Living Free as a PT
Page 5
I was fortunate enough to be able to buy the RV to begin with which was a blessing from heaven. But after that I really had no money and needed to be able to support myself which I did from my laptop in some of the most beautiful places in the world.
I’ll never forget standing at the pump of a gas station fueling up. I was around 40 years old at the time. Another patron, an older man looked at me and then he looked at my rig with the Jeep in tow and said: “Hey! Aren’t you too young to be retired?” I replied, “Yes, I’m not retired,. I just live like I am!”
This is one way of ‘Living Free as a PT’ and you can’t beat it!
3
How I Became a
‘private traveler’
This term ‘Private Traveller’ has legal significance. Many, perhaps you too, are waking up to what this really means. As I began studying the law in my days in Denver in the 90’s it hit me like a brick that the law relating to the driver license, auto registration and regulations for ‘drivers’ applied only to ‘commercial drivers’ and did/do not apply to natural people who are not ‘driving’ for hire (commercial).
When you drive your family out for a picnic or to church are you engaged in commercial activity? Of course not. You are, by legal definition not a ‘driver’. You are a traveller. A traveller moves about on the roads and highways as a matter of ‘Right’ under natural law and not by a regulated ‘privilege’ granted by the state. This is not the time or place for me to be giving a technical training on the legal aspects of that. I have that for you in other resources if you need it. Check the Appendix for references.
Previously herein I had mentioned that my time in the gulag was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. One of the reasons for that was that it gave me time to do a thorough analysis and comparison of Man’s law vs. God’s law and this was incredibly enlightening.
You’ll find 11 pages of quotes from biblical scripture in the appendix of ONE FREEMANS WAR which tell us in clear an unequivocal terms that we are to separate from the worldly Babylonian systems and not be seeking those benefits which entrap us into that jurisdiction.
So with that as a backdrop, I began loosing those chains that bound me to the statutory world of subject citizens, drivers, residents, etc. I no longer wanted to be recognized as a resident, citizen, driver, etc.
The first thing I did was to get alternate documents and have my paid for car registered with the Embassy of Heaven church. The Embassy of Heaven takes the concept of ‘separation of church and state’ literally and why not? Either it ‘is’ or it ‘isn’t’ a valid concept. I got my passport, ID/travel document, registration and indemnity certificate (aka insurance). Nobody could say I didn’t have these things and they are 100% legitimate. Public officials can check to verify the documents and registrations directly with the church and it’s done online.
The next thing I did was to take a hard look at the Certificate of Title to my car which was originally issued by the state. Knowing that the law clearly identifies this ‘certificate’ as ‘title insurance’ I decided I didn’t want this title insurance anymore. Secondly, by registering the car with the state, the state held the true title which is the Manufacturers Statement of Origin (MSO) and it was the real owner.
On the certificate of title it says ‘VOID IF ALTERED’ on the front. On the back it said something like DO NOT MUTILATE.
So I took a bold black magic marker and wrote diagonally across the front in big bold letters: VOID.
Across the back I did the same thing and wrote CANCELLED.
I thought, that should be pretty clear. Sufficiently mutilated!
Now, based on my study of the law I understood very well that the ‘registration’ of any auto could only be done by someone who ‘resided in’ or was ‘doing business in’ THE STATE. This was clear.
The now voided certificate of title was sent to DMV with a cover letter indicating that this title insurance was now effectively cancelled and the DMV needed to make all necessary adjustments in their databases. I also requested the return of the MSO.
Secondly, I composed a letter to the Oklahoma Tax Commission which was the ultimate authority over registrations. It’s funny how it has nothing to do with public safety but only taxes, right? Do you believe in coincidences?.
This letter was well crafted to seek confirmation of what I already knew but I wanted it in writing from the Tax Commission should the issue ever arise (in court) in the future.
I knew that it would be impossible to register a vehicle unless one were a ‘resident’ or ‘doing business’ in the state so my letter addressed these issues.
I had actually put my car into a trust which was the owner and now had the registration done with the Embassy of Heaven. Now that the car was registered to the church, to paraphrase, my letter went something like this;
======
Dear sirs,
I am writing to you today to seek the appropriate process for registering a vehicle. I have been having a difficult time and I need your direction.
This vehicle is used for non-commercial purposes of the Embassy of Heaven church which is neither a resident nor is engaged in any business in THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA. However, its use is primarily within the geographic boundaries of Oklahoma state and it is located and used in this area for the most part.
I wish to register it as local law enforcement will surely be asking when given the opportunity.
Please instruct me on how to properly register a non-commercial automobile whose owner is neither resident in nor doing business in THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA.
Thank you very much for your assistance and prompt reply to my address listed below.
======
I got the reply I was looking for which was basically: ‘Sorry, you can’t register this vehicle, you don’t qualify.’
Perfect! I have tried to comply with the law in good faith and they wouldn’t let me. The law cannot require the impossible. Should I ever have any issues about my ‘non-state’ ‘Embassy of Heaven’ plates and documents, I have an Ace up my sleeve and a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.
I would need it.
My apartment at the time was in the heart of OKC and was right in between the City Police department on one side and a couple blocks to the other side was the county Sheriff Dept. So every time I drove home from somewhere, city police or Sheriffs deputy vehicles were swirling around me and would often stop behind me at traffic lights. With my Embassy of Heaven plates I remember always praying: “Lord make us invisible, make us invisible!” And he did. We never had any incident about the plates. Although I did take the precaution to buy a smoke colored plastic cover to put over the plates so they were a little less conspicuous. I never had any trouble.
One night while sleeping in the early morning hours in the OKC apartment my wife was startled and sat up abruptly. “What was that?” I was uninterested and wanted to sleep. She continued. “Mark, someone just closed the front door!” She was serious. Damn. I had to get up. We had a revolver in the room and I got it and started looking and listening. Nothing. I quickly looked around and noticed that the door was unlocked which it shouldn’t have been and the curtains in front of the living room window where flapping in the breeze. The window was open. I quickly put 2 and 2 together and ran out the front door looking for whoever had just left. I ran out in my underwear, ran down the stairs into the parking lot to see the taillights of my Embassy of Heaven church registered car speeding down the road. There was no way for me to give chase. It was gone. I called the police at 2 AM. They were two blocks away and I thought there might be a good chance that their patrols on the street would see the car and get it. It took them 45 minutes to arrive to take the report from two blocks away in the middle of the night.
I went back into the house to do further inspection. We had just been to the bank that day and a packet of $2000 in cash was gone as was valuabl
e jewelry my wife had stashed in a very obscure spot in the closet. We also found a cold half can of soda on the counter which the thief apparently took from the fridge and didn’t have time to finish. The audacity!
A couple days after the heist we took off on another trip in the RV and left the recovery of the vehicle in the hands of the police. They had the full report. Off we went on our trip.
I was in Kissime Florida talking to my mom on the phone telling her a little about our trip. I told here I was in Kissime. She and her husband had just returned home to Colorado from a golfing tournament they attended there and she said, ‘Oh you’re in Kissimie? We just came back from there and stayed at a beautiful park resort”, and she went on to describe it and rave about it. As she went on describing it and how wonderful it was, I asked her, “Was it the Tropical Palms RV resort? Because that’s where I am now!” She screamed, “Yes that’s it! You’re there now?” Ha! Amazing. It’s a small world.
Anyway, we had a private mail service collect our mail back in OKC and every so often we’d have them pack it up and send it to us wherever we were. We were enjoying a wonderful time in Florida and we received our mail package.
In the package was a letter from an apartment complex in OKC which I had never heard of. The letter was to say that they found our car abandoned in their parking lot and found our mailing address on a paper in the glove box. They were charging us storage fees which were mounting up and if we didn’t come pick it up and pay the storage within just a few days, they’d sell the car at auction as abandoned.
I thought to myself, ‘Oh no you don’t’. But what do we do? I told my wife that the police had the stolen vehicle report. We’ll have them go pick it up and deal with it when we got back home. I mean, they need to be good for something don’t they?
In the meantime, we had a date in St. Petersburg to see David-Wynn:Miller and attend one of his seminars where I was able to spend some time with him, pick his brain and share some stories. A good PT is always learning as he enjoys life.
Ace Up My Sleeve
So another successful trip in the RV ends up back in OKC and we contact the police. “Yes, we have the car. It’s in the city impound lot. You have to go there, pay the tow charge and recover the car.” Great. Off we went.
When we got there, we were informed that one of the tires was missing and there were no plates on the car and we find in the database that its’ not registered. Interestingly enough it seemed that the thief liked our plates enough to steal them for himself.
Well that was good news anyway that my letter to cancel the ‘title insurance’ actually worked to cancel the registration. Now the problem was that law requires that for any car to be released from the city lot it needs to be registered to the state. Hmmm. What now?
I went to the city lot with some paperwork and tried to convince him to release the car. The fees were paid. It was my car, who is to say that some car registered in any other state or authority can’t be released ? That’s crazy. It makes no sense. The clerk wasn’t moved. “ It’s the law. It has to be registered.” He wasn’t going to get into trouble for me that’s for sure.
I made a couple of other visits hoping to find another clerk there and perhaps have better luck. It was always the same guy and he was getting tired of me.
Then, I remembered the letter I had from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before! Duh!
So I dug it out of my files and came back again. He took a long look at it. I explained it was owned by a church (OKC is bible belt for sure) and he went to make a copy of the letter to cover his ass and get a second opinion. By virtue of this letter he was able to defer responsibility to a higher authority and pass the buck as they say.
He gave me the keys. I fixed the tire and got my car back! The state had succumbed to my maneuverings in the truth and law!
From this time on I was a sworn and true PRIVATE TRAVELLER traveling by right with no need for a license nor any corporate STATE car registration!
Fun with Registrations
While I was in Denver I had a good and growing group of patriots who regularly attended a weekly Law Club meeting I put on there and we’d always be discussing new research, ideas, and what we could do to push the envelope with those ideas.
On the topic of automobile registrations one of our friends told the story of having to pull over on the highway once to fix a flat. He hadn’t cancelled his registration like I did but instead transferred the vehicle to a private trust and registered it that way to get his name off of the registration.
He was working on his flat roadside and a police cruiser pulled up behind him. Rather than offering to help, he started grilling our friend Curt with probing questions which were entirely inappropriate. Curt replied, ‘Officer can’t you see that I’m fixing a flat? There will be no ‘fishing expeditions here today, thank you! The cop persisted demanding to see his paperwork perhaps hoping to dig up a little more revenue for his scoresheet before heading home for the day.
Curt got the flat fixed and went for his registration and insurance and nothing more. He had the car registered in the name of a trust. The trust name was listed as ‘C.I.A. Trust’ The cop tried to confirm, ‘So you’re with the CIA?’
Of course that could mean many things but Curt was smart enough to answer the question with a question and he replied, ‘What does it say there?” And he shut up waiting for the cops reaction. His reaction was to give Curt the papers back and head back to his cruiser saying, “OK. I don’t need anything more. Have a good night!
With that experience we started seeing a flurry of new vehicle registrations to trusts with names such as;
- Independence Research Services dba I.R.S.
- Financial Barometer Indexes, dba F.B.I.
And more. You get the idea.
See the appendix to learn how to have more fun on this issue.
Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.
- George Washington Carver
4
How I became a ‘permanent tourist’
An important element in becoming a PT is the ‘Permanent Tourist’ aspect. This is basically positioning yourself so that wherever you are you appear as though you are from somewhere else. We discussed this previously. It doesn’t mean you have to live on the road. It doesn’t really mean that you even have to travel much at all if you prefer not to. Once you’ve gotten yourself positioned properly with the right documents you can stay or go wherever you want to be.
Pura Vida Mai!
This is a saying in Costa Rica which is culturally iconic and it basically means - Life is good man! Pura Vida! The pure life! I had visited Costa Rica on personal business a couple of times and fell in love with the country. My wife at the time had some business contacts there and I developed a few more and just before Y2k was about to possibly hit us. Everyone was debating the potential consequences.
We decided that we’d be much better off in the shade under a mango tree than in an RV which needs lots of gas, surrounded by snow and ice. So we sold the motorhome, took a big hit on the sale and prepared for the next adventure.
The day we sold the motor home was very sad. I remember the day the guy came to pick it up. When he drove it away, my wife cried tears and I felt the same. It felt like losing a very dear old friend. Such great memories. What a wonderful chapter in our life, closing.
The good news was that we were about to start a new life of adventure and exploration in Costa Rica. It was about as simple as buying an airline ticket and just skedaddling! We had nothing arranged in Costa Rica other than a hotel reservation. A mover packed our furniture and personal belongings and had them shipped in a container which would take about a month to 5 weeks to arrive. tWhere? We didn’t know exactly. If I were to do it again, I’d just sell everything and start fresh in the new place.
So we ar
rived in San Jose and lived in a hotel for about 3 weeks with our Yorkie until we found a spectacular home to rent in a jungle on a mountain top. It was located at the end of the weaving road in a secure, exotic private development with a panoramic view looking down over the valley below. It was heaven.
I could write a book on my Costa Rica experience and maybe someday I will, but not here.
As for my status as a Permanent Tourist, I arrived with my American Passport but had no ‘State’ issued drivers license. Imagine that! I had previously cut it in half like an old credit card and returned it to the Colorado DMV with a nice letter basically saying…
…“Badges? Badges? We don’t need no Stinkin’ Badges!” Remember the old Clint Eastwood movie? Ha!
Anyway, you get the point.
So now being in Costa Rica, I wanted to have a Costa Rica DL. Had I had a valid DL from the US or any other place, I could have merely exchanged the foreign license for a Costa Rica license and be done with it. However, that not
being the case, I’d have to take the written test and driving test before applying. So I did.
At the exam center they were nice enough to ask me if I’d like to take the written exam in English. I accepted. They distributed the local Spanish version to everyone else and I had to wait for the English version. And I waited. And I waited and after about 15 minutes had passed they finally brought me my exam. I whizzed through in about 8 minutes and was the first one out of the room. The others taking the exam looked like they were struggling with it. Anyway, that was quick. So I sailed through the requirements and got my Costa Rica DL.
While I lived there for 7 years, I hosted a number of business conferences and would routinely have a number of visitors wanting to get their own CR DL for obvious reasons. I’d have my assistant take the visitors down to the DMV center, get their required medical questionnaire and vision test completed and they’d be back in a couple of hours with their new DL! It was quick and easy.