The choices regarding where we go can hardly be considered "poor". What "smart" choices can you make when you don't have any money to buy an airfare ticket, much less to live 5 months in a different country where you don't know anybody, and don't have papers to work?

A couple of condescending guys I know had the gall to criticize my decision to return home without knowing my family situation, or even bothering to ask. Go figure…

I guess they are the kind of people who believe money can fix everything. For them, sending money to their elders so they can live in relative comfort is more than enough. They pay no mind to the fact that those elders live in constant fear of never seeing their grandchildren again, or that they go to sleep each night with the haunting feeling that the last visit of their offspring might have truly been the last one.

That is selfish, and, to me, a poor choice indeed. I was criticized enough by guys who told me, "But if you don't go to work abroad and send them money, your parents are going to have a hard time." I know them. They already suffered a lot (all of us) while the kiddo and I were abroad, and it affected us all. Including my kid. Maybe money is not abundant these days, but knowing we are safe at home, and playing with our cats, having our afternoon coffee…those are the little things that make things worthwhile at the end of the day for them.

I will put a little personal information here. Not every decision you make has to be necessarily "prepping" related, guys. We have a life to live after all, and loved beings around us. I found Rowan's article about this quite interesting, by the way.

I don't want any kind of weight on my soul. If anything happens to my elder folks, still strong but aging, I need my kiddo to have at least the opportunity to say goodbye and be with them until the end. Otherwise, I am afraid he will build emotional walls that, later in life, will be very difficult to overcome. Being the life-loving biker I am, I am not allowing that. We are here to love, live, and ride free, guys. Prepping for the worst, sure, but hoping for the best.

From being underemployed in a foreign country, penniless and jobless, to my place, where all my belongings and goods are, where I have lived happily for more than 20 years.

I try to navigate through my days with resilience, mostly for my son. He is the reason that keeps me going, and I constantly think about how to give him at least the same opportunities I had, or better ones. Unemployed, yes, but not defeated at all, I go through my daily routine because I know this will pass, too. Being in my own environment keeps me more or less sane, avoiding those dark, depressive moments that were so frequent in Lima. The days without sun, endless working hours in an unknown country, including Saturdays until 3 pm, packed in a train 80 minutes a day to come and go from work to my rented room in a poor barrio…it was something you had to experience to appreciate all the good things you had. Not too easy to explain, but I am happy it is all over now.