November 2019 – Travel & Income Report
The end of November marks the anniversary of my digital nomadic journey. It‘s hard for me to believe that it‘s been…
The end of November marks the anniversary of my digital nomadic journey. It‘s hard for me to believe that it‘s been a year since I left Munich.
It‘s been a damn good ride so far and I cannot wait to see how my second year will look like.
So far, there is absolutely no sign of slowing down or the urge to go back home. I feel that really good times are ahead in terms of career and personal growth.
November has been a good month for me. It is my last round in Chiang Mai and I‘m trying to make the best of it.
Here are the highlights of the month:
What I did with my lifeEven though it has been another slow month in terms of client work, I cannot really say that it bothers me. Instead, I focus on my own projects like my eCom store or my personal website.
November also marks the start of high season and a lot of people are coming back to Chiang Mai.
To my surprise, my friend Johan whom I worked with back in the days at Frog Design, made his way up to Chiang Mai. It‘s great to see a familiar face after such a long time. He moved into an apartment a few hundred meters down the road. For the most part of the week, we hang out at the same coffee place and work on our own projects.
Besides seeing a familiar face, here are some other highlights of the month.
Loy Krathong
Is happening every year on the evening of the full moon in November. It is probably the most exciting and mesmerizing event that Chiang Mai is known for.
Even though “Loy Krathong” is known among many as the „Lantern Festival“, it actually has nothing to do with Lanterns.
In fact, the word “Loy” is translated as floating and the word “Krathong” refers to a piece of banana tree trunk that is beautifully decorated. Every year, on the day of Loy Krathong, people build little rafts using the banana trunk and craft a beautiful decoration with the banana leafs. They decorate the rafts with colorful flowers and light up a candle before putting them into the river. It is a tradition to thank the spirit of the river with a little gift.
I recent years, people have been questioning this tradition because the Krathongs clock rivers and are not very environmental friendly. Some are made of styrofoam and a lot are using steel needles to hold the banana leafs together. The rafts are beautiful to look at, but sadly, not the most sustainable practice.
The reason why people are sending up Lanterns into the sky is another festival called Yee Peng (Festival of Lights) that is celebrated at the same time. By sending up Lanterns, you can let go of the past and make a wish for the future.
My Mastermind Group
In my previous posts, I mentioned the mastermind group that I formed with some friends. After almost two months, I can tell it was very helpful as it kept me accountable. It forced me to stay productive and create weekly goals for myself. Here is what I learned during the process:
- Even if you cannot complete all goals for the week, having any is better than having none.
- Having people with different businesses is great for diversity. I learned more about Writing, Pinterest marketing and SEO.
- Sharing Skills with people in your mastermind can help to spot deficiencies in your own knowledge
- Sharing knowledge with others can also help to increase confidence in your own skills
- Being part of a mastermind can be beneficial for your own network, because people in your mastermind can spread the word about you
- Helps you to stay organized because it keeps you accountable
Sadly, my friends are leaving Chiang Mai and our Mastermind ended last month.
The Akashic Records and my life purpose
This was a big one. I never heard about the Akashic Records before and got introduced by a friend who was also in my mastermind. From what I’ve learning, the Akashic Records is the universal source that holds all experiences of past, present and future lives. It is like a gigantic library that holds unlimited information about all life and experiences from living beings. By accessing the Akashic Records, you can get a better understanding of your life purpose and get insights to your past lives to uncover patterns.
When accessing the Akashic Records, you can ask your most burning questions and the records will provide you an answer. It can be a specific or an open question: „What‘s my life purpose?“ or „Why is x always happening to me“.
I never considered myself as a very spiritual person but I was open minded enough to give it a try. I booked a reading with Neil from Global Akasha who accessed my records and gave me more clarity about my path and my purpose. It confirmed a lot of things I‘ve been feeling for a long time and gave me much more confidence in which direction to walk. For everyone, who is openminded enough, I can only recommend to give it a shot.
Saying Goodbye to Project Horizn
After almost 4 years of running my travel blog, it was time to let it go. I‘ve been toying around with the idea for a while, but have been afraid to make this step.
The more time you spent on something, the more you tend to hold onto it. Projects Horizn is not dead, but is consolidated with my personal portfolio page. After having my Akashic Records Reading and getting more clarity of my journey, it was a necessary step for me. This is the reason why you are reading this monthly update on my personal website now.
By making this step, I believe, I can make more impact by focusing on one thing. For years, I‘ve been wrestling with the identity of Project Horizn and I struggled to come up with a direction for it. It feels more genuine to my personal branding now to make my travels part of my journey as a designer and creator.
Expanding the Network
Because this is my last chapter in Chiang Mai, I feel the urge to make the most of it. When I was living in Munich, I was alway organizing dinners and events with friends. Since I‘m traveling, I wasn‘t really in the mood to organize anything.
But after spending almost a year in Chiang Mai and knowing more people, my inner drive to connect people is surfacing again.
I found myself joining and organizing more events and quite enjoy it.
Online Business
After a small dip in October, things have been picking up in November. Sales in November have been going up slowly but steadily.
It has been my strongest month so far, but I honestly would have been surprised if it didn‘t, especially during Q4.
I didn‘t add a lot of new products this month, as I focused on redesigning my personal website (still in progress). However, products that I added during the last few months are gaining more traction and going up in rankings. I‘m getting more likes and reviews which helps.
Because I reduced my ad spend and didn‘t publish a ton of new products, my profits in November weren’t so bad after all. It is still a meager 15% margin, but at least I didn‘t lose money compared to the last months.
Here are my stats for November:
November 2019
October – November 2019
Sales November 2019
Revenue 2019
Expenses
My expenses for this month have been moderate. I didn‘t do anything special. Only went out and had drinks with friends here and there.
The most unusual spending this month was my Akashic Records Reading which cost 60€. Other than that, just another normal month with no travels.
Randomness
Intermittent fasting
I have been consistent with my intermittent fasting most of the time and I honestly feel that I lost a few kg‘s. Unfortunately, I don‘t really have a comparison from before and after. My subjective feeling is that I feel lighter and less hungry throughout the day. It almost feels like I’m back at my vegan days.
No Coffee
I gotta admit, I have been a bit weak when it comes to my „No Coffee“ – Journey. Even though, I drink much more matcha tea now, I still have a cup of coffee here and there. In general, instead of drinking 2 cups of coffee a day, I drink Matcha in the morning and my only coffee around 2pm.
My sleep has not improved with or without coffee though. But since last month, I’ve been experimenting with Melatonin and it seems like I have less trouble falling asleep.
What I read
A Radical Approach to the Akashic Records: Master Your Life and Raise Your Vibration
Getting a better understanding of the Akashic Records and learning how to access them myself
Learning techniques to get better and memorizing things.
Discovery of the month
Notion.so – the best tool to organize my work and my life.Wrapping upBy the time of writing this article, I have about 3 weeks left in Chiang Mai. Thinking about this makes me a bit sad, but I know I need to move on. I know December will be another great month with great people.
In terms of personal life, I‘m looking forward to organize more meetups, bring more people together and make lasting friendships. It would be amazing to see similar faces somewhere else in the world.
In terms of Business, I can‘t wait for December to start as Christmas is approaching. I currently re-design my entire website and you will see changes coming over time.
That was it for this monthly update and you will hear back from me beginning of January. Have a fantastic rest of the year and stay sharp!