Know Thyself

Sun Tzu the strategist tells us to know our enemy and know thyself. To be aware is to be alive! The same strategy applies when you disappear from BIG BROTHER or any other threat in your life. You must think like a military strategist and anything less will knock you out of the game. Knowing thyself is more than knowing your online and offline information. Knowing thyself is to know your survival skills and knowing the tracking skills of your enemy. Disappearing is far beyond the idea of going from point A to point B. Disappearing is about being aware of your environment every second of your day.

 

Every face you pass on the streets in your new world is a threat. The cashier ringing up the milk, the postal worker stuffing mail into your mailbox and the person sitting across from you in a café is all a threat.

 

Every metro station you enter and exit is a threat. Walking the street and turning the corner is a threat. Even entering your home at night is a threat. The danger you dread can come from anywhere anytime. How you react when confronted by the threat will no doubt determine the success of your freedom.

 

Mr. Money!

 

Mr. Money embezzled a million dollars from his employer. He transferred the stolen money to a bank in Kenya. He jumped on a plane, landed in Nairobi and began his new life on the run. Mr. Money soon became bored in the big city and made his way to Diani Beach, a resort area on the coast of Kenya.

 

The once conservative bean counter fell into the life of a playboy. In a matter of months everyone knew Mr. Money, he was the man throwing money around as if it was fairy dust and infinite. This attracted the wrong woman.

 

Mr. Money is a dangerous breed of disappear and many fall prey to its seduction. This breed usually has a large bulk of money and only depends on that bulk of money for the rest of their life.

 

A million bucks is whole bunch of cabbage but it is not enough to play international playboy for the rest of your life. The problem with this pedigree is they do not think beyond their stash. It is one thing to be a playboy if you have five million but a million, it is not happening.

 

Mr. Money eventually came to his senses and realized that he was burning through his money too quick. He decided to settle down and go into business with his girlfriend. His girlfriend had different ideas and she disappeared with his money. She was kind enough to leave him some spending money. Quickly, Mr. Money fell on hard times and soon became Mr. Homeless. He wandered the streets of Nairobi trying to survive and I am sure it was a living hell.  If you want to see some wretched homelessness living, search images of homeless in Nairobi.

 

Mr. Homeless could not climb out of his homeless hell and so he turned himself in to the authorities. I guess five to fifteen in his home country seemed more appetizing then his current living conditions. He assumed that his country would extradite him to stand trial. Unfortunately, for Mr. Money his country was in no rush. The Kenyan authorities had no interest in feeding another mouth in jail so they released him back to the streets. Mr. Homeless barely survived on the streets another three months before his country swooped him up.

 

Mr. Money aka Mr. Homeless did not know thyself. He should have known that a million dollars does not make someone an international playboy. He should have known that spending money like water is stupid. He should have known that his girlfriend only used him for his money. He should have known that if he lost all of his money he could never survive on the streets of an African country.

 

Mr. Money’s chose Kenya to protect himself against extradition. He also saw the cost of living as inexpensive. This made good sense and definitely walked in the direction of disappearing properly. The decision to move to a resort town was his downfall. His cost of living increased and his lifestyle changed drastically. It is as if he woke up one morning, put on a white suit and became the Don Johnson on Kenya.

 

An ancient Chinese proverb from the he ever enlightened Frank M. Ahearn: When one throws money around like an idiot, those willing to take money from the idiot will grace him with their presence.

 

Ultimately disappearing is about freedom. Each decision you make should be in the advancement of your freedom. If a decision comes your way and your answer does not walk you in the direction of freedom something is wrong. Freedom should always come first.

 

When I was a teenager, I spent some quality time in a drug program. It was kind of like street college for me. I learned how to survive in a completely different way. The program was all about being aware. They had a central philosophy that we followed but what I found most useful were the unwritten philosophies, which they posted all around the house. For me, the idea to be aware is to be alive was the most important philosophy I kept close to me.

 

To be aware is to be alive is a simple saying but fitting in the world of disappearing, to be aware is to be alive means knowing who you are and knowing what makes you vulnerable. Think people, places and things.

 

The drug program stressed the point that if you do not want to get high you do not hang out with people who are getting high. If you do not want to lose your freedom, do not hang in places or with people that can compromise your freedom. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own actions that alone can decide your fate.

 

In your disappear world you need to stay one-step ahead of BIG BROTHER. He is the evil twin lurking the corner and his evil brother BIG BUSINESS is the one who makes it easier for BIG BROTHER to find you around the corner. Always think before you approach. Always think while are in the approach. Always think!

 

How Would You React?

 

When faced with a threat or a possible threat you have two choices. Stay and investigate the threat or get out of town immediately. If you stay, you may discover the threat is false but then again you could discover the threat is real. If the threat is real boom goes your life. A situation like this is fifty-fifty and to me fifty-fifty are never good odds when freedom is in the balance.

 

When faced with the threat of discovery you have the choice to leave immediately. Immediately means go now, and retrieve one of your GO BAGS and BE GONE! Freedom is far more important than anything you are leaving behind.

 

This means you must always have access to your passport. I personally believe it is best to have your passport on your person. Ideally, if you have two passports you could stash one in a Go Bag and the other in pocket.

 

Knowing thyself includes knowing what you can live with and what you cannot. You should never keep the items you cannot live without in your home.

 

Keep these items in a mail drop or storage facility so you can retrieve quickly or arrange to retrieve them at another time.

 

Assume your predator located your apartment in Munich and you know that you must leave town instantly. Assume that something at your mail drop does not feel right. Go with that instinct and never second guess. The problem you have now is your passport is in the mail drop and you cannot leave without it.  What do you do?  Here is a scenario to make you think somewhat out of the box. Actually, it is probably crazy and unrealistic but here you go.

 

The Hotel Escapade

 

You will need to rent two hotel rooms in separate hotels. Hotel A will receive your Go Bag and Hotel B will be where you sleep. The hotels you select should have more than one entrance. Find hotels on streets that offer outside hiding space where you can observe the traffic going in and out of the hotel. Do note this offers BIG BROTHER the same opportunity. 

 

When you request your mail drop to ship your Go Bag, inquire which shipping company will deliver to Hotel A. Go online and search out the uniforms worn by the postal workers or delivery companies.

 

Surveillance serves two purposes, to follow and gather intelligence or to wait and capture. I will assume that since you are disappeared you fall under the wait and capture category.

 

There is no way of knowing if BIG BROTHER discovered your mail drop. If they did, they will know about your delivery request. If that is the case, it is best to flee and take your chances without your gear.

 

If you are in a situation where you need your Go Bag and have made the decision that you must extract it from Hotel A understand the odds are against you.

 

Before you walk in blindly to Hotel A and attempt to extract your Go Bag you must do so under the guise that BIG BROTHER or your predator is sitting surveillance on the hotel. That is why you need to prepare the room in Hotel A the night before.

 

The Night Before

 

Locate a hardware store or home appliance store and buy two or three timers. These are the type of timers you plug into outlets and turn electric items on and off.

 

Before you have Go Bag shipped to Hotel A, you will set up the timers. Connect the TV, radio and lamps to go on and off various times. Also, set the phone to do not disturb and hang the do not disturb placard on the door. This will give the appearance you are in your room.               If BIG BROTHER or your predator, is not very smart they just they just might storm the hotel room. In addition, before you exit the room duct tape a towel to the lower part of the door so there is a lot of drag left on the floor. This is to obstruct the view of any cameras slid under the door. Do not forget to pull the drapes and keep your head down when you exit the hotel.

 

Outdoor Location

 

Next, you will find a location in the city where you can monitor auto or pedestrian traffic coming and going. Search for a one way in and one way out type of location.

 

Come the next day you place yourself outside of Hotel A, deciding if surveillance is waiting for you to pick up the package. Coming to this decision is not an easy task. The million dollar question is are you better at spotting surveillance or is the predator better at camouflage. I personally say run now!

 

After the package arrives, the desk clerk will leave you a message making you aware. Again, I would not attempt extraction of the package it is too risky. If you really need the package, you move to phase two of the hotel escapade.

 

From a prepaid phone call Hotel A and leave a verbal message with the desk clerk as if you are a different person. The message should confirm a meeting you are having with yourself. Spell out the location and time. The location should be the one way in place you scouted the day before. This is where you will watch and see if a surveillance team shows up.

 

If a team arrives at the location, it is time to leave town. If it appears no team, shows up you must make a calculated decision.

 

You make your way back to Hotel A and if you are confident that there is no surveillance, you move forward. However, it is best not to walk up to the hotel clerk and retrieve for your package. You may not have been as observant as you think.

 

This is a situation where you will use a third party to pick up your package. Call the desk clerk, identify yourself, and explain an associate will be picking up the package. Find someone on the street looking to make a few extra bucks. Tell them to pick up the package at Hotel A and deliver the package to the one way in location.

 

After the street person enters the hotel for the pickup, time how long it takes them to exit. If there is, a significant delay in time apprehension is now a possibility. Walk away

 

If the street person walks out of the hotel with no delay it is, possible a surveillance is occurring. You must carefully follow the street person so they do not run off with your package. When you are confident, they will deliver your package make haste to the one-way location and wait. This is when you will decide if you will gamble with your future.

 

I SAY RUN!

 

What I just explained is sheer craziness and to even consider something like the hotel escapade is nuts. Knowing yourself is to know if you are smart enough to leave and not dumb enough to stay and go head to head with a mighty beast. Playing intelligence and counter intelligence with masters of the game is playing with confinement. Never put yourself in a situation where you must play such a game. Always walk away.