These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
I’ve had 5 different needles in my body today. Rash on my arms and legs. Sweated through my bedsheets. Took four pills. Ate an egg sandwich. Watched a scary movie. Took a shower with my hand in a bag. Drank lots of water. Made countless trips to the bathroom. And I’m not allowed to brush my teeth.
2
I’ve now been in a hospital bed for four days. Don’t think I’ve been this confined since getting my appendix out 25 years ago. And to think this all happened because of a mosquito I can’t remember. How can something so small and insignificant cause so much trouble?
3
Finally checked out. Taxi back to Ubud, kites in the sky. Final bill was about $4000. Insurance will cover the vast majority of it. I could have afforded it out of pocket, but that would have sucked. Buy insurance, folks. SafetyWing costs me little more than $1 a day. Well worth it.
4
Gonna be another few days before I’m back to normal. Did just an hour of emails and such today and was wrecked after it. Dengue will still be in my system for almost a week. Really appreciating how much of a privilege it is to work. Not everybody can.
5
At this point, I have to say I prefer Chiang Mai to Ubud. Things are a bit cleaner and more convenient in CM, can walk everywhere and there are loads of coworking spaces. The digital nomad community isn’t great in either, but the super spiritual types are really starting to grate on me here in Bali.
6
My book is five years old now, started re-reading it in the hospital. Grateful to have that record of my travels, lots in there I would have forgotten otherwise. Same could be said of these Momentos. How easy it is for memories to fade. I hope you’ve found some way to capture your own.
7
Unpublished a couple hundred blog posts on my site today. Trying to cut back on the fluff and turn this thing into a lean, value-adding, money-making machine. In hindsight, I’ve written a lot of random crap over the years. Time to get focused and only put quality content out there.
8
Working on a video about survey sites, pulling together all the footage and graphics I’ll need. Going to try pump out a handful of videos this month. Most content creators just write an article and hope for the best. I’m going to go the extra mile with video, see how that shakes out.
9
There’s something about getting a little extra work done on the weekend. Only needs be a couple of hours, and you feel you’ve accomplished a lot. I guess the ideal is to treat every day like that, like you don’t need to rush and hustle, that whatever you get done is a bonus, and you’re thankful for it.
10
Been experimenting the past few weeks with not using an alarm. It’s nice in one way, just waking up whenever my body is good and ready. But can’t say I feel any more rested than I used to, back when I used an alarm clock. I am getting more sleep, but perhaps after a certain amount the returns diminish.
11
Haven’t made any new friends here in Bali. Been keeping to ourselves mostly. That’s the comfort zone. But I’ll be disappointed if we’re here until December and haven’t met and befriended some cool people. Gotta make an effort to attend some events, strike up conversations.
12
One thing you get used to in Bali is living with insects. You can’t keep them out of any place. I see streams of ants at the gym, mingling by the bedroom wall, marching in and out of the kitchen bin. After a while you just shrug and let them be. This jungle island is their home, not ours.
13
Google update cut my traffic almost in half last week. Which means my affiliate income takes a hit. Doesn’t seem to be any good reason for it either. They knocked down some content that I know is far better than what’s now ranking ahead of it. Hopefully time will make it right.
14
Starting to get a little sense of home in Ubud now. Been going to the same cafe for lunch almost every day. They know my order, names have been exchanged. It’s those little familiarities and acknowledgments that I miss when moving about constantly. You never get to know anyone, and no one ever gets to know you.
15
Began this batch of Momentos laid up in the hospital. Closing them out feeling strong and healthy. Eight consecutive days in the gym, energy levels high, sleeping and eating well. Heard someone say today though that a sick man has only one desire, while a healthy man has many. True.
16
Another thing you see all the time in Bali are the canang sari. Intricate little things about the size of beer mats, small trays made from betel leaves, decorated with flowers and often containing rice or a small biscuit. These are daily offerings to the Hindu gods, left on shrines, steps, and in every doorway.
17
Ubud is a terrible place for recording audio. I’m in the bedroom with a bedsheet over my head and pillows all around the laptop, speaking into the mic but having to stop and regularly redo because of dogs barking, pigeons cooing, roosters crowing, engines revving, traffic honking, children yelling.
18
Been going through the Waking Up course, listening to Sam Harris talk about having no head. Everything happens in the same space, he says: thoughts, sensations, moods, sounds. That space is consciousness. And it’s not a space in your head; your head is just another thought and sensation in that space.
19
Exploring another part of Ubud, following a little path north of the town through the rice fields. We find two kids about nine years old taking fish out of a stream with their bare hands. The bigger kid asks if we want some, right as he pulls down his pants and takes a whiz into the water.
20
Was meditating today and heard my phone buzz, immediately got a strong sense it was news that someone had died back home. Checked my phone. It was nothing. How often we’re wrong about things like that and shrug it off, but get it right one time and we attribute it to some magical psychic connection and tell all our friends.
21
Listening to an entrepreneur on a podcast saying how he red-lined pretty much every other part of his life to get his business to the next level. His health went to shit and he was pounding caffeine and study drugs to keep grinding. And it worked. He got there. Not sure what to make of that.
22
Buddy of mine recently ran six marathons in six days in the Sahara Desert. Reading his account of it today and for a split second was thinking, “Shit, I should be doing epic stuff like that.” But I don’t really want to do it. I want to have done it and be able to write about it. And that’s not a good reason to do something.
23
I know I’ve been working too much lately because my sleep ain’t great, waking up well before I’ve had enough rest, mind racing. Made a deal with my Mastermind buddy that I’d get three videos published this month, $1000 penalty for each one missed. That’s what’s been keeping my brain busy.
24
Reading a great book about human evolution, one of my favorite subjects. Learning that we most likely became bipedal on account of spears. An ape that could stand and walk on two legs wielding a spear for long periods of time had a big advantage. He could hunt more effectively and predators didn’t dare fuck with him.
25
Back of a taxi, new city, new country. But I’m tired and cranky, been acting the prick, not nice to be around. I used to love arriving in a new place, but travel has lost its appeal. Thinking it’s because back then I was searching, figuring out what and who I wanted. Now I know. All travel does is take me away from them.
26
Was aiming to be earning at least $1,000 a month by now from affiliate marketing. Just checked one account and I’ve earned $1,300 in the past 24 hours. That’s not normal by any means – and it’s not money in the bank just yet – but Jesus Christ did it give me a boost.
27
We’re on the helipad of a 36-story building as the sun goes down, painting the sky a pale red. They’ve turned this space into a bar, a popular spot in Kuala Lumpur. It’s fairly packed but the vibe’s good. I feel at ease. The last two days have been better. The last two days I’ve been better.
28
About midnight in a taxi on our way back to Ubud, listening to Joe Rogan interview Bob Lazar about some mad alien shit. Dude sounds believable, not one of those whacky conspiracy types. He claims to have worked for the government in the 80s, had his hands on advanced alien technology.
29
I’d like to do the Worldpackers thing sometime. Not right now – gotta stay focused on the business. But someday when that’s steady and I can leave the wheel for weeks at a stretch, it’d be nice to have more authentic travel experiences, not just jump from one Airbnb to another.
30
Barely made the cut, got that third video finished this afternoon. Audio isn’t great on it though. Considered re-recording but that would have added at least 3 hours to my workload today for maybe a 5% improvement. Can’t justify that. It’s not perfect, but it’s perfect enough.