#001 — Doom Bar, Cardiff and the Art of Getting Lost

Cardiff, Wales. Sunday afternoon.

You’re looking at my first dispatch, published through a CMS I built from scratch. No ready-made templates, no WordPress shortcuts. Just raw code for a raw life. I figured if I’m going to tell my story, I should at least own the medium.

Who am I? My name is Kamil. I’m 40 years old, originally from Poland—a country I’ve grown to despise with a passion I can’t quite put into words yet. For the last five years, I’ve been in constant motion. For now, I’m tackling Europe. Most of the time, I’m on foot. Sometimes I take a bus or a train. Rarely a plane—and not because I’m afraid of heights. It’s the ground that’s the problem, specifically the lack of funds to leave it. But that’s a story for another time.

The Current View Right now, I’m sitting in a Wetherspoon in Cardiff. It’s Sunday, which means the rest of the world is closed, locked away in their predictable lives. I’m staring at a pint of Doom Bar and typing these words.

How do I survive? Modestly. Occasionally, I find work for a few months to refill the tank. My friend jokes that I’ve never been "tainted" by honest labor in my life. He’s wrong, of course, but the truth is I usually have no job, no savings, and I live off whatever the road decides to provide. It’s not a lifestyle for everyone. It’s barely a lifestyle for me, but it’s the only one that feels real.

What to Expect Here This journal will be a record of life in different countries and my "adventures"—quotes intended. But let’s be clear about one thing: I am not here to show you beautiful tourist traps or "all-inclusive" paradises. You won’t see the polished, colorful covers of travel magazines here. Instead, I’ll show you the world as it really is: grey, gritty, and dirty—the parts people usually choose to ignore. I’ll share photos and stories. Unfortunately, most of my visual records from past years were lost to various "circumstances of nature" (life has a way of stripping you of your past when you’re not looking). For those earlier chapters, I’ll use what I can find online to set the scene.

But moving forward? You’ll get the real deal. Photos and videos as they happen. I’m still figuring out what "regularly" means in my vocabulary, but I’ll do my best to keep the updates flowing.

Join the Expedition If you’ve ever felt like walking away from it all, or if you just want to see how a 40-year-old Pole navigates the world with nothing but a backpack and a bit of luck—stick around.

Subscribe to get notified about new posts. The road is long, and the beer is almost gone.

Cheers from Cardiff, Kamil