Healing in Krakow, Poland
A Tourist's Spring Opinion
In the city destroyed by Mongols, plundered by Swedes, and oppressed by Austrians and later Soviets, I started to heal. In the land where over 65,000 Jews were brutally murdered and endless remnants of war remind you of humanity’s darkness, I felt my light.
If it weren't for my students inviting me, Krakow, Poland, wouldn’t have been on my “top 10” list. Now, I’d argue it’s one of the most liveable cities in Europe. With nearly one million people (the stats say 766,683, but that doesn’t take the 200 000 students into account), 24 institutions of higher education, world-class bars with beers under €2, restaurants and food trucks with cuisine from around the world, 7 UNESCO World Heritage sites, a well-connected public transit system, parks that make the entire city feel like a green oasis, and a flat 19% tax rate for individual entrepreneurs, Krakow rivals the European cities I can’t afford.
Usually, cities like Vienna, Copenhagen, and Zurich make it to the top of Europe’s most liveable cities. And sure, they’re liveable if you’re rich, but if you’re a digital nomad with remote healthcare like Safety Wing (Poland’s healthcare is mediocre), your quality of life can be much higher in Krakow.
However, I’m surprisingly more ambassadors-like than my student’s father, a Krakow local who’s lived here his entire life.
Before you take my opinion too seriously, you need to know I experienced Krakow in May and June, the best possible months. You should also be aware that I was at an all-time low before Krakow. I had just started my quest from Castellon, Spain, to the North of Sweden to explore the therapeutic effects of slow travel. Although I had an incredible time and learning experience in Turin, Italy, my stop in Zadar, Croatia, knocked me back down.
Luckily, I ended up at my student’s father’s home in Krakow, Poland. For those of you who follow me on Substack Notes, you know why ending up with a family who appreciates and feeds off my energy made me see my light.
For those who don’t use Substack notes, I’ll keep you updated with my newsletter, which is the heart of Born Without Borders. However, since part of my quest is to show people how to travel therapeutically, I highly recommend getting off of attention-stealing and depression-inducing platforms controlled by ads like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
We all have the need to share, communicate, and preserve the moments of our lives. Substack Notes doesn’t have ads, and the algorithm allows you to choose what you want to see. Most importantly, you put the app down, feeling like you haven’t wasted your time.
For creators, it means you have full control. You own your email list and content, allowing you to jump ship whenever you want, although I doubt you’ll find a reason why.
Next week, I’ll post detailed insight and a guide to Krakow from a local’s perspective. As a history buff, entrepreneur working internationally, and someone who has lived in Krakow his entire life, his recommendations, warnings, and opinions about Krakow will give you a more accurate idea of Krakow.
The article will be for paid subscribers as it’s the only way for this project to be sustainable.
What do you get for subscribing?
Thanks to travelling the world, interviewing people across cultures, doing deep dives and transparently providing links to thorough cultural psychology research, Born Without Borders is like your own cultural consultancy (but better because you can bring it with you in your back pocket for a fraction of the cost).
I don’t sell what you can find in a theory book. This is about talking to and about people from all walks of life, not just those in the corporate world.
Through my stories, articles, interviews, and community, I can help raise your understanding of the world, culture-bound mental illnesses and therapy, and how to step outside your comfort zone through the power of quests and stories.
Together, we can decrease polarization, help people look from the outside in and the inside out, and create a community for those whose sense of home isn’t tied down to geography.
So, if you want to raise your cultural competency and engage in first-hand stories, consider upgrading today… or I might just have to retire to regular cultural consulting at 150$/hour, which neither you nor I would want.
For $6/month or $50/year, you can help ensure that Born Without Borders stays afloat. Your support gives me the time to research and write my best work on a platform not controlled by ads. You can also support me through Buy Me a Coffee.
At the end of every journey, I write a book. My first one, Living with the In-Laws, is available on Amazon. Paid subscribers get a free Kindle or PDF edition, and founding members get a signed paperback.
Do you want to travel without paying for acommodation? Try Home Exchange.
HomeExchange is an online platform that connects people from all over the world to exchange their homes without money (and taxes) changing hands. Plus, there’s a point system, so you don’t need to exchange homes at the same time.
If you want to use Home Exchange and support this journey simultaneously, you can use this link.
Krakow was the first big city I saw-foreign city, across the border, whatever it was to me then. I remember being astounded by the beauty of it.
Thank you for this post, Nolan
So glad Poland has been good for you! We're in Oslo right now and it's the same sort of thing -- for wimps like us, the weather is great! But six months from now here or in Krakow?
Nope!