I am sleeping on the floor. I feel the little fella crawling on top of me, the little fella is the mouse we have. He’s near my head. I awake, pick him up and put him on his table. That’s his home. He’s got his boxes and his hay there. I lay back down. It’s early in the morning, maybe 4 or 5. I sleep for a little bit longer, and eventually wake up again around 8 or something. My friend is rushing to work. She makes herself some breakfast, does some stuff in the bathroom, and she is out the door. I like it when I’m alone at home. I make myself some matcha, sit down, check a few things on the laptop. I know that today will be the day I have to leave. I have to start this Hammock Life things already, can’t hesitate anymore. Maybe it’s more of preparing, rather than hesitation.
I clean the house a bit. Screw some things that needed to be screwed a long time ago. Move one couch to another room, and do the same with the couch in that “another room”, and move it to the previous room. I cut the yoga mat so that it fits in the hammock, the yoga matt is too long anyways. Then I wrap the hammock, stuff it in a tight bag. I pack some clothes in my duffle bag. I take a shit, then take a shower, then brush my teeth. So many things to do, but I’m not in a rush. It’s around 11:30 now. I finish all those things and head out the door. strap all the items to my 28in wheel bike. I go back in the house get a few more things. The landlady arrives. Fuck. I don’t like to be around her. She’s super conservative, or closed-minded. I already know she’s not a fan of my bike across Poland idea.
I’m on the road. I head to the tram stop, where I catch a bus to Nowa Huta. It’s the shittier part of Krakow, but there’s lots of nature there, and my friend is working there at a Cafe in the park. I finally arrive after 40 minutes, we chat a bit, eat a bit, but it’s time for me to go. I don’t want to chat for too long, I’ve done it a thousand times already. She gives me a kiss, and I’m off. I ride around a bit, trying to find a place where I can just sit and chill on my own. I eventually make it to some shopping centre, because I need to purchase some clamps. I get them. I notice the girls walking around, there are some cute ones, and not so cute ones. I guess it’s just human nature, once you free yourself from commitment, your mind starts to wonder again. Maybe consciousness restricts the evolutionary instincts, and once consciousness lets go, the instincts roam free again.
I make it to some park. Find a bench. Sit and write for a while. I feel a bit weird. Being on my own now. With this bike full of shit. Maybe people think I am homeless. That’s a thought that comes across often. But who cares. What do these people know about life? They live their repetitive lives, take their little holidays, and then they’re back to the repetition. It’s comfortable, it’s nice, but it’s not living.
I head off again, this time I head towards some shopping centre in another town. I need to buy some food, get some water, charge my devices, find a place to sleep, but it’s exciting. I make it there. It’s another one of those Polish shopping centres, with polished white floors, shoe stores, and the cafeteria with the bistro that sells food for 4.99zloty for a 100grams. The so familiar mother, father, and babysitting and chatting about materialism. I buy the water, some bananas, then sit in the food court, charge my electronics, and do some work. I’m trying to build this design business, but it’s going slow. I chat to a few applicants, find one I like. It’s a short hour, I go back to the store, buy some more food, some salads, half a chicken, pay 18zl, good deal.
I push through the grasses, the plants that sting, the mosquitos buzzing around. The noise of traffic dulls a bit. I tie the bike to some tree, don’t want to drag it any further. I take the hammock, tarp and the sleeping bag and head deeper. I eventually make it to a place where the birds are having loud conversations, and the trees cover me all around. A deer runs by, maybe my height. I start tying up the hammock, it take a bit to get it right. I sit in the hammock, open my box of chicken and salads, and start eating. I try to stream simutenously, but it doesn’t work so well. It’s getting darker, the mosquitos are buzzing near my ear, it’s chaotic. I chow down fast, turn the stream off, and get into the sleeping bag and zip the hammock. It’s real comfortable! I lay there, check my phone for a bit, check the weather, realise that it’s going to rain soon. I think about it for a while, should I put the tarp? should I not? I get up and do it. It’s almost dark, I try to do it fast. It’s a bit scary actually. Alone in the forest. What if a wild animal nears by and bites me? What is some mystical creature swallows me up. I have a fear of the darkness, but I try to calm myself, and finish the job.
The tarp is up. It’s not the best, but it covers the hammock. I hop back in, wipe my feet, and squeeze into the sleeping bag. I adjust a few times, and get in a comfortable-enough position. I try to sleep, but it takes a while. I’m here again, in the forest, alone. But I’m a bit less worried now. Nothing happened last time I was here, so I should be okay. I fall asleep. I awaken a few times during the night to the sniffing of a wild pig, good thing that I left the chicken box away from the hammock. I fall asleep again. It’s good night for me.
