Just mulling the escape clause. Where would you go?
Somewhere with cracking singletrack.
Alaska
If I wanted to disappear I probably wouldn't post about it on social media
The shed
Hounslow
I have disappeared. This is where I ended up.
A little bit disappear, Mull
Properly disappear, bike, tent and global nomadic travels.
Deepest British Columbia. Maybe even Vancouver Island. Lots of opportunities to disappear there.
As in do a midnight flit? Yeah wouldn’t be writing about it here.
Getting away from it all (legally etc), then Northern Spain, Girona area. Busy but not crowded, great riding, access to mountains, beaches, great weather and what seems a relaxed way of life.
Wigan Pier
Ouagadougou or if I wanted to vanish beyond the event horizon into an unknowable blackness of infinitesimal obscurity, Frizzington
Edit: Batley.
Pub.
Tora Bora
To middle-age.
I'd head off, just me, the bike and the sweet sweet trails behind the nationwide in Swindon.
Oopmiawn Asoll
Anywhere where there's a tourist industry - it's what a friend from school did!
Depends on who’d be looking but north Africa or South America. There my be better places but I don’t know them.
Behind me grans wardrobe.
Depends who is looking. Possibly the Nilgiris in Southern India.
The Yukon.
'Spoon's bogs
Depends, to get away from the inlaws then yup, go somewhere with nice biking.
To win a series of the Hunted. Chuck on an old coat and go homeless. Has to be better than the usual plan hide on a campsite/bothy in Scotland or Wales where you stick out like a sore thumb and eventually the locals shop you for the reward.
zzjabzz
Free Member
‘Spoon’s bogs
I wouldn't, the flush in the en suite wont shift a #2.
Possibly the Nilgiris in Southern India.
There's an empty house in Ooty at the moment our family had vacated....
Personally NZ or Tasmania appeals, although keeping moving by bike doing seasonal work through Europe also appeals.
To win a series of the Hunted. Chuck on an old coat and go homeless. Has to be better than the usual plan hide on a campsite/bothy in Scotland or Wales where you stick out like a sore thumb and eventually the locals shop you for the reward.
Until the producers get bored of your antics and decide to contrive your capture anyhow via the GPS tracker you're carrying around.
To disappear is not a place.
London. Nobody who knows me would ever dream of looking for me there.
Depends who you’re escaping from. Non-arrestable / domestics matters, I’d probably go to Ireland- reciprocal rights, freedom of movement, friendly population, large areas are very rural and peaceful anything a bit more serious probably southern Spain; English widely spoken, lots of cheap accommodation, again freedom of movement (atm), large ex-pat community so easier to be anonymous (although this can also work against you - been a lot of crime stoppers I tell garnered over the last few years) and good weather. Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands popular for similar reasons, the downsides there being you’ll be surrounded by scouse crims doing something similar so will probably return home sooner to avoid accents and casuals clothing.
Anything more serious, depends how much you can pay - Panama, Dubai seem to be popular - English widely spoken, good standards of living, centres for bent banking.
Or just turn off the mobiles and leave the internet and stay at home and don’t bother, as the great Norman Stanley Fletcher said, “ Before too long he'll be Googie Withers again."
I'd probably do Portugal or northern Spain. Maybe south eastern Europe, (Bulkans) amazing area but bigger language issues.
To middle-age.
Off to be the wizard?
With budget - New Zealand.
Without budget - London.
I'd be the Scottish Labour leader, no one would have a clue who you are.
I’d be the Scottish Labour leader, no one would have a clue who you are.
If you can't master the accent, you could lead the LibDems down here for a similar effect.
Shhhhhh my precious!
Squamish or Downieville I think, just for the trails. Squamish is probably a little too like the UK weather wise, Downieville would have a better climate...
Can't read the title without thinking of Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household. You'd hope to go to ground somewhere rural but as stated above staying put like that and not attracting attention is hard to achieve.
In reality the rather dull answer (assuming we are talking uk) is to move to a new area, probably south of england where no one really cares/notices who their neighbour is, and rent a borng semi. I guess the problem long term would be getting legit work without using your NI number or accessing your old bank accounts.
I’d be the Scottish Labour leader, no one would have a clue who you are.
If you can’t master the accent.....
He can't 🙂
Somewhere with a barter economy.
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Outback Australia. Get a job on a cattle station. They don't ask too many questions and no one would shop you anyway so long as you aren't an arse.
I don't think it's that difficult if you have any skills you can use in the cash economy. The biggest issue is staying off the official system (s).
Until the producers get bored of your antics and decide to contrive your capture anyhow via the GPS tracker you’re carrying around.
I'll let you in on a badly kept secret.
They don't actually have ANPR, CCTV, the ability to intercept your phone, or rights to open your post. It's all faked 🤣. The producer filming them just watsapps the rest of the team and says "we just went under a camera gantry on the M4 and he's on the phone to his mum". They do actually have entirely sperate production teams though, so the hunters are actually in the dark unless they ask the right questions (and the team filming in the office are too so there's no danger of accidentally passing info).
Cuba ?
Bangkok to buy a new passport and name and then to my disappear destination.
Ettrick.
To win a series of the Hunted. Chuck on an old coat and go homeless. Has to be better than the usual plan hide on a campsite/bothy in Scotland or Wales where you stick out like a sore thumb and eventually the locals shop you for the reward.
On the hunted there is some sort of camera crew following the prey. Even if you were able to just "self record" you'd still stand out amongst the homeless community, and I think its very unlikely that none of them would be persuaded to shop you for a small ££.
Hampstead Heath?
Wisbech, Cambridgeshire?
But really, Maine, USA?
Cuba
Way too much paperwork. There are better Caribbean choices. Top tip: have second language fairly well sorted Caribbean/S.America go French. North Africa go Spanish. It’s all just making layers...
@martinhutch Do you mean a Yorkshire accent, like the current Scottish Lab leader?
Can’t read the title without thinking of Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household.
No good if you're a cat lover.
Do you mean a Yorkshire accent, like the current Scottish Lab leader?
I wouldn't know, thus proving the point of the original statement I replied to, I guess. 🙂
A friend of a friend managed it about a decade ago. Got hold of some dodgy ID here but then used his real ID to get to Canada for a holiday. He just never came back! His official ID shows him arriving at the airport, stating his hotel that he had booked but he never arrived. The only way we know he is still alive is that he sends an email from a random address (different every time) to his mum on her birthday, no details just that he's fine and hopes everyone is well. Someone did bump into him in Vancouver about 6 years ago, he said he just wanted to live anonymously. They respected that so didn't ask any other questions and he has now moved on to somewhere in the wilderness according to the annual email.
Goa like Matt Damon did in Bourne movie 2. Worked out well for him
Detroit - id have a whole street all to myself...
http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2014/06/06/up-close-8-most-abandoned-neighborhoods-in-detroit/
Somewhere that the common sodding cold doesn’t exist
Club Tropicana. The drinks are free so that's a lot less money to worry about.
Patagonia for the fishing, or the Kootenays.
My uncle disappeared without trace for several years, just a brief note to say he was off. When he eventually gave signs of life he explained. He had worked with a colleague whose husband beat her for years, when her kids left home she decided to disappear, with my uncle.
They hadn't left the country but had moved to another town and started a business in rented premises where they also lived, their name becoming that of the business. Administratively no-one ever checked the information they gave which was nearly but not quite accurate. I'm not sure it would be possible in the Internet age.
I worked for a guy and never knew which of the variations his real name was and that despite running one of his companies for a while (which revealed debts that weren't being paid off). When he needed information he asked me to hire a private detective to get it. He also asked me to sort out one of his cars. I found a Sierra under a thick layer of dust in a private underground car park in Nancy, it clearly hadn't moved from when it was nearly new. I checked the glove box for the papers but instead found a revolver. The last I knew he was playing in a jazz band in Stratford upon Avon - so that's my suggestion.
I know its technically america and therefore horrible but Hawaii is amazing. Its like scotland but with friendly people and warm weather. Truly special place and despite the tourism we found lots of quiet beaches and great food.
Bikeradar
And a pricing structure and a culture of destroying the hopes of locals who aren’t prepared to sell their birthright that truly shocked me.
At least the Japanese financial invasion seems to have slowed down.
I think Club Tropicana is currently closed ☹️
Bottle Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand
Milton Keynes
I know its technically america and therefore horrible but Hawaii is amazing.
But only technically America, but it’s a long way out in the Pacific, and it’s national flag has our Union flag on it, not the American Stars and Stripes, so you’ll feel at home! 😁
Personally, I’d choose Eire, lots of country with few people, and lovely scenery with a very laid-back attitude.
Slovenia, or possibly Malta
But I've not got the energy to do it all again.
Croyden
Anywhere rural and you'll stick out like a sore thumb.
General consensus is a big city, it'd be like looking for a needle in a needle stack.
Personally though, A yacht around the caribbean or Philipines/Indonesia.
Bikepacking around the UK and constant irratic movement . All foreign countries require visas and a fair bit of money to set up money.
Uk could be done on the cheap and fairly off the radar, with no bank cards or phone.
I think Club Tropicana is currently closed
Damn! Was it the lack of sea?
Milton Keynes
My office is pretty quiet at the moment, feel free to doss down under my desk.
But I’ve not got the energy to do it all again.
Feel like this is worth expanding on, please.
Until STW allows you to change your user name I can't see how this is going to work.
Carlos
Second page of Google results, no one ever goes there.
But more seriously, if you just want to leave your life behind and start afresh, there's nothing stopping you. It's perfectly legal to get up one morning, say "sod this" and hop in your car and move somewhere else and start a new life with a new name.
Obviously you're not allowed to commit fraud, but if you were Born John Smith and now wish to be known as James Brown, you can and if you jump though enough hoops, and there aren't many, you can get a passport, driving licence and eventually bank accounts in your new name perfectly legally, no need to fly off to Asia to get dodgy passports or whatnot.
It's been know for people to walk into a bank with a fresh passport and driving license and open a account unconnected with any previous accounts. If you know even the basics of banking and financial recording in the UK, it's not hard to effectively being a completely new person - new name, new ID etc. It wouldn't be hard to assume that unless the Police were actively looking for you. James Brown could get a job, rent somewhere to live etc and start building a life for themselves and should debtors, the CSA, angry former business partners etc etc came looking for them, there's almost no chance they'd be found. If you wanted to be really careful, you will have to commit a few acts of fraud. Basically the bank is going to ask you if you've ever been known by any other name, you'll have to say no, but if you don't intend on otherwise breaking the law, it's almost impossible you'll be caught. In the US they rely on their Social Security number for national database of citizens, but our NI numbers don't work like that, you can even apply for a new on if you like.
Equally, a CRB check is very unlikely to highlight a previous name, unless you tell them you had it. Again, it depends what you want to disappear from - over bearing / abusive partner, there no danger in telling the bank or CRB service you used to be John Smith, your data is protected.
I wouldn't say it happens all the time, but I know of it happening more than once that I know of.
but our NI numbers don’t work like that,
True that, I got emergency dental treatment on holiday in the UK and gave them my NI number which I have on a brown piece of official cardboard from my childhood. I don't exist anymore 🙁 . I had to use my French EU health card.
Behind the 96" telly
Way up the Nung River into Cambodia
Ibiza.
I just drove 2 hours down the road, changed my phone number and stopped using Facebook. Pre-move feels like a different lifetime.
Now, if anyone has any ideas about creating a massive stockpile of cash to help smooth the move I'd be all ears.
Minehead
