Dr. Z’s journey to point zero

One month after Dr. Christian Zippel (Dr. Z) has given up his residence and property in Germany, there is a new sign of life from him. What he still has in his possessions, how he lives in the future, and what four insights he has received in a month of absolute freedom, you will find out in this article.

FREE AS A BIRD

My fingers claw into the stone slab. On all fours I climb up. Below me the slope. On a ledge I straighten up. Look towards the top. But the peak of the 6.000 meter mountain hides in the fog. Himalaya.

Suddenly, a huge shadow leaps up rapidly from the slope behind me and flies in full speed right above my head. I gasp. A huge eagle with a wingspan of almost 2.50 meters makes me feel insignificant. Where I have to fight for every inch, the eagle glides effortlessly. Leaves me behind open-mouthed. Floats further upwards. Majestic. Sublime. Minimalist. Free.

CRYSTAL CLEAR MOMENTS

… like these seem the purest to me on this planet, move me most deeply. Unfiltered. Presented by Mother Nature. Be it the shark in the Great Barrier Reef, the python in Bangkok, the monitor lizard in Sri Lanka, the jaguar in Panama, the crocodile in the mangroves, the playing dolphins and jumping manta rays in the Pacific or simply the sea eagle on Rügen. Whenever I encounter strong and untamed nature, come face to face with a hammerhead shark or watch a Greenland whale rise from the Arctic sea right next to a fishing boat, I feel at home. That is what I feel drawn to. Here, I look deep into nature’s soul and find myself. When I return to affluent society, this feeling is gone quickly. Bureaucratic, tensed up, blocked, overloaded and rushed – alienated from nature. Man may be the current top of evolution, but has lost its roots and has degenerated into a plateau.

AI – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Many want to rise above what is natural, create artificial intelligence. They want to renounce anything that is animalistic, biological … and thus everything that is deep, emotional and fulfilling, namely: will, passion, life. Intelligence alone is disoriented and weak. Just a tool. Of course, man strives for more and more perfect tools. At the push of a button they are supposed to do anything. This poses a problem: Very few people would know what to do with their lives if their everyday tasks were done for them. Most people are nothing more than tools themselves. Tools for corporations and institutions. They function. They produce. They consume. And they allow their operative, structuring and consuming activities to devour the major part of their lives. Moreover, very few people actually know what to do with their time and energy. It’s ridiculous that they want immortality and yet don’t even know what to do on a rainy Sunday or during a power outage. For me it is the other way around: day-to-day routine, bureaucracy, the minor matters, making money and consumerism disgust me. “Sure”, everyone says, “that‘s just life.” But is that really true? I don’t think so, Tim.

PANTA RHEI

Since the all-too-human mistakes and confusions have bored me to death and since I am a friend of radical decisions, this year I have put my money where my mouth is and buried the civil being of Christian Zippel. I stopped all business activity. One last tax return submitted. All contracts cancelled. Residency given up. All belongings sold. Deregistered in Germany on October 18th, 2018. As a consequence, I dived head first into the beautiful unkwown: I did not (re-)register anywhere. Free as an eagle – admittedly with hand luggage, but with style.

MY BELONGINGS

A passport valid for 10 years with twice as many pages. E-reader. Smartphone. Online bank account with credit card. An international accident insurance that covers inpatient hospital care. Basic clothing. Deodorant. Toothbrush/paste. Hair clippers. All in all under 8kg of belongings. Monthly fixed costs of about €100 in total. In addition, there are costs for accommodation and food as well as SIM card in the respective country, if at all. That‘s peanuts compared to the fixed costs of the average German person. And for a few hundred bucks I live like a king in many countries.

Thanks to digitalization good restaurants, furnished apartments or hotel rooms incl. gym, wellness and brunch can be found all over the world. So the whole thing is not a question of money, but moreso of intellectual freedom, flexibility and efficiency. Traveling is only expensive if you book your journeys/trips commercially and still pay fixed costs in your home country. If you are a cosmopolite, a citizen of the world, if you consider all of Planet Earth your home – and live in other countries like a local – then, compared to Germany,  you will find a much higher standard of living for a lot less money in most countries of this planet.

HOW I WILL LIFE IN THE FUTURE

For years now, I have spent most of the year travelling. I feel at home where I can laugh freely, eat well and sleep deeply. The apartment in Germany was security, comfort and a place to retreat – with it came costs and bureaucracy. By now I feel so much comfort and security in risktaking and freedom, so much stability in myself, that I no longer need any of it externally. Away with it …

DIOGENES LIVED IN HIS BARRELL

He was more radical. More of a minimalist. Less secured. But I am more cosmopolitan, more mobile, more stylish and more networked. Aspects such as pension plan, longterm care or own-occupational disability insurance are for anxious, unadaptable people. I am neither one nor the other: Adaptation is easy. Ready to die. I have found my peace. I still have the international accident insurance, though. Emergency surgery after a serious accident can cost tens of thousands, but should not be a reason to die or for financial ruin. Apart from that and my replaceable basic property, I have „ev(s)olved“. And it will remain so. The journey to ‘point zero’ is incredibly liberating. The more I let go of all these things, the more I can dedicate myself to philosophy as well as exploration, development and creation of value. Here are a few insights I discovered living my new lifestyle.

1. INSIGHT

Everything essential is already here and easily obtainable. Survival in our affluent society is not exactly difficult. In case you didn‘t get the memo: we do not suffer from a lack of things, but rather from abundance. Poor is: he who wants more. Sick is: he who destroys his life for it. Stupid is: he who believes that owning even more could be the solution.

2. INSIGHT

You don’t need any property or residence. If you need anything at all, you can rent it or buy it and pass it on afterwards. Why own things? Immovable property does make indeed you immovable. Sitting makes you sick, rigid and unable to move. If you don’t sit on anything, you can dance. Instead of owning ass-ets, get your ass up – and move. Dance life, die laughing.

3. INSIGHT

Do your homework. Invest everything in yourself; in your abilities, qualities, relationships, invest in your mind and body and in the stability of your soul. As soon as you have matured, are stable and you feel fulfilled, invest everything overflowing into your home planet: create values wherever you may be or go. Make every place, every apartment, every family a better one. Create constructive projects. Optimize processes. Protect and promote nature, just as everything that is beautiful, good and strong. Be optimistic, energetic, constructive through and through. Karma works.

4. INSIGHT

You have all the time and energy in the world. Don’t worry about trivial shit like securing your livelihood, food, future and survival. Overcome yourself and dedicate yourself to positivity. The human is a wonderful piece of art. Created to solve problems, break barriers and create values. Do this and you will never lack anything. Don’t run after things. Let them come to you. Don’t work your ass off for some external values. Create your own and live them. Do not cling to matter. Matter is just congealed energy. Find your flow and you will emenate this energy, radiate it from your eyes. Don’t run after people. Be a sun and they will come to you. Do not act out of fear and from a place of lack, but do so from a place of abundance and pure joy and the world will grow with you. Overcome yourself. You are the world: Brahman – Atman. Exceed limitations. Become one with everything: Tat Tvam Asi. This is liberation: Moksha.

THIS IS HOW THE STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL LIFE WORKS: MARTIAL-ARTS

… and maybe now you are starting to realize why it is so easy for me to give up everything “civil” and trivial: it’s just an illusion – like a splinter in your mind. All this is not real. Only a collective construction of the human species that takes itself too seriously.

The fact is, we have no idea what the universe is, what it’s all about or where it’s going!

Ignoramus. Ignorabimus.

Almost all humans avoid to think about this and bow to the c-illusions: capital, consumption, career, commerce and convention. I get myself out of this now. My life, my rules. Create what is constructive, wherever you find beauty. Take philosophy to the extreme. Write a freespirited chapter in the book of life.

Smell you later.