This time last year I looked back on 2009 and said to myself that it had been the best year of my life. The main reason was that I quit my day job to travel the world. I had a lot of fun those first few months but then decided I needed to find a way to make some money. From September 2009 to December 2009 I tried numerous internet based business ideas but nothing came to fruition. If I’m being honest the last week of 2009 was a bit of a downer for me as I had no clue what I was going to do.
2010 kicked off with a crazy new year party where, despite the average age being 40+, everyone seemed to end up in the pool. It was also the first “old people” party that I’ve been to with podium dancers and smoke machines!
Me, Pete and Canadian party animal Gess
Four days later I met up with Pete (Pedro/crazy Pete/yeah that guy) in Singapore and kicked off what would become an awesome few months. Pete is about as high energy as you can possibly get so whatever you are doing, it is always more fun with him around. We headed to Koh Tao in Thailand for some more diving and had a pretty awesome time. It was here that I learned a hell of a lot more about nutrition and fitness – something that 2011 will be all about for me. I learned about the job opportunities in Australia for temporary tractor drivers. I can still hardly believe that I can put “farmer” on my resume now, but it really was a great job.
Formula 1 after party
It was also good to meet up with my friend Matt’s older brother Michael in Thailand and in Malaysia. We did a fair bit of travel together with the highlight being a “sophisticated” camping trip in the Cameron Highlands. Mike’s friend Jonny also featured heavily with the three of us, plus another guy (also called Mark) making it to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Malaysia. Compared to 2009, this was fantastic since the weather was amazing and the Wycliffe Jean gig afterwards was pretty cool.
....and Pete ain't no midget
Two days later, I was on a plane to Australia where Pete and I started our farming jobs driving some crazy big tractors around. Afterwards, not wanting to waste too much money in Australia, I flew back to Asia where I was introduced to a certain Frenchman by the name of Gael who rapidly became my KL drinking buddy. To say we had some crazy nights out is a complete understatement and I’ll refrain from posting all the details in case my mother reads this.
Good time on the reg, with special guest Katrine
It was also about this time when we decided to give a business idea we had a chance. After a great start, there was a few months lull before we kicked it into gear and now have four highly profitable clients. I’m very excited about the potential of this in 2011.
I spent 10 weeks in Kuala Lumpur in the summer. Here I also managed to meet up with my friend Mark from London who was travelling South East Asia with his girlfriend. Though I only met them for a couple of days, it was great to catch up. Around this time, I said goodbye to my friend Tetiana who continues her world domination of photography, this time in India. Americano brosef Stefano also met up with me for a short trip to Saigon. Stefano featured heavily throughout the last couple of years since we lived in London at the same time and when I moved to Asia, he moved to Singapore. Now that I am back in Europe, so is he! He is like me stalker or something.
Stefano and I at a bar in Saigon
In July I landed a job as a virtual freelance website project manager. This meant getting paid a decent salary but being able to live anywhere I chose. So in august I decided to head back to Europe and move to Budapest. After a brief stopover in Hong Kong and a couple of weeks in the UK, I arrived in Budapest knowing nobody. 24 hours later I had met a bunch of friends including Irish blogger Benny who managed to learn Hungarian in just 3 months.
Hot Dogs in Mumus, the best bar in Budapest. Bianca - Me - Kati
The next few months were spent in a somewhat productive routine where I managed to land a second freelance job doing online marketing – something I’m very interested in. It was at this time that I also grew my business and landed the 4 big clients. I also started a few smaller side ventures, which have not produced massive profits but have taught me a lot about internet marketing. I didn’t get the opportunity to travel much, partially due to too much partying in Budapest, but did manage to sneak a quick trip to Slovakia – thanks Kati and Bianca for pushing me to go. I also, thanks to meeting a certain party animal Kiwi, fell in with a pretty awesome Thursday night drinking crew in Budapest whom I shared many great nights out with – long may this continue in 2011!
As winter started to hit in December, I escaped to the tropics once again. It was great to meet up with the old KL crew for a great night out in Zouk that finished at 9.30am for me – good times! My friend Matthew (Mike’s younger brother) and his girlfriend Charlotte arrived in KL just before Christmas and Mike even managed to pop over from Hong Kong. Another great year, finished off in style with a ridiculous 23 course meal at the Hilton and a little bit too much champagne. I’ve had a couple of days by myself to look back on this year and to think a lot about my plans for next year – it’s gonna be big!
Merry Christmas from the Swimming Pool in Malaysia
Travel is not about places and things, but about people. Looking back on 2010, I remember events by the people I encountered. It’s often easy to forget when your goal is to visit every country in the world, that meeting and hanging out with awesome people is significantly more fulfilling. There were hundreds (too many to mention) of people that contributed to making 2010 the best year of my life so far. The places are just the catalyst, the real gold comes from the feeling you get when you experience somewhere awesome with someone awesome.
Stay tuned to find out what I’m aiming to do in 2011. You can subscribe by email to my blog ( I won’t try to sell you fake college degrees or penis enlargement pills – I promise). Just enter you address in the box below.
Fantastic web site – fantastic life style – you make us all envious.
Good luck in 2011
Hey dude, congrats on 2010! And thanks again from me and D for the hospitality in KL. I’m sure I don’t need to say this but keep living the dream! (and start writing a book). Happy new year!
Mark
Marky Mark. Good to hear from you. Hope all is well in Vancouver. I’ll shoot you a message sometime soon to catch up. Have a good new year.
Awesome blog you got here. It’s so cool with people who dare taking chances, quitting they’re boring job etc, to travel around the world while working from a computer. Sounds like you had a lot of fun
It’s a lot easier than it sounds. Not having a job forces you to find other sources of income. When the chips are down, you will inevitably pull through. Most people are just too afraid to try it, which is a shame. In most cases the worst thing that could possibly happen is you end up having to go home and get a similar job to the one you already have.
Hey man sounds like you had a great time. I did what you did last year (2011) but to a lesser extent. I was living in Los Angeles and going crazy so I took a sales job where I got to travel all over the country (U.S.) and visited pretty much every big city for a couple days. I Have a bunch of money saved up (actually quite alot) and I’m flying to Europe for a 6 week trip in May. If things work out well I might just stay there for the rest of year (if I can land a job).