Billy DeCarlo, Project: Pioneer Podcast

So long, for now.

Project: Pioneer is the live weekly reality journal of a couple and their small dog as they leave their ‘normal’ life in a luxury apartment for a new semi-off grid life in a small recreational vehicle. We cover prepping, politics, spirituality, afterlife, RV life, and personal finance. Half of all subscription/donation money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the other half pays for expenses. You can listen to the audio podcast version of this journal at Substack [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/podcast], Apple [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/614337f5-a82d-4229-802f-8b227d6ea05b?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], Spotify [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/fd9fe064-17bf-4597-bc74-fd88f6e13348?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], PocketCasts [https://play.pocketcasts.com/?redirect=%2Fpodcasts%2Fshare%3Fid%3D66555e30-f91a-013c-5d5e-0acc26574db2] and others. Listen to the audio above for our new theme music, Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. Please share this post! Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Don’t despair—prepare. I've always taken pride in not being a sensationalist, always being practical and analytic. But it's true the frogs don't notice the water is getting hot until too late. It's true that people in cataclysmic historical times never actually realized it at the time. It's clear now the USA is an authoritarian regime. The Oval Office meeting with the El Salvador dictator on Monday made that clear. The past few weeks have made all this crystal clear: The Constitution is dead.The rule of law is dead.The separation of powers is dead.The checks and balances are dead.The Supreme Court has been rendered a joke.The entire top hierarchy of our government is corrupt and acting in concert.We are strongly allied with Russia, striving to replicate that dictatorship.We no longer have allies to save us. They pity us.The bond market meltdown last week made clear the world is running from us.We are heading for a long recession, possibly depression.We are in complete chaos—daily political, financial, and climate destruction.Experts on fascism are leaving the country.Our brightest doctors, engineers, researchers are leaving. If you don’t see the above happening in real time, you’re not paying attention or you’re in denial. I have a friend like that—always poo-pooing things he doesn’t want to acknowledge or doesn’t agree with, until reality makes it impossible. And maybe even then, he’ll still deny it. I have another friend, a Mexican-American of dubious citizenship status. He and his wife are all in with the cult. They like to travel. I’d be quite nervous presenting my papers the next time they re-enter the US. He doesn’t realize he’s dirt to Trump’s racist leadership, as are his kids and grandkids, because they “look dirty” to these racists, due to their skin color. They may get “sent back where they came from” simply for that reason. Sure, there’s Kash Patel and other tokens, which allow them to say, “See? We have black and brown friends.” They get in the club with massive devotions and donations, of course. You aren’t in the club. But, I love my friends, and we all have our quirks :-) However, it will always fascinate me how people who love and listen to all that music with lyrics that are the antithesis to trumpism, people who call themselves Christians, can support something that is the exact opposite. If you’re one of the folks who voted for trump, don’t say, “I didn’t vote for this.” Yes, you did. We all saw it coming. He said he would do all this. Don’t ever call yourself an American patriot. You’re a gullible, hateful person who reacted emotionally because you’re uncomfortable around people who aren’t just like you. Or, you’re some greedy entitled prick who doesn’t want to pay taxes to the country that made *you* great. Or, somehow, you bought into the fallacy that a greedy, corrupt guy who has only ever destroyed everything and everyone he’s come in contact with, with six bankruptcies including a casino, but played a fake successful businessman on a scripted “reality” TV show, was indeed a successful businessman and would lead *you* into prosperity. These billionaire fascists will come for you, eventually. You and those you love will suffer economically for these wannabe dictators. You already are. You are not in the club, as you’re just starting to find out (unless of course you’re a straight, white, male, billionaire). You’re not a fan of anything this country was based on, because this whole MAGA movement has always flown in the face of all of it. Don’t call yourself a Christian, because it’s always been the polar opposite of Jesus’ teachings. Re-read those Beatitudes. Carefully. You f’d around, joined a cult, now you’ll find out. You did this, you owe it to us all to join the fight. At most we have a year and a half before the curtain comes down on the USA as a constitutional republic, if we’re lucky. The report trump requested on day one of his presidency, on whether he should use the Insurrection Act, is due on April 20. He may decide to use it earlier, to quell the planned April 19 protests. There’s no way they're going to allow mid-term elections, at least not legit ones. One piece of strong evidence happened in that Oval Office press conference on Monday, all the ass kissing for the dictator from El Salvador. And so, back to us. You don’t find much real, actual, non-cosplay prepper content online. By virtue, we are paranoid, and a part of the recipe is to keep your mouth shut about your tactics, if you are serious about this. I only wanted to help others, and I hope I have over these two years of providing you so much information that you may very well need, and very soon. Those posts are a gift to you, but I can’t guarantee I’ll keep them online if things get hotter. Do I sound mad? Yeah, big mad. Giavana and I had that dream of building a nice, isolated prepper log cabin. Trump’s election ended that, because we knew the USA empire would fall. We wouldn’t buy or own real estate in Russia either, for the same reason. Would you? If not, then sell. Then we started thinking about joining an eco-village, to form a community for security and survival. Yesterday, on an informational meeting, we were getting all excited, then I had this vision: General (big strong guy, tears in his eyes): “Sir, I’ve come to you directly because Secretary Hegseth is still sleeping off his bender last night. This is important. We’ve discovered a village of woke, liberal smurfs living happily in the woods.” Trump: “Seize it, use eminent domain, and burn it to the ground, hopefully while that scum are still asleep.” I’m far more angry about the GenZ and younger people who will never enjoy the USA the rest of us had. For the first time, the children of working families have little chance of doing better than their parents. That’s not because of trans people or immigrants. There is one clear, obvious reason: corporate greed, corporate welfare. That’s what changed our life here so quickly from my parents’ time, one generation ago, where a high school dropout manufacturing worker could work Monday to Friday 9-5 with a solid hour lunch and give his family a comfortable life while his spouse stayed home to raise the kids properly. Now we’re all slaves to this corporate machine, stressed and tired, and it’s still not enough to survive, while those at the top wallow in luxury due to the fruits of our labor. The government are now seizing and examining the phones and content of US citizens, without warrants. That makes us a target, and maybe even you as well, for reading stuff like this. It puts people I love at risk, and I can’t tolerate that. I do this for you. There’s no financial benefit, and frankly hasn’t been a whole lot of interaction, which makes it easier. I’ll die for this cause, I’ll die on this hill for those I love who are younger, but I can’t put loved ones in danger. It’s not a sell-out or cop-out. I will be in this fight in every way I can, and I hope you will too. Everything depends on it. I’ll continue the fight, subversively, but that can’t include writing what I write. Not on a public blog, anyway. Trump said he’ll start sending US citizens to that gulag torture prison in El Salvador. I’m a small voice, whistling these words into the wind to a small audience. But, I enjoy this, and thus it’s another thing taken away. In the past, when I dared to dream (nightmare) all this happening, I was often naive enough to think, “The cops and military are regular people with families, all races and creeds, most of them wouldn’t go along with a takeover or violence against citizens.” Surprise, it’s happening all over right now. Cops, ICE, Homeland Security, FBI, all in full fascist concert. Probably the military is next. They seem to be loving the chance to use all those cool weapons and rough some folks up. That’s what too many cops do, it’s why too many are cops. We’ve seen autistic Black kids beaten and killed by Black cops, incredibly. In our last post, I talked about this overwhelming sense of things coalescing into…something. I mentioned earlier in this post that people in cataclysmic historic times don’t actually realize they’re in cataclysmic historic times in the moment. A few scenes from the new The Chosen season five stand out. There’s one where the disciple Little James is a talented singer and makes the cut to sing in the national choir as a young man, but is told he can’t because he has a physical disability. Immediate flash to Trump saying it’s “not a good look” for him to be seen with disabled veterans. There’s another scene where the Roman spy Atticus is telling Pontius Pilot his only job is to win, and another where the Jewish Pharisees are talking about “winning” and absorbed with politics over their faith and teaching. Of course, there’s the depiction of runaway greed when Jesus overturns those tables at the temple. It was always about temptation, from the Garden of Eden onward. The Lord’s Prayer says, “Lead us not into temptation.” Actually, we’ll always have temptation. It’s always been our job to do the right thing. It’s always been a test. Pioneer Update We just paid our taxes, normally a patriotic contribution to pay for the good things we enjoy as citizens of the USA. Now, we pay with the knowledge that in some form or another, our hard-earned money will find its way into Trump’s pocket, pay for his weekly expensive and extravagant golf outings, finance his cruel fascist agenda. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." We’re going to commence laser firearms training [https://mantisx.com/pages/laser-academy], in addition to going to the range. These safe, quiet systems allow you to train at home. You can practice the most likely need to use your weapon—intruder drills. Yesterday we moved our White House covered wagon RV from our former beautiful campsite to her staging area near us, to evacuate mid-country when things get real bad. I won’t say I’ll never post again, but certainly not on these topics. Perhaps I’ll write on fiction and faith/afterlife topics, we’ll see. Maybe I’ll find the discipline to withhold political content/opinion and just write about prepping. Maybe I’ll get that follow-up novel to Farawayer [https://books2read.com/farawayer] done, and get my ham license. We still have so much prepping to do. As a parting gift, if anyone wants one of my fiction paperbacks, audio, or ebooks I’ll give them to you for $1, well below my cost, as a thank you. I’ll sign the paperbacks if you want. But only direct through this website [https://wildlakellc.com/collection/fiction]. Nobody else knows, it’s our secret :-) Where should you go for critical content on these topics? Definitely avoid the big social media apps/sites. Take them off your phones, it’s walking proof you’re the resistance. Use them from your home computer, if at all, with a VPN [https://bit.ly/Bd-Security] and burner proton email address [https://proton.me/mail]. Reddit is a bit more under the radar (so far) so on that site go to r/EconomicCollapse r/TwoXPreppers (women’s prepper group!) r/preppers r/PrepperIntel r/prepping and maybe I’ll see you there. In the meantime, be safe and keep the faith. Giavana, Pia and I love you all very much. Thank you for joining us on this journey. “An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbles from within, is dead forever.”—Unknown “Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.”—Marcus Aurelius Hey, it took me a few hours to write this journal post for you. Can you spend a few seconds and post it on your socials or forward to others? If so, thank you! Free subscribers get a free copy of my book of short stories, Rambles and Daydreams. Paid subscribers will get all three books in the noir crime trilogy, Vigilante Angels. I no longer do paid-only posts, because it felt gross to leave people behind, especially those who can’t afford it. If you read my ramblings, I’ll leave it to your conscience. If you get any value from my writing, consider a donation or subscription, which is priced at a few dollars, the minimum allowed. Half of all money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness [https://endhomelessness.org/], the other half pays for expenses. You can also support me by becoming a paid subscriber below, leaving a small one-time tip at the button below, or by buying my novels at wildlakellc.com [https://wildlakellc.com/collection/fiction], Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or other fine book outlets in paperback, eBook, or audio. Intro music is Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. When you buy something using the retail links in our stories we may get a teeny tiny commission, but it never affects your price or our judgement in linking to products we use and believe in. It helps pay for the costs in providing this (hopefully) entertaining content. Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

How To Survive the New World

Project: Pioneer is the live weekly reality journal of a couple and their small dog as they leave their ‘normal’ life in a luxury apartment for a new semi-off grid life in a small recreational vehicle. We cover prepping, politics, spirituality, afterlife, RV life, and personal finance. Half of all subscription/donation money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the other half pays for expenses. You can listen to the audio podcast version of this journal at Substack [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/podcast], Apple [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/614337f5-a82d-4229-802f-8b227d6ea05b?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], Spotify [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/fd9fe064-17bf-4597-bc74-fd88f6e13348?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], PocketCasts [https://play.pocketcasts.com/?redirect=%2Fpodcasts%2Fshare%3Fid%3D66555e30-f91a-013c-5d5e-0acc26574db2] and others. Listen to the audio above for our new theme music, Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. Please share this post! Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Don’t despair—prepare. It seems like everything is converging, coalescing, the good and the bad. If you’ve been reading our pioneer journal over these past two years, you may be sensing that too. We’ve been writing about the coming dystopia, and how to prepare for it, what works and what doesn’t. There seems to be a theme. Let’s get busy as the going gets tough, because it’s clear that nobody is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves. Pioneer Update We got our Costco raised bed garden (on wheels!) up and running this past weekend. It was a fun exercise. Apparently, there’s a lot more to this than just throwing in some dirt and seeds! Our diligence turned up the Seed to Spoon app [https://www.seedtospoon.net/] so we’re on the seven day trial. It allows you to specify your garden size and lay out what you want to plant. The cool thing is that it warns you about plants that are “bad neighbors” (the ones with Trump signs in their yard?) and shouldn’t be placed next to each other. We would have screwed that up badly. We went with things of substance—potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, parsnip, eggplant. Now we wait for buds to get budding! And yeah, you could use the rationale “Those are some expensive veggies, why not go to the grocery?” Because, well, we’re preparing for those shelves being empty, as we’ve shipped out all the ag workers, and poisoned our food, as we’ve canceled those silly FDA food inspectors. There will be no pesticides in our grub. Tomorrow is another round of surgery for me, ugh. Next week, we move the White House covered wagon pioneer RV from our former beautiful campsite to standby near where we live now. That will complete our new transition. Also, we got out for the April 5 protests. It was wonderful and magical to be among the massive crowds of sane, happy, motivated, patriotic citizens. There are plenty more to come, make sure you participate! A Survival Plan I mentioned convergence. The stock markets are continuing to crash due to this extreme nonsensical idiocracy. We’re heading to a deep recession or maybe depression, on the fast train. The worst of circumstances may well occur—stagnant economy and high inflation like in the 60s and 70s, a very bad combination that’s hard to fix. We’re likely heading for the “distraction” of a massive global shooting war, on top of the trade war. Our once beautiful democracy and economy, the envy of the world just a few months ago, is being burned to the ground. One of the world’s biggest insurers is predicting the collapse of capitalism due to climate change. Imagine losing your home like so many in the Midwest did this week, and having no insurance to replace it. On top of being laid off due to recession. That’s how depressions happen. Ok, that’s the bad news. We’re always thinking of solutions, all day every day. We wrote about our trip to Europe, and as fantastic and utopian as things are there, it’s just not Plan A right now as we both have elderly mothers that need help. However, if it gets that bad, we may have to bail anyway. Good to have options. But, while there, we saw a people who have always lived happily in smaller spaces. Giavana, Pia and I have been doing that for years, in an RV and now in a small apartment, after selling our home and attic, closets, basement, and garage full of useless neglected crap. So as a first step, why not bring that model here? Why can’t we all start behaving in that successful way, which is less stressful and better for your financial success? Americans are famous for our gluttonous shopping, our McMansions and land yacht vehicles, for having way too much of everything. Let’s change that. Our point? Stuff is about to get much more expensive. People already have far less money due to the Trump crash, and that’s about to get worse as they lose their jobs. Corporations are to blame for the most part. Fix the problem and fight back. Fix one is to sell, share, and barter among ourselves at discount prices. Make that former gluttony a huge advantage to each other. Get on your neighborhood discussion boards, like nextdoor.com, reddit.com, or discord.com. Need a lawnmower? I bet someone within a mile of you has an older or spare very functional one that they’d sell you on the cheap, far less than you’d pay at the store. Ditto for just about anything you need. If we all get out there, list what we have, or what we can do for others, think of the benefit! Same with thrift stores, and with food, by using farmer’s markets. Or mom and pop restaurants instead of those ugly, poisonous chains. There are so many ways to cut back without harming your quality of life. For example, commercials have brainwashed us into heaping large gobs of toothpaste on our brushes, when a much smaller amount is just as effective, especially if you don’t then rinse or spit it out. Ditto for laundry detergent and so many other items. Again, Kiss Your Money Hello (and Financial Stress Goodbye) [https://books2read.com/kissyourmoneyhello] is the ultimate guide to saving money and Plan Your Money Path [https://books2read.com/planyourmoneypath] is the same for planning your financial life. Read or listen, get them for free by ordering from your local library. Cut your reliance on expensive vehicles where possible by walking and getting a bike (or e-bike—they’re awesome!) Learn how the public transportation works in your area—buses and trains. Sell anything you haven’t used in a year, including clothing. Pile up your money, be frugal. Enjoy all the wonderful, free goodness of our parks and libraries (before they’re paved over). We need to converge as a society—the good among us, anyway. We’re seeing this happen, out of necessity. Hard times always bring that sort of thing. Families save money by sharing space, like in the old days here in the US. Communities begin to coalesce and share. In our area, some folks have started a discord server to bring this about. The main purpose is to move toward building our own intentional community/ecovillage, as we’ve been advocating for and written about in past posts. Quite European! The result has been phenomenal. We now have subtopic areas where people in this area are mentoring and sharing with each other on topics like personal security, gardening/farming, communication, bushcraft, survival, medicine/first aid, and disaster preparedness. It’s bringing about everything we’ve discussed above, and it’s beautiful to behold, watching it bloom. We’re also facilitating in-person meetings/training on those topics. Make it happen in your area, your survival may count on it. As we build and form these communities, so much more becomes possible. We can shelter those we need to—young people from being drafted into a war that might kill them, marginalized people from the hate on the outside. Underground railroads have been quite effective in the past. We all might need one at a certain point. Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 is just starting, what an example of all this! The other thing that’s coalescing here, at least for us, is the return to faith or at least hope for so many, with the popularity of The Chosen. We’ve binged the first four seasons for free by using their app and web page, and seeing season five at the theater, which is spectacular. Even if you don’t believe, it’s epic on the scale of other memorable shows we’ve all enjoyed. It’s a great break and distraction from our current lives, giving hope and joy, along with many of the lessons we should be relearning about how to live happily together on this rock. Find that safe haven, that hopeful diversion. It really helps. It could be mindfulness, yoga, reading, knitting, painting, gardening, whatever. Maybe it’s some combination of things. Forgive old grudges, turn the other cheek. That old friend turned adversary may be useful to your survival in the near future. We’ve never needed each other more. "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much"—Helen Keller "Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”—Mother Theresa, Saint Teresa of Calcutta “I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Stay tuned! This pioneer journey continues… Hey, it took me a few hours to write this journal post for you. Can you spend a few seconds and post it on your socials or forward to others? If so, thank you! Free subscribers get a free copy of my book of short stories, Rambles and Daydreams. Paid subscribers will get all three books in the noir crime trilogy, Vigilante Angels. I no longer do paid-only posts, because it felt gross to leave people behind, especially those who can’t afford it. If you read my ramblings, I’ll leave it to your conscience. If you get any value from my writing, consider a donation or subscription, which is priced at a few dollars, the minimum allowed. Half of all money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness [https://endhomelessness.org/], the other half pays for expenses. You can also support me by becoming a paid subscriber below, leaving a small one-time tip at the button below, or by buying my novels at wildlakellc.com [https://wildlakellc.com/collection/fiction], Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or other fine book outlets in paperback, eBook, or audio. Intro music is Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. When you buy something using the retail links in our stories we may get a teeny tiny commission, but it never affects your price or our judgement in linking to products we use and believe in. It helps pay for the costs in providing this (hopefully) entertaining content. Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

So, You Want to Leave the USA?

Project: Pioneer is the live weekly reality journal of a couple and their small dog as they leave their ‘normal’ life in a luxury apartment for a new semi-off grid life in a small recreational vehicle. We cover prepping, politics, spirituality, afterlife, RV life, and personal finance. Half of all subscription/donation money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the other half pays for expenses. You can listen to the audio podcast version of this journal at Substack [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/podcast], Apple [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/614337f5-a82d-4229-802f-8b227d6ea05b?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], Spotify [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/fd9fe064-17bf-4597-bc74-fd88f6e13348?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], PocketCasts [https://play.pocketcasts.com/?redirect=%2Fpodcasts%2Fshare%3Fid%3D66555e30-f91a-013c-5d5e-0acc26574db2] and others. Listen to the audio above for our new theme music, Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. Please share this post! Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Don’t despair—prepare. We pioneers have been in Europe for the past ten days. It was eye-opening from a prepper perspective. We were there to complete requirements for dual citizenship, begin to learn how to buy property, as well as take a long-overdue vacation in the last days of the pre-World War III world. Here’s what we discovered and experienced. And please, if you’re in one of those election districts in Wisconsin and Florida for this Tuesday, go vote and bring anyone and everyone else you can. Pioneer Update Before we get into all that Europy stuff, a quick status update on us. We had to leave little Pia behind, so Giavana and I missed her very much. Same with our covered wagon RV, the White House. This coming week back home will be a transition time—break camp at the remote location we’ve lived at for almost two years, and move her to stand-by nearby, fully prepped and ready to carry us to escape mid-country if necessary. What we saw in Europe has only increased our motivation. Now that we’re home, our emphasis also moves to getting our raised bed garden up and running, getting to the shooting range, working with the local eco/intentional community folks, and getting to some of these resistance protests and meetings. Europe Prepares for WWIII A good prepper is always gathering intel. Sure, a solid stock of provisions will keep you alive. Intelligence gathering is also critical. During our time in Europe, we paid close attention to what the locals were saying, and watched news channels based in several countries. First, as we always say, this isn’t a journal intended to cause hysteria and fear mongering just to get clicks. Clicks get us nothing—very few pay for these words. We aren’t interested in fame either. We are anonymous for a reason. We’re interested in helping save those who want to be saved, preparing those who want to be prepared. The countries of Europe are providing their citizens with education on how to prep [https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/world-war-3-coming-european-union-survival-kit-plan-nato-warning-to-russia-after-missile-strike-101743005997193.html]—stocking provisions, all the things we do as preppers. They are also educating them on how to survive nuclear blasts. This is the government educating their people, not some random doomsday cult. They are buying up land to use for tens of thousands of graves [https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/survival-guides-mass-evacuations-huge-bunkers-and-conscription-how-europe-is-preparing-for-ww3/news-story/cf97d17bf3b5ddc087bba6d9de725b05]. It is serious business—nobody knows the future, but indicators of world war are blinking red. They are also all working to institute the military draft for able-bodied men and women. In the US, that means compulsory conscription for ages 17 to 45 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_States]. We have a leader who is drooling at the thought of building a big, beautiful army to fight in his name, so he can enjoy it all on TV like he did on January 6. After all, we’re just his newest reality show. Did we not just see a spectacular example of stupidity, and lapse of national security, a bunch of grown man-child bros at the top of our military and intelligence departments spewing emojis and excited bro-talk on a non-secure commercial app, jacked over the bombing of innocent children? Imagine their excitement at orchestrating a full-blown war, with our kids getting maimed and dying, of course not theirs. We’re gaslit starting in kindergarten, throughout our lives, how heroic and patriotic it would be to go off and die for our country’s constant genocidal conquests that enrich the already rich. In Europe, we visited the crumbled, destroyed remnants of ancient dynasties and empires. History rhymes. The vast, powerful Roman Empire collapsed due to an incredible amount of greed and corruption, which caused division and infighting. The Germanics saw the weakness, invaded and took them down. Strong parallels to today, in the United States. Now that our government is being dismantled internally via chainsaw, and we have a collection of completely inexperienced corrupt fools in charge, we are incredibly exposed. Our enemies know this, and they’re watching and planning day by day. The history we learned (or, relearned). on our trip was a reminder of the ages of human evil on the macro (nation) and micro (individual) level. So much cruelty, gluttony, greed, lust for power. So much suffering and death of innocents. We never learn. The mistake we make is living as if this one brief phase of our spiritual existence is all there is. You’re greedy and immoral, you might do well here, but there's a good chance you're screwed for eternity after that. The attorneys we met with in Europe said they’re swamped with requests from Americans for passports, visas, and citizenship. Other countries are tightening their rules [https://www.yahoo.com/news/italy-curbs-citizenship-rules-end-160351924.html] to prevent a mass influx of Americans, as we found on our recent visit to Canada. Those damned pesky immigrants, amirite? Irony is dead. Then again, the Jews that saw what was coming in 1930s Germany and left were the ones who survived. We saw and heard much evidence of Europe and our other former allies around the world (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others) moving rapidly to detach themselves from any dependence or reliance on the United States, including their currencies [https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/de-dollarisation-could-speed-up-with-us-isolationist-policies-analysts-say-2025-03-27/]. That’s a very bad thing for us on many levels. Our brain blocks us from stark realization sometimes. We don’t want to believe things when they seem extreme. Jews waited forever for the prophesies of a coming Messiah to come true. When he arrived, despite witnessing proof who he was over and over, they were like, “Nah, this ain’t the guy,” and killed him. In my recent post, I outlined extensive evidence that Trump is indeed the antichrist. Fun times (not). In my career, I traveled around the world every single week for years. I always saw so much American themed apparel on the foreigners, I often felt like I was back in the USA. Not this time, the difference was very evident. In grayperson prepper mode, Giavana and I made sure to not wear anything identifying us as Americans. The natives are clearly turned off by the US, and all we now stand for. In fact, the vendors were making sure their wares all had very prominent “Made in Europe” labels. It was very sad. Our time in Europe was wonderful. Despite all that, the people were going about their business. They were incredibly polite, even after some realized we were American. Not once did anyone lose patience or become rude with these lost, confused, and tired travelers, even in the non-tourist backwaters we made our way to. Some natives gently broached the subject of our takeover, expressing incredulity and actual pity for us and our country. The things that struck us most were the taxi drivers, restaurant servers, hotel wait staff that would often politely decline tips, or act genuinely surprised and thankful to receive them. It is because they are paid a living wage, and have excellent healthcare and retirement programs. They work normal hours with a long lunch break. Unlike our country, where hard working people like that cannot survive, due to the harm to extravagant corporate profits. We saw very, very few corporate chains, particularly in eateries. Everywhere we went, the restaurants and cafes were small mom and pop operations serving ridiculously inexpensive and healthy food. That was a very stark contrast to home. They aren’t owned by corporations. The people aren’t being poisoned and addicted to garbage, for profit. They eat smaller, healthy portions. The trains we rode were inexpensive, fast, on time, and super clean. The people were all multi-lingual—nobody losing their mind over someone speaking a foreign language—another stark contrast. In the crowded plazas, narrow streets, and on the roadways they were patient. The big cities were remarkable in that, even while in traffic, there were no drivers blaring horns, cutting each other off, providing finger gestures. A notable difference for us, was that in the restaurants we saw a very leisurely social experience. People took their time eating (good for health) and the servers never rushed anyone. In the US, a pet peeve of ours is servers constantly coming up to us while still eating and asking if we want a box. They’re pressured to flip those tables, as it’s very good for profit. We saw plenty of local and regional police, and military personnel. They were very observant, polite, and helpful to everyone around them. Tough looking and well armed, but not with that attitude as if they were standing by just waiting for a chance to crack some skulls. They smiled, showing true strength of confidence. Real badasses don’t have to constantly try to project badassery. They were almost equal numbers male and female. The dopes we have in charge now are all weak failson trust fund babies from unloving wealthy parents, insecure and feeling that need to project and cosplay uber-masculinity to compensate. The Joe Rogan set. Among the tourists, we saw plenty of locals in fresh air parks and museums with their kids, and no signs of corporate amusement parks. The younger kids’ faces were not embedded in screens, just the older teenagers. They drive very small cars and scooters (unlike our land yachts), and walk a lot. There were tons of recycling and composting devices along all the streets. We saw a strong emphasis on solar power, energy efficiency, and caring for the planet and climate. It’s a shame that our growing ignorance here will likely overshadow all their efforts. It was all so…civilized. What to Do So…that’s a bummer, right? It is what it is. Buddhism says to expect bad things, they are a part of life. Endure them, do what you can, focus on the things to be thankful for. We’re big on the do what you can aspect! The major purpose of this trip was to put the final stamp on about a year of chasing bureaucracy and paperwork to obtain dual citizenship and passports from a new country. Do you have any heritage you can rely on? Have you done a DNA ancestry test to make sure? Sometimes…there are surprises, just saying. Not a fan of turning over your DNA, but again, privacy these day is dead. Like your SSN, assume it’s already in the Musk Doge database. The benefit of finding out you may have an option could outweigh that concern. Otherwise, there are other ways. Check into special visas for people with certain skills, student visas (even if you’re an adult), and so forth. Some countries allow you to get a visa and on the path to citizenship simply by purchasing (or even renting) a property, or investing some money there. Start learning up on the various expat reddit forums, a great place to strategize. We think we have that part solved, although it will still take some time as we wait for everything to work through the bureaucracy and get approved. Now we move on to perhaps finding an inexpensive place to buy or rent. The attorneys we spoke to regarding our citizenship said they would help us with those things, so that’s our new focus. We will keep you informed of what we learn each step of the way! Others on Substack, like Kirsten Powers [https://substack.com/profile/2053316-kirsten-powers] have already done the whole thing, and have plenty of sage advice. That said, this new threat has changed our calculus. Do we run off, headlong into the first wave of WWIII, a likely Russian invasion and bombing of Europe, leaving all our prepping resources behind? Leaving behind a land, people, terrain, language, we’re very familiar with? Most importantly, leaving behind all those we love (but perhaps, also giving them a place to flee to). Likely not, at least as a first option. We’ve written how we’re concerned about our financial assets. In times of impending potential collapse of a monetary system, it’s a good thing to convert those monies to tangible things with value, both financial and survival. Buying a small spot that needs TLC on the cheap at least provides a roof over your heads, provides another option. We like options. Maybe the first big event isn’t a Russian invasion of Europe. Maybe it’s (surprise!) the movement of our troops to the northern and southern borders wasn’t to keep immigrants out, it was to keep us in when martial law is declared. It would be good to get ahead of that. Slip into Canada or Mexico, buy a way in to Europe with undetectable crypto or metals, and boat or plane passage to the emergency home. Keep in mind that April 20th is the day he requested a report be delivered to him as to whether martial law and\or state of emergency is necessary. That’s where we’re at and what’s on our mind lately, as the landscape shifts beneath our very feet day by day and we all slide into the abyss of authoritarianism and fascism. “An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.”—Confucius “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.”—Maximilien Robespierre “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.”—Plato Stay tuned! This pioneer journey continues… Hey, it took me a few hours to write this journal post for you. Can you spend a few seconds and post it on your socials or forward to others? If so, thank you! Free subscribers get a free copy of my book of short stories, Rambles and Daydreams. Paid subscribers will get all three books in the noir crime trilogy, Vigilante Angels. I no longer do paid-only posts, because it felt gross to leave people behind, especially those who can’t afford it. If you read my ramblings, I’ll leave it to your conscience. If you get any value from my writing, consider a donation or subscription, which is priced at a few dollars, the minimum allowed. Half of all money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness [https://endhomelessness.org/], the other half pays for expenses. You can also support me by becoming a paid subscriber below, leaving a small one-time tip at the button below, or by buying my novels at wildlakellc.com [https://wildlakellc.com/collection/fiction], Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or other fine book outlets in paperback, eBook, or audio. Intro music is Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. When you buy something using the retail links in our stories we may get a teeny tiny commission, but it never affects your price or our judgement in linking to products we use and believe in. It helps pay for the costs in providing this (hopefully) entertaining content. Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Prepare Your Financial Future

Project: Pioneer is the live weekly reality journal of a couple and their small dog as they leave their ‘normal’ life in a luxury apartment for a new semi-off grid life in a small recreational vehicle. We cover prepping, politics, spirituality, afterlife, RV life, and personal finance. Half of all subscription/donation money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the other half pays for expenses. You can listen to the audio podcast version of this journal at Substack [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/podcast], Apple [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/614337f5-a82d-4229-802f-8b227d6ea05b?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], Spotify [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/fd9fe064-17bf-4597-bc74-fd88f6e13348?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], PocketCasts [https://play.pocketcasts.com/?redirect=%2Fpodcasts%2Fshare%3Fid%3D66555e30-f91a-013c-5d5e-0acc26574db2] and others. Listen to the audio above for our new theme music, Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. Please share this post! Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Don’t despair—prepare. I remember way back in the day, when it would be unthinkable that you would work hard all your life for a company and not have a pension for your retirement years. That got blown up when the thing about working for one company your whole career went away, for various reasons. They acclimated us to the idea of not having a pension real quick, since we had no choice but acclimate. “You have your Social Security, after all, and this new thing called a 401k plan.” Now, we’re being “acclimated” to not having Social Security, or Medicare for that matter. Read on for the reasons this is happening, and most importantly, how you can prepare. Unlike most “sky is falling” journals, this one actually tells you what to do. You already know the sky is falling. Pioneer Update Saturday was another visitation day at our White House pioneer covered wagon RV. It’s good to visit her, and we miss her. With each visit, we’re unwinding the systems of our former full-time life there and transitioning them to our new humble abode. She knows the time may come soon when we’re back to her, and on the run. We’re careful to leave as much in place as possible to that purpose. We built our raised bed garden and look forward to planting as soon as we return from our overseas trip, which we leave for on Friday. Why This Is Happening Quite often, people ask, “Why is this happening? Why are they dismantling the government? Let’s take one example—Social Security. The plan is to make using it so insufferably miserable that people start to hate it enough to welcome the new plan—privatizing it. There’s almost $3 trillion in the SS trust fund. If you don’t think endlessly greedy folks like Trump and Musk aren’t salivating over all that money, you’re a fool (sorry). Rinse, wash, repeat for veteran’s health benefits, Medicaid, Medicare, public education, forest/national park management, and other things our government does for its citizens, as it should in any developed, functional democracy. You might say these government agencies, like Social Security and the VA, already suck. That’s because the staffs are undertrained, underpaid, and overworked. Sure, there’s an average 15 minute hold time when calling SS. Trump and Musk just tried to cancel the phone system completely—disabled people and elderly folks who can’t drive to an office be damned. Remember—through all disasters we’ve experienced in the almost one hundred years of Social Security, the checks never stopped. When I was under VA veteran health care, I received very good treatment from very compassionate providers. That’s about to end. The system needs to be improved, not decapitated. Always remember—the happiest countries in the world have a better version of what we have. The most unhappy and miserable have what we’re racing headlong toward. Trump and Musk will push the idea of having “smart” money managers taking that Social Security money and managing it under some corporate umbrella. They’ll likely invest it in their own stuff, right? How would you feel if your future SS monies were invested in Tesla stock right now? Elon would feel wonderful, but, note that it’s in the toilet. A sweet bailout of Tesla stock with SS trust fund money would fix that problem, same as they’re trying to do with crypto currencies and their “Sovereign Wealth Fund.” That’s in the tank lately as well. Everything Trump Touches Dies. It’s a taint of evil. Same with Trump’s social media company, which never made any money, and Musk taking Twitter from $44 billion of worth to basically nothing. Your SS payments will likely depend on how those investments are doing, and no longer be guaranteed. The SS system will be as scammy as the annuity and permanent life insurance business, and probably sold to overseas private equity, where there’s little regulation, oversight, or compliance obligation. Have a look at our privatized health care system. It’s the most expensive in the world, with the worst health outcomes. We’re sicker and die sooner than other developed countries, and that’s a disgrace. Suffering and death should never be a for-profit business. But we’re stuck with it, as the health insurance CEOs get paid tens of millions of dollars and they place their company names on major sports stadiums. Soon, when these government agencies are dismantled and sold off to the billionaire oligarchs that now run the country, our government will be a tiny shell of itself. What happens then? It’s a much easier target for takeover, which is the ultimate goal in all this. Then it will be a fait accompli, a system very much like Russia, where the ruler is massively wealthy, firmly locked into power, and protected by a small class of oligarchs by making sure their loyalty is well rewarded with that former government money. Anyone that steps out of line is brutally and publicly executed, sometimes by falling out of top story hotel windows or poisoning by polonium/Novichok nerve agents. What to Do In the near term, expect disruptions in all these government services as they break them and make them miserable to use. Build up your emergency fund and expect tax refund, Social Security, disability, and other government checks to just not show up. Be prepared for that. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Cut your spending as you would when a disaster is impending, because one is. Take shelter financially. There’s a whole book about stuff like that, Kiss Your Money Hello! (and Financial Stress Goodbye) [https://books2read.com/kissyourmoneyhello]. Read or listen to it to learn how to pay down any remaining debt, do side hustles, create an easy to manage budget, save on your expenses, cut your taxes, (not) pay for your kids college/trade/tech school, and more. If you’re young, it’s quite likely you’re going to be “acclimated” to that life without Social Security, just like people my age were “acclimated” to a life without a pension. The key and most valuable asset you can have is a financial plan. Build it yourself, maintain it yourself. Once you have a solid baseline, the most valuable benefit is you can then copy that baseline scenario into what-if scenarios, like “What if there’s no Social Security or Medicare?” There’s a new book for that too, one that shows you how even if you’re not a financial guru. It’s Plan Your Money Path: Create Your Own Financial Plan [https://books2read.com/planyourmoneypath]. Yes, we’re still exposed to the collapse of the dollar if we have our money in savings accounts, money market, US treasury bonds, bills, notes. It’s hard to get around that, especially knowing if the dollar collapses the entire world and all its currencies are going to do so (or come close) as well. They are busy preparing for that and insulating themselves from our poison at warp speed, economically and militarily. It’s important to prepare for all downstream contingencies. There aren’t a lot of good options. Lots of preppers buy precious metals. The conundrum is that 1oz gold bars are a few thousand dollars, and not very useful if the stuff hits the fan and we finally get to a place where we can safely barter metals for goods and services. How are you going to get change for that $2,500 1oz gold bar? Silver coins solve the problem—smaller denominations, but they’re also quite heavy if you have a bunch of them. Costco is selling sheets of 25 small 1 gram pieces of gold [https://www.costco.com/25-Gram-Pamp-Suisse-Lady-Fortuna-Multigram-Gold-Bar-Veriscan-(New-in-Assay).product.1811661.html], each piece worth about $100. They’re light and smaller denominations, so not a bad solution to the problem. Again, the best investment you can make is essential goods (food, water, shelter, medical supplies, energy) so that you can ride out the dangerous chaos of a collapse without having to go out for anything. When you do, if you have some surplus, those things will be valuable to barter. Do you have a place to grow food or raise chickens? Also think in terms of services. What new things can you learn in retirement that might be valuable to others to barter for goods or services? Midwife? Mending or creating clothing? Security? Electronics repair? Even if your career wasn’t in medicine, consider taking an emergency medicine class, or any of the skills you can learn at your local community college in person or virtually as part of non-credit adult continuing education. Eternity and Mortality On a final note, I went to a special concert presentation celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album on Saturday night. I received some test results this past week that weren’t so good, so it’s been a down and reflective few days. I have an aneurysm that’s in a particularly bad place and it’s growing, among other issues. As I stood alone at the back of the concert venue, like a ghost, listening to the music from my youth, it brought back a flood of memories. Memories of a much simpler time, when we weren’t addicted to devices. Many of the people in the audience weren’t looking at the spectacular performance and musicianship on the stage, they were busy looking down at their phones, thumbs frantically twiddling. Or, they were watching the performance through their phones, holding them up to record something they’ll likely never watch yet depriving themselves of the moment. It’s not a boomer criticism, after all they were enjoying the show in their own way, momentarily distracted from the dystopian chaos of life in 2025 America, and that’s OK. How did we get here? How did we lose our way, as a species and society? Greed, primarily, I think. The money eventually broke down the guardrails built into national, state, and local governments that were designed to maintain decency and order, and to provide a baseline standard of living for all (yes, it was never perfect, especially when it came to minorities and marginalized people). People lost their faith (another guardrail), and along with it decency, ethics, morality. Over time, the entertainment content we’re influenced by made heroes out of the bad people, rather than vice versa. People no longer take pride in that inscription on the Statue of Liberty, but cheer the exact opposite. They no longer understand or value what made this country great in the first place. It saddens me greatly that I may not live to see this country I love and signed up to die for recover. I’m at peace with my life and the person I’ve become (finally) over this long journey, but worry about my beautiful Giavana, Pia, and the children and grandchildren I’ll leave behind. Believing in something beyond sets you free, and that’s the beauty of faith—there’s no down side if you do it right. In The Chosen season three finale (spectacular and so emotional!) [https://watch.thechosen.tv/video/184683594332], Jesus comes face to face with Rabbi Shmuel, who has sought to persecute him. Shmuel is all like, “Oh you’re so perfect, Jesus, we all suffer but what have you lost?” As Jesus is aware that his crucifixion nears, he simply and dramatically says, “Time.” He then says that time is not the only measure of existence, and is a small part of the grand tapestry (i.e. it is irrelevant in the spiritual afterlife). He tells Shmuel to not let the darkness consume him, but seek the light. Even if you’re not a believer, give this series a shot. It’s epic on the scale of The Sopranos in terms of drama, love, retribution, and all the things that make a story captivating. The acting, sound, and cinematography are incredible. It’s on Apple TV, Amazon, best of all free through their own app and website [https://watch.thechosen.tv/]. A perfect remedy and distraction for times like these. Season five, focusing on the Last Supper, debuts in theaters March 28. There are also some key quotes in the series that mesh with Buddhism and mindfulness (it’s all one song, as Neil Young says…). Suffering is a part of life, Shmuel, but it is not the end. It is a path, a test of faith, a chance to grow closer to the divine. And even in the face of what seems like a lost time, there is always the potential for redemption, for renewal, for a new beginning. Peace is not the absence of chaos, Shmuel, but the ability to find serenity within it. It is the ability to trust in something greater than oneself, even when the world seems to be falling apart. It is the ability to find joy in the smallest of moments, even when surrounded by despair. Pain and suffering are part of this existence. Get over it, because there’s also an overwhelming amount of love and beauty. Another prepping tip is to try to slowly acclimate yourself to those things. (There’s that word again, but in a good sense this time!) Don’t only look to the bad things that happen and exclaim, “Why me?” because then the bad will be all you’ll see. With each bad thing, recall something wonderful. Be cognizant of the line between what you might be calling “pain” which is simply discomfort. Tell yourself it’s tolerable, and it may well become so. Of course, don’t ignore pain that signals something needs attention. But a little discomfort is something we shouldn’t complain about and can certainly live with. Things are certainly looking to be very uncomfortable going forward. Consider there are so many others who are far worse off, and look to help them. Another way to ease mental and emotional pain is simply to practice forgiveness. “And you run, and you runTo catch up with the sun, but it's sinkingAnd racing aroundTo come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative wayBut you're olderShorter of breathAnd one day closer to death Home, home againI like to be here when I canWhen I come home cold and tiredIt's good to warm my bones beside the fireFar away across the fieldThe tolling of the iron bellCalls the faithful to their kneesTo hear the softly spoken magic spells”—Pink Floyd “To everything turn, turn, turnThere is a season turn, turn, turnAnd a time to every purpose under Heaven A time to be born, a time to dieA time to plant, a time to reapA time to kill, a time to healA time to laugh, a time to weep”—The Byrds (paraphrasing Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) So, this is where Giavana, Pia, and I are currently in our pioneer journey. Stay tuned! This pioneer journey continues… Hey, it took me a few hours to write this journal post for you. Can you spend a few seconds and post it on your socials or forward to others? If so, thank you! Free subscribers get a free copy of my book of short stories, Rambles and Daydreams. Paid subscribers will get all three books in the noir crime trilogy, Vigilante Angels. I no longer do paid-only posts, because it felt gross to leave people behind, especially those who can’t afford it. If you read my ramblings, I’ll leave it to your conscience. If you get any value from my writing, consider a donation or subscription, which is priced at a few dollars, the minimum allowed. Half of all money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness [https://endhomelessness.org/], the other half pays for expenses. You can also support me by becoming a paid subscriber below, leaving a small one-time tip at the button below, or by buying my novels at wildlakellc.com [https://wildlakellc.com/collection/fiction], Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or other fine book outlets in paperback, eBook, or audio. Intro music is Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. When you buy something using the retail links in our stories we may get a teeny tiny commission, but it never affects your price or our judgement in linking to products we use and believe in. It helps pay for the costs in providing this (hopefully) entertaining content. Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Body Prepping

Project: Pioneer is the live weekly reality journal of a couple and their small dog as they leave their ‘normal’ life in a luxury apartment for a new semi-off grid life in a small recreational vehicle. We cover prepping, politics, spirituality, afterlife, RV life, and personal finance. Half of all subscription/donation money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the other half pays for expenses. You can listen to the audio podcast version of this journal at Substack [https://billydecarlo.substack.com/podcast], Apple [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/614337f5-a82d-4229-802f-8b227d6ea05b?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], Spotify [https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/fd9fe064-17bf-4597-bc74-fd88f6e13348?j=eyJ1IjoiMnR3MW45In0.AK_cgRVCGeDodDgG77sCby07NlTa50EGMX0OQQ8ZygI], PocketCasts [https://play.pocketcasts.com/?redirect=%2Fpodcasts%2Fshare%3Fid%3D66555e30-f91a-013c-5d5e-0acc26574db2] and others. Listen to the audio above for our new theme music, Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. Please share this post! Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Don’t despair—prepare. In our last post we talked about getting your mind right for what’s to come. Actually, we talk about that a lot! We also talk about the items you should have handy in order to be prepared. The other important ingredients in our survival recipe are your body and practice. Having all the cool prepper stuff won’t do much good if you’re not healthy enough to endure the hard times ahead, or able to carry that gear. Don’t underestimate how tough hard times can be on your body, in so many ways! I’m somewhat hardened (for my age) from a year and a half of woodland pioneer living in an RV, yet our recent move put me down for part of a day. Let’s talk about ways to mitigate that concern. It’s not that hard. We’re not going to push you to become a CrossFit junkie. Pioneer Update We’re mostly settled into our new digs in this small apartment. An attractive feature is the layers of security. I’m impressed that the other residents didn’t blindly allow us to tailgate in past security, as we were new and they didn’t recognize us. One new concern is that we’re on a higher floor (for security reasons)—too high to jump in case escape is needed. Always, always visualize the worst happening. What will you do? What will you need? We immediately purchased a collapsible fire ladder long enough to reach from our balcony to the ground. Problem solved (along with fire extinguishers and blankets, of course). We have a prepper inventory Google sheet that lists every item we own, where it is, and what its priority is (for fast decision making). That’s been updated for our new location. You should do the same—things happen fast in a disaster, critical thinking skills are compromised, mistakes could be deadly. I worry we’ll get soft in this new environment. It happens quickly! Yesterday I visited our wonderful White House covered wagon RV, to say hello, provide some TLC, and clean a bit. She’ll go to the RV spa for some routine maintenance in early April, then to her new nearby location to serve on standby in case we need an emergency bug out, or just for some of our fun summer festivals. Good, fun practice! Get Your Body Right It looks like Americans won’t have access to flu shots next winter, as the meeting of scientists to agree on and devise the formula has been canceled by the Trump administration. Our new “health czar,” the former heroin junkie who had part of his brain eaten by a worm, has told kids dying from measles to drink cod liver oil. New (to us) diseases, oldies but not goodies, are spreading around the country. These spoiled, entitled folks in charge now are well known for their intolerance for those they view as the “great unwashed.” You know, those tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Trump has expressed his displeasure at being seen with disabled veterans, saying it’s “not a good look” for him. What they’re doing is a form of societal chemotherapy. Chemo attacks and kills cells throughout the body in hopes that the “bad stuff” will die off before the good stuff dies along with it. They’re stripping away Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, veteran’s disability benefits and health care in order to kill our elderly, our poor, our disabled. That strategy will also kill off many folks who, in the eyes of the wealthy, “suck off the teat of government” for their “entitlements.” Narrator: far more money goes to corporate welfare and tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. After the bottom level of our society is dead, the middle class will effectively be moved down to the lower caste of Americans, albeit a healthier and prettier version of the “rabble” we had before, in the eyes of people like Trump and Musk. A kingdom of peasants and royalty will then be achieved, to our doom. Things could get real hard in a hurry, especially if they then trigger a global war to help cure the deep recession we’re heading toward. This time, the bombs will fall here. Parts of the USA could be the new Gaza or Ukraine as our powerful former allies fight against us and our new Axis of Evil partners. Medicine may be hard to come by, which is why we recommend the excellent Jace Cases [https://jasemedical.com/?rstr=23145]. We’re so happy we found those, it was a big gap in our medical preparedness. Hopefully you’ve been following our advice over these seventy-seven posts and you have an emergency bugout bag near your door, and one in your car (perhaps a get-home bag). Imagine a circumstance where you’re forced to carry them (standstill traffic, vehicle trouble, etc). How far will you get? There’s one way to know—practice. If you’re not already taking regular walks, now’s a good time. The weather is warming in these cold regions! Start the habit, build that muscle. Once you get in a routine, practice with your bags (one at a time!). Routine is good, but not always the same route at the same time—that can be a security problem. Especially if your pack looks military or valuable. We’ve recommended quality pepper sprays, alarms, and portable weapons for that purpose as well. Need to drop some weight? It’s not unusual coming off a long winter of lower activity. Look, we obsess over body image. We all can’t or don’t want to look like the latest Hollywood action hero (they’re fake, anyway). We don’t need to. The healthy weight for you is the healthy weight for you. My BMI is 28 but there are plenty of folks with a much higher BMI that could run circles around me. Talk to your physician. The key is, can you carry that pack a reasonable distance? More robust body frames are likely be more successful, given they’re in shape. Body type is built into DNA. Contrary to what society teaches, it's not bad to be any body type, just to manage that and be healthy. Do that. There's a whole lot more to someone than what shape they are. Your good soul will live on long after your body is back to dust. This is important in person-to-person conflict as well. You can study all the boxing or martial arts, a great way to get in shape, but in reality most fights dissolve into on-the-ground grappling within seconds, and the victor is often the one who can outlast the other stamina-wise. Submission tactics are quite useful, however! Same with extreme weightlifting. Fun story—in my younger days I worked installing chain link fence. We did that day in, day out, all year long in blistering heat and frigid cold—digging holes by hand with posthole diggers, mixing and lugging unbalanced wheelbarrows of cement, carrying huge rolls of metal fencing on our shoulders across uneven terrain. It was brutal work. Most of us were skinny but wiry from it. One time a new guy came on, fresh from the gym, massive mounds of muscles in his shoulders, arms, legs. Quite impressive. He couldn’t do the work—he was too used to the comfortable, balanced loads he’s been using in the gym, and wasn’t up for that level of pain and discomfort. It’s a good lesson—apply it to your preparedness. Don’t just choose nice sunny days for your walks. Walk in all kinds of weather. It’s a good chance to make sure your all-weather prepper gear is comfortable and functional. Take your comms along and make sure they work at different distances and environments while you’re at it. I keep myself at my desired weight with a very simple, inexpensive practice. It’s worked for my entire adult life. We have a good bathroom scale that measures all kinds of body metrics, including BMI. I get on it almost every time before I take a shower. If it’s not where I want it to be, I eat less and walk more for a few days and measure again. Boom. It works like magic. No expensive fads or scams needed. Another way to be in tune with your body and what’s normal for you is to use a device like the Oura rings [https://ouraring.com/raf/20ae9dacb8?utm_source=user&utm_medium=iac_raf&utm_type=alwayson-cvr&utm_campaign=2025RAF&utm_variant=2025_raf_dec_gen3] Giavana and I use. It will tell you when something is off, and provide an incredible wealth of tools to get your mind and body right. It alerted this nurse practitioner [https://people.com/nurse-says-oura-ring-knew-she-had-cancer-before-diagnosis-11693393] she had cancer long before she or her doctor had any idea. Not the actual cancer, but that something was very wrong with her body. It knew her well, what was “normal” for her, as ours do. Work at getting your diet right. Due to standards being lowered due to the corporate food lobby and deregulation, we’re fed a steady diet of addictive garbage every day. That stuff won’t be available in a collapse. Wean yourself off it—learn to make some favorite meals from scratch like soups and stews. Get your body used to eating real fruit and vegetables. They may be all we have in the end, if that. We’ll start our small home gardening experiments soon—stay tuned! Lastly, get any medical needs attended to now. That’s why I’m getting my hands fixed, they’re shot from those years of fence work, military, sports, and life. I’ll need them. Get your vaccines up to date. Do you need a measles booster? Might be a good time! You can get a simple titer blood test to see if you still have immunity. You don’t want measles, no sir. It’s incredibly communicable and spreading thanks to our new anti-science leadership. None of the news is good—stock market way down, recession indicators blinking red, layoffs, inflation raging back. This may be the last cycle where we get real reports and data, before party propaganda starts assuring us everything is going spectacularly in those categories and everyone is immensely happy. Pay attention—last night a permanent citizen green card holder was abducted from a college dormitory by federal agents, despite not having committed any crime nor being accused of doing so. His 8-month pregnant wife and his lawyer have no idea where he has been taken. “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”—George Orwell, 1984 "The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human."—Aldous Huxley “Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”—German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller So, this is where Giavana, Pia, and I are currently in our pioneer journey. Stay tuned! This pioneer journey continues… Hey, it took me a few hours to write this journal post for you. Can you spend a few seconds and post it on your socials or forward to others? If so, thank you! Free subscribers get a free copy of my book of short stories, Rambles and Daydreams. Paid subscribers will get all three books in the noir crime trilogy, Vigilante Angels. I no longer do paid-only posts, because it felt gross to leave people behind, especially those who can’t afford it. If you read my ramblings, I’ll leave it to your conscience. If you get any value from my writing, consider a donation or subscription, which is priced at a few dollars, the minimum allowed. Half of all money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness [https://endhomelessness.org/], the other half pays for expenses. You can also support me by becoming a paid subscriber below, leaving a small one-time tip at the button below, or by buying my novels at wildlakellc.com [https://wildlakellc.com/collection/fiction], Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or other fine book outlets in paperback, eBook, or audio. Intro music is Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. When you buy something using the retail links in our stories we may get a teeny tiny commission, but it never affects your price or our judgement in linking to products we use and believe in. It helps pay for the costs in providing this (hopefully) entertaining content. Project: Pioneer (Prepping, Politics, Afterlife, RVLife) is a reader-supported publication. 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