Finding Robert Bogucki, the man who disappeared on purpose

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-06/robert-bogucki-nowhere-man-on-his-43-days-in-the-desert/105234668

37•NaOH•6mo ago

Comments

duxup•6mo ago

Don't want to drive the discussion into the meta but:

Why is most of the article one sentence at a time? I gave up on the article, seems interesting but was hard to read.

netsharc•6mo ago

Came here just to say that... isn't that BuzzFeed's style?

brabel•6mo ago

Australian news websites tend to tell long stories in this style. It’s nice when you get used to it.

mallomarmeasle•6mo ago

I think the style is intended to evoke the way the story developed at the time, as drips of new information came in on the news. I stuck with it and am happy with that decision.

baq•6mo ago

BBC also does this.

samuelbrian•6mo ago

I think it's an adaptation of sorts from the podcast "Expanse: Nowhere Man", which may explain the style.

hans_castorp•6mo ago

Turn on "reader mode" in your browser and you can read the text without all the scrolling madness.

iberator•6mo ago

Around 2014 I bought one way ticket to Morocco in order to simply vanish and die.

I ended up traveling all to south to Mauretania, comming back and becoming well known poor but very popular street perfume seller in Marrakesh.

I came back after buring my friend who got stabbed to death around one year later...

Then I become successful backend programmer and husband.

Now I'm after divorce, jobless for 3 years and homeless for 1 month.

I consider going back to African mountains and desert everyday...

realxrobau•6mo ago

Come to Australia.

kubb•6mo ago

With the new immigration policies it will be harder nowadays.

rapsey•6mo ago

He is homeless and you recommend the country with the worst housing affordability problem in the world.

mdavid626•6mo ago

What a story, man. I hope you get back on your feet.

iberator•6mo ago

Thank you. There is more hahaha

RickJWagner•6mo ago

Amazing. Please keep writing, your story is interesting and will have lessons.

iberator•6mo ago

writing here or in general?

swores•6mo ago

I can't promise to be able to help (nor can I promise that if I can help it'll work out better than returning to the African mountains!), but depending on your location & circumstances it's possible I could help you either on the job front or with accommodation. If you'd like to find out, drop me an email (see my profile).

Or if you comment here publicly some more info about your work skills and experience, I wouldn't be surprised if other people might be willing and able to help too :)

smcin•6mo ago

You should blog (under a pseudonym), your story is unique. People could support you financially via BuyMeaCoffee or else Patreon, and make teaser posts on Reddit, LinkedIn to bring new readers to your blog.

What did you learn as a street perfume seller in Marrakesh? Compared to software sales? That alone sounds more useful than most TED talks.

iberator•6mo ago

There is no comparison.

Selling stuff as white person (extremely culturally aware) in Africa is like stealing candy from a baby. People want to know you, and your story - not the product.

Thank you for such suggestion. Yup, I could write few articles or stories...

smcin•6mo ago

Don't be so quick to discount your experience though; selling enterprise software/SaaS is different to marketing and selling consumer goods/services. Tell us what you learned, about both.

Were all your perfume sales face-to-face, or did you use text, or word-of-mouth? Did you give discounts for referrals? How much did the brand name matter, or not? etc.

(Compare to e.g. https://www.ted.com/podcasts/how-to-be-a-better-human/what-w...)

farrelle25•6mo ago

I cycled across the Nullabour Plain in 1998 (Perth to Adelaide)... I have to agree with some parts of this article - there's something Spiritual about the landscape there.

Tade0•6mo ago

I had to do a double take because I used to work for a person with the same name and since he was featured in, among other places, the local edition of Forbes, it wasn't impossible that he would be mentioned here as well.

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Finding Robert Bogucki, the man who disappeared on purpose

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