This will be one of the most vulnerable and raw personal writings I’ve made since blogging about What It’s Like to Be a 31-Year Old Virgin back in mid-2018. Just shy of two years in the past and yet it feels like a lifetime ago… Time flies when you’re enjoying life! In July 2019, I made the difficult and correct decision to say goodbye to the girl I lost my virginity to after living together for 7 months between Santiago and Buenos Aires. She was a special woman with a very kind and loving heart. Long story short, we did the “long-distance relationship” video-call thing for a month. It didn’t work out for obvious reasons after I slept with another woman I’d been sexually interested in for many years. That awkward drunken one-night-stand turned into a broken friendship that I tried and failed to repair. Since then, I’ve admittedly lost interest in romantic relationships (if it was ever really there to begin with) and decided to not lose my focus on the core mission of traveling the world! Cut to where I am now — I’m currently typing this blog post from my comfy bed in a loft-style hotel room in Singapore where I’m staying for free. I should also point out that I have zero, zilch, nada dolla-bills in my bank account! Of course, as you’re probably thinking, Singapore is not exactly an ideal place to be a destitute starving photographer. I would counter-argue that most of the popular attractions are free entry and you can get really cheap food at so-called “hawker centers”. Note: I had to put on Cheap Thrills by Sia for motivation to finish writing this personal account of my entrepreneurial journey.
Where should I start this transformational story? Let’s pick up in Singapore. Last night, I checked into Hotel Soloha after a short direct flight from Denpasar, Bali. At the time of writing, I just got back from exploring the neighboring picturesque Chinatown; the highlight of which was visiting the famous Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (see photo below this paragraph). I’m both excited and nervous to explore this sprawling modern metropolis for a few weeks. I haven’t exactly decided how long I’m going to stay here (probably 2 weeks) before continuing my travels to Thailand, Philippines, or Vietnam. It really depends on a few factors: social support, donations, finding clients, and number of free hotel stays I can arrange (and hopefully get paid). Luckily, I was able to buy my plane ticket out of Bali before my visa expired on January 20th. I was staying at a beautiful oceanfront resort in Senggigi on the island of Lombok at the time and a generous client in Austin wired me some funds to reserve my plane ticket, otherwise I’d have to pay 1 million Rupiahs every day I overstayed my visa. This definitely reduced my stress. Also, the luxury resort was offering me three nights and three meals a day complimentary in exchange for professional photos and influencer marketing. I even had my own super friendly private driver named Opan who took me around to see the sights and capture beautiful shots. The other days I rented a 150cc Honda scooter and explored the island independently. You can read the full blog post about my stay at Chandi Resort & Spa here. It was an absolutely incredible experience! I was truly grateful for the generous hospitality and didn’t feel entirely worthy or talented enough (imposter syndrome) to deserve all the respect. I know I’m not the only one to feel this way, since it’s fairly common in any creative endeavor. The fact is, anyone can achieve this type of success if they know how to provide value, build a list of contacts, write a convincing sales script, and properly market themselves. You can learn how to stay at luxury hotels for free by signing up for my online course on Udemy here. Here’s that beautiful photo of the Buddhist Temple I promised you…
The Famous Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown, Singapore. It’s even more amazing inside the doors!
Traveling around Bali for 2 glorious months was the adventure of a lifetime. I have the life experiences, mental imagery, new friends, and photographs to prove it! Let me know if you would like any recommendations for your upcoming trip and I would be happy to share my advice of places to visit and maybe even create a travel itinerary for you in exchange for payment. I highly recommend renting a motorbike, the most common form of transportation on the island, and riding around to waterfalls, beaches, Hindu temples, famous rice terraces, the monkey forest in Ubud, and coworking spaces if you’re a digital nomad type mixing business/networking into your vacation. For my readers who are wondering how expensive Bali is compared to big cities in the US; the answer really depends on what type of lifestyle you’re looking for. There’s everything from mansions with your own private cleaning service, cozy guesthouses, affordable homestays, and broke backpacker hostels. I was fortunate enough to stay at a luxury villa with one other roommate in the spiritual center of Ubud for almost 2 weeks, thanks to a personal introduction from a friend in Cape Town. This is a lesson to keep putting yourself out there and you’ll be surprised the magical things that will happen.
I bought my one-way plane ticket to Bali with roughly $1,500 (20 million Rupiahs) in my bank account. It’s easy to feel like a millionaire in Bali since you’re regularly withdrawing millions of dollars — sorry, Rupiahs. Granted, this is not a lot of money by most rational standards, but I figured it would go a lot further in Bali compared to my hometown of Austin, Texas with homeless people living under bridges and camped out on the streets. I was getting so sick and tired of busting my ass delivering food on my bike to rich people and college students while struggling to find consistent clients or a single friggin’ company that wanted to hire me… overall, I became so fed up with the routine, rinse-repeat, rat-race bullshit that so many people get caught up in and never break away from! These are a few of the reasons why I decided to go all in to pursue my passion for travel, photography, and demonstrating to others that the “digital nomad” lifestyle is not only possible but easily achievable if you’re thrifty and put the right systems into place. Need proof? A picture is worth a thousand words. Here’s a photo of me relaxing (no stress, no stress) in a pool at the oceanfront Living Asia Resort on Lombok Island off the coast of Bali.
Digital nomad relaxing in oceanfront infinity pool at Living Asia Resort in Lombok, Indonesia
I already miss waking up to that gorgeous beach view; now it’s merely a fond memory in my mind’s eye. All good things must come to an end and we must move on to the next chapter of our relatively short life. Thankfully I have plenty of photos to take me back to that place, and guess what, I have the time and freedom to go back if I choose to. The only missing piece of the puzzle is sufficient financial resources. So, then the question becomes, “How do I become a multi-millionaire?” Just kidding. That’s not necessary. I only need enough money to live happily on my current budget while staying at the occasional luxury hotel for free by offering a valuable service. Again, you can learn more about how to do the same thing in my online course here.
The answer I keep coming back to is this: “I need to find 3 clients paying me $1,500 per month.” It sounds simple enough, right? Not exactly rocket science, you say. I would tend to agree with you, but the reality is a different situation. For example, I’m connecting with people on LinkedIn using an automated tool called Dux-Soup while typing this blog post. It’s a free Chrome extension anyone can use, and quite honestly more people should know about it! You’re welcome. ;) I’ve been able to grow my professional network and, by extension, email list of contacts rapidly using this marketing automation technique, which I can then use email marketing to get my message across — “How can I help you succeed?”, then set up an introductory phone call, pitch the potential client on my vast array of skills, and steer the conversation from there! This method is certainly communicating my impressive travel story as a digital nomad while simultaneously growing brand awareness and name recognition, but it’s not achieving the goal of getting more paying clients, which is ultimately the bottom line.
There’s a popular saying; “If you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one.” I’ve never fully agreed with this concept, but perhaps it’s actually true. It’s better to focus on a single demographic — people I already know; friends and family, rather than all these other acquaintances I don’t know — successful CEOs, digital marketers, photographers, real estate agents, entrepreneurs, the list goes on. And maybe the answer is staring me right in the face; focus on MYSELF. What are the things I can do to improve myself (health, well-being, happiness, relationships, wealth, etc) every single day? For example, so many smart high-performing people say it’s a great idea to meditate for 15 minutes to 1 hour first thing every day when you wake up to reduce stress and get ready for the day’s events. Meditation is simply focusing on your breath (inhale/exhale) and releasing your mind of thought. Anyone can do this just by being fully in the moment unaware of distractions. Let it be!
Allow me assure you I’m no different than the average person. I would argue the majority of people have the desire to travel the world. But they feel trapped — by their 9-5 job, paying all the bills, “keeping up with the Joneses”, taking care of kids, romantic relationship or marriage, maintaining your house and mortgage, taking care of business dealings, etc. All of these so-called reasons (more like excuses) are thinly-veiled lies to cover up your FEAR of the unknown. You don’t want to embrace the uncertainty of a life without job security, a steady paycheck, savings, stock options, health benefits, retirement fund, close friends and family, a physical place to call your home. Deep down, you are terrified to leave your nest, comfort zone, safety blanket, bubble, paper cage, or whatever label you choose to use. So, even though you’re independent of your parents’ basement, you’re still living in fear of the outside world. I’m here to tell you that the world is not a harsh scary place like the mainstream media and fear-mongering politicians will have you believe. Most of this bullshit is propaganda meant to intimidate you from leaving “The Matrix” — cubicle walls, corporate rat-race, “the system”, your house, your car, your city, your country. There’s a quote by world famous actor Will Smith; “The best things in life are on the other side of fear” — sort of a reinterpretation on the popular spiritual hippie saying, “The best things in life are free.” So, you have to ask yourself, what are you afraid of? What would happen if you bought that one-way ticket to your dream destination? Would you die or truly begin to live the dream? Maybe it’s Cancun, Costa Rica, Germany, Peru, Hawaii, Bali… Pick a place, set a date, secure your passport (if you’re going international), and buy your ticket with no expectations of when you’ll be back. Forget about the money, your precious job, your wife and kids, house with white-picket fence, deadlines and commitments; all that bullshit that won’t matter when you’re dead and buried 6 feet under in the ground. Leave your worries behind and fly away like the free-spirited star you’re meant to be! You can do anything you set your mind to; the first step is to take that first critical step! Sorry, I know it got a little dark and depressing towards the end, but I believe being reminded of your own mortality is the one thing that will convince a person to live fully in the moment! I will leave you with a quote from Steve Jobs after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer at his famous 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech.
“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”— Steve J0bs, Stanford Commencement Speech