@Sasha has released a big big book: Big World Small Sasha. Available here as trade-free bigworldsmallsasha.com/book/ - or you can buy the paperback version from the same link (there is no other way to provide it for free in that format).

Why is this book important and how is it related to TROM?

It is a wonderfully written book about her experience on this planet, and how she grew a mind to understand what's this society made of, what is our role in it, and how much we depend on the natural world. It is about the destruction we are causing, but also the so many wonderful people that exist out there, who care and do something about it.

All of that is perfectly layered with her adventurous adventures, some of which are hard to believe, others are so funny and fun. You can see her grow in this book, to become who she is today.

Sasha talks about this trade based society quite a bit, about the notion of trade-free, and also about TROM.

But,
If you think the book is about Sasha, you are wrong.
If you think the book is about hitchhiking and traveling, you are wrong.
If you think the book is about this trade-based society, you are also wrong.
It is about all of these, and more. Dialogues, funny stories, a wonderful way of painting with words, Sasha did a fantastic job!

And after some 5 years of intense work, emotional roller-coasters, and being quite broke, she is brave enough to put the book for free online. No ads, no data collection, no subscribe here to read. No bullshit. If you appreciate that please support her.

So this is not just a book, it is an experience of living in this society and a unique way at looking at this society. A more real overview. It is also a neat and engaging way to introduce people to projects like TROM, and overall to make people question the status-quo.

Sasha is part of our small TROM team and she took part in our TROM II documentary as a lioness roaring facts and truths :D ! tromsite.com/documentaries/tro…

Go read her book, and enjoy her wonderful stories!

#bookrelease #capitalism #trade #nature #travel #hitchhiking #volunteer #tromlive

This is @Sasha and her most valuable project to date:

A book. But a book is not simply a lot of words or a pile of paper. It is memories, emotions, worldviews, and a lot of work to put them all together. Her book is a story that spans over 15 years. But these years are hardly what most people experience on this planet.

She was born in Russia but at age 8 had to move to the United States and deal with a new world. New language, new culture, new people; her mom, her bother, and some pets. Her father went back to Russia, and that affected her a lot.

A mountain of changes to absorb as a kid which led her to a world of drugs and anger.

She details these struggles which at times feel like hard to believe stories - a 17 year old girl selling drugs in New York, crazy mushroom trips and adventurous thefts.

But she managed to pull herself together and change her life for the better. She was not impressed by the imaginary borders humans create and call countries, so she went on flying like a free bird :). From Canada to Mexico, Australia to Europe, Russia to Thailand. 15 years of adventures with almost no money. Because money won't stop Small Sasha :).

A way to discover the world and yourself.

When you get to experience so many cultures and places, you can understand much better what humans are, and what makes them who they are.

The places she saw and the people she met are extraordinarily described in the book, in a way that you feel like you are there. No photos needed. You'll laugh, wonder, or feel uncomfortable reading some of her uncensored experiences.

It is a galaxy of stories that she had to put together using notes from the past, photos, and her own memories stored in the mushy pile of cells we call the brain.

She managed to compile this massive story in a way that it is super fun to follow, but also to get a feeling of how she grew a mind in all of these years.

That mental growth and her experiences, made her realize how fucked up this society is and how much we are destroying this environment and the creatures in it.

She started to volunteer for some organizations over the years, eventually getting closer to the project I made, TROM. And so here we are, a book later, spending our lives together.

I cannot describe how wonderful this book is, how emotional and funny. So much fun, but also a lot of reality check for many people who are going to have their values challenged.

She crafted this book so much, that at times you feel like Carl Sagan, David Attenborough and George Carlin contributed to the book :).

A wonderful read! A massive CONGRATULATIONS to Sasha for the immense work she put into this. I know too well how for the past 4 years she worked so much on this book that it almost put our relationship under a big question mark. I never saw anyone putting so much effort into anything. It was too intense!

But now it is OVER. Finally! I thought I will never see this happen. Wow!

After so many years of work, and almost no money, she is putting the book for free on her website bigworldsmallsasha.com/ in digital format, despite us not having much money to make a life for ourselves on this planet. But of course, if you want to support her (us) you can buy the physical copy too. Or donate if you can.

I helped design the entire cover and I am quite proud of it :).

Go read it! I know I will read it again. This time the physical copy, in a hammock somewhere in nature.

Sasha you fucking did ti!

PS: The book was made with trade-free software. LibreOffice, Krita, Inkscape.

#nature #traveling #society #capitalism #trade #book #bookrelease #foss