I should preface this great big whinging complaint of a blog by saying that for a lot of the people I know, my 'problem' would be seen as an exciting adventure. I get that. I really do. I'm one lucky bastard to have been traveling for a living for nearly 7 years, having incredible experiences that I'm so thankful for.

So, with all of that being said - OH SWEET ZEUS I WANT TO ACTUALLY LIVE SOMEWHERE SOON.

Yup, the big question I'm wrestling with right now (still) is that old chestnut - where on earth should I hang my hat?

I've asked people for input over on Facebook and twitter, in a kind of modern-day opinion poll. I've spoken to both official-type people (with many letters following their names) and those with first hand experience to get a range of options and I am finally narrowing this whole 'home' thing down. Finally.

Well, kind of.

A lot of people have suggested that I look into living in Malta, so that's what I've been doing lately. The amount of residency paperwork and tax-form legalese that I've been trawling through over the past few weeks has given me one hell of a headache and I still don't feel all that much closer to a real understanding of the situation.

My big problem right now is that once November 1st rolls around, I won't be a resident of any particular country. I am without a country. I'm like Tom Hanks in that movie where he has to live in an airplane terminal. Seriously, who on earth did he pay his taxes to?! It's not that I love paying taxes but I'd rather not get in trouble with back taxes and legal issues.

I've checked on this and even though I'm a British citizen, apparently they don't want my money. Wtf?

Because of my job (which is awesome and I promise you that I'm not being a douchebag and complaining about it,) I travel a lot of the time and therefore I'm not spending the required number of days to be resident in any one place. My suitcase is really racking up the miles right now. I have accountant friends (thank you, gods of the tax code) in 3 different countries trying to figure this out for me but in the meantime, I'm in a kind of limbo which has made me feel more unsettled than ever.

So I'm kind of burying my head in the sand a little bit right now. Maybe that sand will be on the shores of Malta, who knows.

Man, I hope that I figure this out soon.



And now to apologise for being a baby about this whole thing, here's a photo of a Buffalo dreaming about Las Vegas. No, I don't know why. These are the things that I do when I'm procrastinating instead of looking through more paperwork. Be thankful that I haven't just posted 17 photos of cats and called it a blog entry. My brain is mush right now.