. Sent me through again. At least the lady patting me down was attractive. A bit gruff though.
Customs in London. Passport, ticket, that little piece of paper that says who your contact is and where you’re staying (mine: London Hackerspace, woods).
“How long are you here for?”
“5 days.”
“What are you here for?”
“Conference.”
“About what?”
“Uhh.. how humanity is fucked but the stories we can tell to build better culture”
“..Kay. Who puts it on?”
“Uncivilization / Dark Mountain / New Public Thinking”
“And where are you staying?”
“In a tent.”
*glare*
“In the woods. Somewhere near London. I think. Dunno yet. Internet will tell me.”
“And Monday night?”
“Dunno yet. I think someone is hosting me, likely in my e-mail, I can pull up the info.”
“Are you traveling with anyone?”
“Not yet.”
“Do you have any paperwork? Tickets?”
“Can’t stand the stuff.”
“Do you have your ticket to return home?”
*Show her my flight info as an event on my phone*
“To Berlin. What are you doing there?”
“Staying one more night before going to Burning Man.”
“And before?”
“More camping. That time with hackers.”
“..”
“Between that and this I was working in a flat in some neighborhood I can’t pronounce.”
“Working? You don’t have a work visa.”
“No, telecommuting for work in the US.”
“What do you do?”
“I link up hacker communities to humanitarian organizations.”
*blink*
*smile*
*stamp*