The policeman-influencer Marian Godină spoke about the experience of returning home after participating in Survivor Romania 2026 and how it is to resume his usual life. He compared Romania’s situation to the Dominican Republic, but the message was criticized online.
“I spent three months eating two spoonfuls of rice and one spoonful of beans a day, wearing only two T-shirts and two pairs of shorts. During that time, I only washed myself in the sea, without any detergent or deodorant. Some mornings I boiled some coconut water and drank it as tea, even though it was horrible. I had no phone, no internet, no Facebook, no Instagram. Nothing.”wrote Marian Godină on his Facebook page.
He said that, as long as he talked with the residents of the Dominican Republic, he found out that “they weren’t doing very well either, with salaries between 300 and 500 euros considered high and with prices like ours or even higher”.
The policeman then spoke about what it was like to return home after this adventure.
“It was incredible to push a button in the morning and have a mug filled with fresh, flavorful coffee, open the fridge to grab whatever I wanted, and then drink my coffee while browsing the Internet. During my first few days at home, I went to a restaurant to satisfy my cravings. I ordered smoked bean soup with red onions, and for dessert some papanasi. I took a bottle of very cold mineral water to drink”he told.
Godină added that he drove his own car and clean clothes to the restaurant where he ate.
“I had previously taken a shower with hot water and washed myself with shower gel, and when I came out I wiped myself with a huge, white and fragrant towel. While I was eating the soup, without wanting it, I heard the discussion between two men from an adjacent table, much richer than mine, and one of them said like this: “They have destroyed everything, there is no longer life here””he concluded.
The message, criticized online
The post garnered several comments, but not all were laudatory. Some of the internet users criticized Marian Godină, calling him privileged.
“This post is a perfect example of how a personal, privileged experience is turned into a moral lesson for those who dare to be dissatisfied (…) To come, after three months of “simplicity” to an island, and conclude that people are ungrateful because they have hot water and coffee at a button is, at best, naivety. At worst, it is an insult.”a comment reads.
“Băi Godină, if you had a pension of 1281 after 40 years of work, how would you live? You are still a big hypocrite! There are two Romanians, some are dying of hunger and others are homeless”another comment states.
Another added: “I think you haven’t seen the ugly side of Romania either! There are children sleeping hungry who have no drinking water (in my village there is a water network but it’s always cloudy), poor quality food, access to school and minimal technology and most importantly living with a minimum wage in the economy, 3 people at the end of the month taking somewhere for €500”.
Another user urged him to look at things from another perspective:
“Let’s also do the reverse exercise: we go to Sweden, Japan, other settled countries and live there for a while. Countries that may have been more barbaric and more destroyed than our country. And maybe we can see how far they can be from us, DUE TO CONSTANT EDUCATION. And then, we can come to the conclusion: we are still savages compared to what we could have been. I say this spitefully. And NOT for comfort. Let us appreciate, but also we mobilize”it says in the comment.
