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Ricktastic Robbery Relief & Resupply

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Preface: Aside from the paragraph headings, you can click on anything in bold if you are interested in learning more.


"Hello, Mr.... Tastic? Can you please introduce yourself for those of us who don't know you?"
Absolutely! My name is Rick, though my friends and most who know me commonly refer to me as Rick Tastic, a name which was bestowed upon me by a friend almost a decade ago due to the nature with which I live my life and express my soul in this beautiful universe. 

And before you jump on the offensive - no, she's not naked. 

"We believe you that she's not naked. You look like you're on a 22 to 25 foot sailboat, maybe a Capri or Merit, in the middle of Mission Bay, San Diego. It would be silly of us to assume she is naked."
Uh, wow - that's, uh, exactly where we are... and it was a Merit 25, all the Capri 22's were rented that day. Sorry for preemptively jumping down your throat. It's like everyone's first question when they see the picture.

"I mean, yeah, it 'sorta' makes sense why someone might think she's naked... But anyway, please tell us about what happened that led you to seek us out?"
Well, after quitting the rat race and selling, donating, and giving away most of what I owned, I embarked on a journey to lead me around the world at the beginning of April, a journey I suspect will take me several years as I have a considerable amount of work to do and goals to accomplish before returning, and a journey during which I knew I would run the risk of losing my stuff at some point - I just didn't think it would be within the first 30 days.

"Set the scene for us if you will."
Upon arriving in Tapachula, México from Tuxtla on the morning of Cinco de Mayo...
...I left the Rapidos del Sur bus station in Tapachula around 4am, to walk to another bus station, roughly a quarter mile away, hoping to be on the earliest bus down to la Ciudad de Guatemala before the end of the day.

But it didn't quite work out how I had hoped...

"And why is that?"
Approximately 5 minutes into my walk I was assaulted by four locals, who managed to overwhelm me long enough to rip a small pack off my arm after choking me and knocking me to the ground. They tried to take the big pack on my back as well, but the straps were too tight and I fought back too much for them to be successful. Once they started walking away and I had a chance to stand back up, I attempted to pursue them to get the small pack back, but when the police showed up and tackled the two men who began harassing me again, the two men with my small pack broke into a sprint, disappearing in the darkness.

In the long run, what I lost is just stuff, and once I realized I was going to continue on, regardless, the severity of the loss was blunted, but even accounting for the monetary value of that stuff, I still lost items which no amount of money can replace - pictures and notes on the phones that were taken, notepads filled with my stories and topics to write about that I had collected for months, and journals I had been maintaining on adventures for years.

And if I'm being honest, as I was tracking down images of my adventures for this campaign, I noticed a few items I had forgotten about.

Amongst the few, there were two that hit me square in the gut: I had tied my dad's old watch to the shoulder strap of the small pack that was stolen, and attached a keychain I've had since college that had a little black leather pocket with his old guitar picks in it.

The watch hasn't ticked in who knows how long, and I never once used any of the guitar picks, but for the past 5 years since he passed away, the guitar picks and the watch had been physically close to me as long I had my keys or was in my room.

In a way, my dad was always there.

The moment I felt that loss I had a choice - hang on and let that attachment break me as I lash out against nothing, or feel the pain, understand why I feel it, and appreciate it for what it teaches me.


The universe does not exist to coddle and placate us, but to strengthen us with its apathy, unfairness, and injustice, none of which exist as a result of its intention, because a thing which has no intention cannot act with intent, and the desire for a sense of larger-than-thou empathy, equality, and cosmic justice is simply the egotistical self-deceit of humanity trying to project emotions upon a thing which does not have any.

If we are rigid and unyielding to change, the passage of time and its uncontrollable events will snap us in half, yet if we are flexible and willing to bend when the maelstrom of life grows too strong then we have an opportunity to grow a little taller, a little tougher.

Luckily, I know my dad doesn't live in the watch I no longer have that doesn't work, and I know a much better way of remembering him than holding onto a leather pocket of old guitar picks is to learn how to play the guitar and express his memory through creation, not attachment.

Cheers, dad.

"Very touching, Rick, and we're sorry to hear you had to go through such an attack. So, tell us how can we help you."
Until I get my Patreon page up and running (to those following me on social media: I swear I'm close (that's what she said)) I'm surviving solely on my savings, and having to spend almost 25% of said savings just to replace my stuff puts a significant hindrance on how long I have to accomplish my dream of becoming the destroyer of worlds... 

"Wait... what?!"
Alright, who thought it would be funny to mess with my notes?!

Anyway... What I meant to say was: it puts a significant hindrance on how long I have to become a self-sufficient adventurer, writer, & traveling storyteller, allowing me to share my inspiring and entertaining stories with the world.










"You're in all of these pictures?"
Yeah... Well, not the first and the last pictures, but I did snap them myself. 

"And the fight one?"
I competed in an impromptu Muay Thai match when I was hammered one night in Thailand a year and a half ago...


"Did you have any fight experience?"
I trained for a month in Muay Thai about 8 years ago.

"I'm afraid to ask how it..."
I won a $4 bucket of whiskey.

"I have no words."
...and I gave the bucket away because I was too drunk to finish it.

"Of course you were. So, these pictures... have you thought about just, I don't know, picking one 'look' and sticking with it?"
No.

"Fair enough. Please, do go on."
I am humbly asking for your help to blunt the cost of replacing many of the items I lost so I can focus more on continuing my journey and turning my adventures into inspiring and entertaining stories for the world. 

"Can you tell us what was in the stolen pack?"
Of course. Below you will find a list of everything I was able to think of that was in the pack along with the current value of each item based on Google, Amazon, Apple, my memory, etc (click on the item name to visit the website I used to determine the price). In addition, as you will see from the difference between my campaign goal and the total value of what I lost, I am not expecting your generous donations to help me replace all of what I lost. 
- 5.11 Tactical COVRT Assault Pack $79
- Refurbished Kindle Voyage E-reader, 3G + Wi-Fi $219
- Kindle Voyage Case $19
- Refurbished Apple iPad Air, 3G + Wi-Fi 16gb  $319
- Apple iPhone SE 64gb $449
- Apple iPhone SE Case $29
- Apple iPhone 6 128gb $490
- Apple iPhone 6 Leather Case $45
- 10000mAh Anker Battery $23
- 5200mAh Anker Battery $15
- (2) Munitio NINES Tactical Earphones with 3 Button Mic Control, Gold $64 x 2 ($128)
- (6) Lewis N. Clark TSA-Approved Triple Security Lockdown Lock With Two Steel Cables $10 x 6($60)
- Insten Universal All in One Worldwide Travel Power Plug Wall AC Adapter $11
- Travelon Laundry Soap Sheets, 50-Count $6
- Mack's Snore Blockers Foam Earplugs - 24, count, 12 pair $7
- (36) Acuvue Oasys 2-week with Hydraclear Plus Contact Lenses $175
- Lightec Frames with Prescription  Lenses $220
- Prescription Ray-Ban Aviators $200
- Sunglasses $10
- "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook" by Gary V $20
- "Vagabonding" by Rolf Potts $10
- "The Glance: Songs of Soul-Meeting" by Rumi $10
- Clinch Gear Drawstring Bag $20
- The Five Minute Journal $23
- Moleskine Notebook $13
- Dive Mask $13
- Snorkel $8
- Wallet $11
- Cash $120
- My dad's old guitar picks N/A
- My dad's old watch N/A
- Electric Razor $14
- Chat Pack $11
- Neck pillow $40
- Blink Eye Drops $11
- First Aid Kit $18
- Johnson & Johnson Bandage Kit $5

The total value of what I lost in that one small pack is a rather nauseating $2,851.

"Woah..."
Like I said earlier, I'm not looking to recoup the value of EVERYTHING I lost, nor am I trying to replace everything. There are items I got for free, items I expected to lose on the trip, items I didn't expect to lose but see no reasonable method of replacing them, and items of relatively trivial cost. 

For example:
- I brought the iPad with me fully expecting it to get stolen at some point over the next few years. 
- I brought both iPhones because I expected to lose or break one at some point (just not at the same time and not so soon).
- I doubt I'll be going in for an eye exam any time soon to replace the Ray-Bans, though it would be a good idea to try and get another pair of prescription glasses and/or more contacts considering if I lose or break the pair I'm wearing now I am severely SOL.

With that said, if for whatever reason this campaign draws  more attention than I'm expecting it to, any amount I receive above the $1,500 goal I will simply use as a safety cushion moving forward, because regardless of how many precautions I take...

...I do not have control over the actions of others. I know my journey will take me into far more dangerous territory than a little border town in México and while I can prepared to defend myself next time this is probably not the last time I'll be mugged, but hopefully it will be the last time it happens due to ignorance and a false sense of security on my part.

"Did you just hand us a picture of a balisong knife with some rice?"
Oops... uhhh - here, look at these instead...


"What do these pictures have to do with... You know what - I'm not even going to ask. You're quite the character, Rick. On top of or aside from financially supporting your campaign, if we choose to do so, is there anything else can we do to help?"
YES!!! Share this campaign EVERYWHERE - Facebook, twitter, email, text, etc. Draw more attention to the story, share my blog posts to draw more attention to my blog, and last but not least, be a good human!


Seriously! Just be a good person and treat people like everyone has something valuable to teach you, because every single person on this planet knows at least one thing you do not.

Everyone.

My goal in life is to make this world a better place by inspiring people to be their authentic selves, to pursue their dreams, and to just be the best humans they can, so by simply sharing this campaign you increase both the chance of me recouping my funds AND my exposure to the world, which can only have a positive effect on all of us.

Unless of course, I invent Skynet, in which case I apologize DEEPLY in advance for nearly annhilating humanity.

"Sounds great, Rick. How soon do you need the funds?"
I would be beyond grateful if my story was worthy enough to raise the funds within the next 30 days as I've already purchased a significant number of items on the list from Amazon to reduce my downtime, most of which are on their way to my mom's house in Florida so she can ship them to me in Guatemala (that shipping cost ain't cheap either so I appreciate all of you who donate as you'll be helping her to cover that as well).

Hi, mom.

"Hi, Rick's mom. Well, is there anything else you want to say to us?"
I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, for not only sitting through this novel of a campaign, but also and especially for lending me ANY support you feel I deserve. I made a stupid mistake and I acknowledge it wholeheartedly, so I hope in the future any of you will feel comfortable coming to me and asking for help as well. We all screw up in life, and some of us aren't so lucky as to survive those screw ups, but the important thing is we learn from our mistakes and continue to push forward, not letting our stupid mistakes define who we are or what we believe we are capable of.


While I've only been on this journey for a month, it is my life now, and I can't imagine concluding my travels until I've figured out what my soul is capable of in this universe, so I will do whatever it takes to ensure just that, and it is my sincerest wish that you will join me so we can do this together - check out my blog, or follow my shenanigans on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


Thanks, team!


Rick Tastic - over & out.

❤️ & ✌
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Donations 

  • Kat Sorensen
    • $100 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer

Rick Tastic
Organizer
San Diego, CA

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