Elf Pavlik - Moneyless since 2009

elf-pavlik-moneyless

Elf Pavlik gave up money in 2009 after he had come back to Europe from San Francisco. In California he was working for a highly competitive internet company that was mainly trying to compete with other companies, without really producing anything that makes people happy. Elf decided he had enough of that.

First he started living in nature for a while and tried giving up money. When coming back to Europe he was living and working on wwoofing farms and decided to completely give up the idea of money. While at it he also decided to leave his passport with recycling paper, consequentially Elf lived without money or papers. No insurance, no rent, no bosses, no more personal belongings than he needs.

Some people think a life without money is very sad. But Pavlik is the opposite of sadness. He's always looking on the bright side of things.

Pavlik has chosen to live in a different reality, ahead of his time, working towards a world in which money is meaningless. A world without borders and states. He's working a lot on decentralizing the web, a proponent of open web technologies such as Persona. A lot of his code is available at https://github.com/elf-pavlik and you can interact with him on Twitter through @elfpavlik.

Watch elf

elf Pavlik - Strictly Moneyless from Side Ways Films.

More reading and watching

Book: Steps Towards Inner Peace

The Peace-Pilgrim was a woman living almost 30 years without money, in the walhalla of money: the United States. She made many walking trips and took only little on those trips. She lived just from what people gave her and she never needed any money!

Her message was about an inner peace that is reachable by anyone. You as well! It's the ultimate form of happiness, always in peace with whatever is there. Always be at peace with yourself.

"Steps Towards Inner Peace" is the book published after her death. The book is available for free. You can order it at the website about the book and there is also a digital version in Dutch and other languages.

Also check Wikipedia for more information about her life and the website Peacepilgrim.

Living Moneyless: Mark Boyle

Living without money, how does that work out in practice? The Irishman Mark Boyle has been doing it since November 2008 and he's having a great time. He's living in England in an old caravan given to him. He start symbolically on Buy Nothing Day, a yearly day to not buy anything together with others.

Raphael Fellmer

Some people have consciously chosen for a life without money. Raphael Fellmer and his family have been living without money or income since 2010, "to increase consciousness about responsibility, that we all carry for hunger, injustice and environmental damage." Raphael is living in Berlin with wife and children. He has been on TV several times.