Hey I'm Jan, Developer/Creator of HiveDebit, this post is not about HiveDebit, but it's about something that I really enjoy.
When I was younger, I was a poor guy. Let's say that I had bad situations since 2013. I lived in Bogotá, in a district called Suba, in a strange and kind of scary place. I remember one time at 3 AM, someone got assassinated with a gun, and the bullet went straight through the guy and ended in the door of the local store.
The thing is, I just had two things to choose from each day: Breakfast and Lunch, or Breakfast and Dinner.
It was a really bad time. I was in school, and I started doing trading — but not that weird thing with charts and all that stuff. Real trading. I traded homework for cookies or other stuff to take home and eat.
That situation lasted more than three years, so the only good times I really had during that period were:
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Going with my grandfather to his house, eating well, and enjoying the day with him.
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Going with my aunt, eating, and having a really cool time.
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Going with my uncle in his car to a finca in Colombia, enjoying the pool and mangoes.
There were no other options for having a good time. At home, we always had problems with food, and sometimes with money, so we sometimes didn’t pay rent, or couldn’t pay for our basic needs. It was a really tough time, so I really appreciated the moments when I was out of the house doing other things.
If you don’t know, I’m 18. I started as a Bitcoin Educator at 16. Doing the math, in 2013 I was six years old. It’s not something nice for a kid.
Going to my grandfather’s house was really great. He works in a cool place. He’s not a millionaire, but he has always cared about us (me, my mom, and my brother). He had a TV — something I didn’t have. Well, I did have one, but it was a cubic one, so the only thing I watched was Profesor Súper O, series about the Spanish language, energy solutions, and Colombian history.
Most importantly, my grandfather had food, and I enjoyed spending the day with him. That happened only about once every three weeks, so I was always looking forward to that day.
The second option was going with my aunt. That was really great. My aunt didn’t have kids, and she had her husband. We enjoyed good times going out in Bogotá, walking, and discovering new things. But, again, it only happened maybe once a month if I was lucky.
And the last one was the one I enjoyed the most: going to a finca with my uncle. He is not 100% my uncle — we don’t share blood or anything like that. He’s the brother of my aunt’s husband, but still, I consider him my uncle. He has a Jeep Cherokee XJ 1996, and whenever he was going to the finca, I was always invited. I had a really good time with him. I remember that around 2015-2017, I wasn’t that close to him, but we always had good conversations. I remember walking for 1-2 hours with him in the middle of nowhere, just talking about random things. We didn’t have any mission or anything to do, but it was really special for me.
I don’t have a lot of photos with him, but thanks to @ecoinstant, I have some.
I remember always going in the Jeep Cherokee to the mini city near the finca, and traveling in that car many times. The saddest moments were when he dropped us back home, because that meant the adventure was over — no more finca, and no more Cherokee.
I had really good experiences with him. One time, walking in the middle of Sasaima (another small town in Colombia), we got lost. But we found a tangerine tree and sat on the ground to eat. We tried to find our way back home but couldn’t. While we were eating the tangerines, I looked to my left and saw a house. If you don’t know, you can’t trespass private property. So we said, “Shit, we need to run!” We grabbed two more tangerines and kept walking to find the way home.
I also remember the long walks with him through the forest, 4-6 KM, just walking and talking.
He is one of the people who supported me to become a Bitcoin Educator and start doing something meaningful with my life instead of wasting time when I was 15.
This got a little emotional, but it’s important. Even if you don’t find it interesting, I don’t care. I’m sharing my memories with this great man, a man who always supported me and gave me advice when I had no one to ask.
Let’s get to the point. Around 2017-2018, my grandfather talked to us and told us it was better for us to live with him, because he was paying both his rent and ours, plus services and everything else. So we moved 20 km to his place, and started living better. I still live with him today.
I remember a trip in 2020 to the finca with my uncle — his nickname is Mono. I spent more than two weeks with him. I know he’s a solitary man; he doesn’t have a wife or kids. He lives alone.
I think (I’m not sure) that maybe he enjoys spending time with me. That’s how I felt during that time with him. We spent time walking, talking, learning, and listening to music.
I remember him going for his cassettes and CDs. He doesn’t have a mansion — his place is pretty simple, but for me, it’s really cool. The only tech you’ll find is a cube TV and the cassette player — the most valuable thing you could have.
He always played his cassettes during the day or night. We just sat and listened to music.
Great hits from Luis Miguel, Ricardo Montaner, Roberto Carlos, Eros Ramazzotti, and more. He has a great collection of CDs, cassettes, and vinyls, and we always listened to them and enjoyed them. So, if you ask @arlettemsalase or @starkerz about me, they’ll tell you I’m like a 40-year-old man.
All those great times at the finca made me the man I am today. If you don’t know, like many Latin American kids, I don’t have a father. So I didn’t have a dad to ask weird questions to. I just had my grandfather and my uncles. And sometimes, when I wasn’t with my grandfather, I was with my uncle. Both of them taught me valuable life lessons — about being transparent, honest, and creative.
I think I never properly thanked the people who supported me — Mono, Tito, Ivan, and Juan — for helping me become who I am today. Maybe I didn’t do it because I tend to cry a lot, and I don’t want to do that in front of them. To be honest, I’ve already cried three times while writing this.
So, if any of you ever read this:
Thank you, Mono, for teaching me about the good things in life, for showing me great music, and for inspiring me to keep going and do great things. Without your advice and support, I’m sure I wouldn’t be here.
Thank you, Tito, for being there for me when I needed a father, an adviser, and someone to show me love. You always provided that to me.
Thank you, Ivan, for being the teacher and the magician who put me on this path. You told me I would have a great future, and that same day, everything started to change for the better.
Thank you, Juan, for teaching me so many things and believing in me when I had no idea what to do with my life. You are one of the most important people to me. I remember everything you taught me and the advice you always gave me.
I really love these four guys — the team of four, each with a different way of thinking and a different perspective to share. But in the end, they made me who I am.
Mono is one of the people I love most in my life. Every time I spend time with him, whether it’s one hour or a whole week, I always enjoy it. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay what he’s done for me. Maybe you don’t fully understand what he’s done for me, but I do. And even a simple "thank you" isn’t enough to express how grateful I am.
This post was supposed to be about why the Jeep Cherokee is the best car in history, but the reality is that, for me, it’s the most special car because of the adventures I had with its owner, the moments we shared traveling in it, and the great conversations we had inside it. Sometimes it’s not about material things — it’s about the feelings they bring us. That’s why, for me, the Jeep Cherokee is the greatest car in history.
Maybe you were expecting a technical post about why it’s a good car, but now you know what it means to me. I want one for myself, to make my own memories with it, and to spend time with the people I love. If I had such great experiences and conversations in that car, why not get my own and start writing my own story?
Thanks for reading this. Maybe it’s a bit weird, and I cried three times writing it, but I really enjoyed sharing it. I don’t know how I’m going to get a Jeep Cherokee since it’s like $7,000 USD. If you have any ideas, let me know. Also, thanks to @starkerz for believing in me.