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June 2017 Passive Income Report: Digital Nomad in Ukraine

I honestly cannot believe that it's only been a month since I last wrote up a monthly report. Without looking at my calendar, it felt like I've been in Ukraine for the entire month, but after looking closer, I actually started the first week of June in Ireland, followed by a few days back in Barcelona to pick up my luggage. Then almost a two weeks in Hamburg and Berlin before coming to Ukraine where I am now. The life of a digital nomad is insane. Seriously. Who in the world travels this much continuously for this many years? And who spends their life walking across Ireland then comes to a place like Ukraine? This lifestyle really is something a mad person dreamed up. Traveling and seeing new places, having different experiences, eating new food, tasting new delights, have all gotten me addicted and has become this strange routine that has distorted both my reality as well as my sense of time.

Luckily, these monthly updates force me to sit down and seriously reflect on what the heck I'm actually doing in life. It's probably the only time of the month that I actually look at what I'm spending versus what income I'm bringing in, and it's the only time that I pull out my calendar and reflect back on what I've done, where I've been and what I'm doing going forth. I've been super fortunate that with the income streams I've build up these past few years and the big exits I got from selling my dropshipping stores last year, I've been able to go on semi-permanent vacation. But honestly, retirement isn't for me. I've realized it's not how much money I've made in the past, or how long I can go without working  that matters, but what I do today that counts. Here is this month's update with all of the details. 




Where I Traveled:




It's almost hard to believe that I spent time in 4 countries and 6 different cities this month! The start of the month was joining my buddy Sam Marks on his epic walk across Ireland. I started it with the Wicklow Way in Ireland to help Sam raise money for the Child's Dream charity. Big congrats to Sam for making it all the way from Dublin, through the Wicklow Way, then across to Galway. It took him a total of 27 days and over 300 miles which is close to 500km! I joined him for the first 1/3 of the hike and was exhausted from just that!

After spending a few days in Dublin to drink pints of Guinness and let my feet rest, I flew to Barcelona to pick up my luggage, give away all of my backpacking gear, and take a flight to Hamburg, Germany where I spend 5 nights at a super comfortable AirBnb watching Netflix, picking strawberries and really just recovering from the intense walk. From Hamburg, I took a Flixbus to Berlin where I met up with some friends that I met at Affiliate World Asia last year and partied it up for a week to get it out of my system hopefully once and for all. Here's more info on Berlin, Germany if you haven't been yet! 

From Berlin, I took an easy flight on Wizz Air to Lviv, Ukraine where I had an incredible 5 days seeing some of the coolest restaurants, speakeasies and secret bars anywhere. If you haven't ever thought about coming to Ukraine, here's all of the info on visiting Ukraine you need to inspire you to come. It's a beautiful country with good hearted people, great food, and it's currently super cheap to travel in. If you want to know more about my travels through Ukraine, listen to episodes 166 and 167 of the Travel Like a Boss Podcast. 


Sheep Spotting and Walking in Ireland

Quick Trip to Barcelona, Spain


Bombing in Berlin, Germany

Hanging out in Hamburg, Germany


Loving It in Lviv, Ukraine


Where I Am Now:




I'm currently sitting in a coworking space here in the capital city of Kiev, Ukraine and have decided to base myself here for at least a month or two. Ukraine is a super cheap place to live due to the current exchange rate, and seems like an unexplored part of the world that is still exciting to discover. My buddy Chris is meeting me out here in a couple of weeks and we'll be staying in Airbnb's and coworking together. My plan has been to travel slower and spend a minimum of 1-2 months in each place before moving on. But honestly, sometimes its hard to remember to do that, which is why it's a good thing that people remind me from time to time. By traveling as much as I have these past 3-4 months I haven't been working on my income streams which means I've primarily been relying on savings and passive income to pay the bills, and even worse, I haven't had a steady workout routine for months now. 

But now that I'm settled, I'll be able to eat healthier, work out more consistently, and get back to work which I've honestly missed. The best thing about being location independent or being a digital nomad is being able to work from anywhere. But the downside is always being on vacation mode, which is terrible for both your health and your business. I'm glad I sold my dropshipping stores because it not only freed up my time and responsibilities but it also gave me some money in the bank so I could relax for a bit. But honestly, that time is now over, not that the money has run out or anything, but because i've invested it all and now think of it as baseline $0. With this way of thinking, $500k is now my new zero and I can't go below it for any reason, which means I can only live off of and spend the money I make off of it, the passive income I have coming in, and the money I make from new income streams. As fun as it was, the vacation is now over, and it's time to get back to work.



At the 1900 Coworking Space in Kiev


Back on Track




The goal for this month is to get back on track with my diet, exercise and work routines. I'm lucky that I've discovered what it takes to make a ton of money, be in ridiculously good shape, and have an amazing life where you are full of energy, genuinely happy, fulfilled and content. I even wrote a book about the discovery in Life Changes Quick where I documented exactly how I did that. But the one secret ingredient that makes it all work is consistency in following the plan, which is the one thing I haven't been doing. My biggest struggle used to be not knowing what actually worked and falling for stupid ideas that were a waste of my time. But now that I know exactly what it takes to be rich, fit, and happy, it's stupid of me not to just f$cking do it. 

Travel should be a reward for hard work and effort paying off, it shouldn't be just something we do just because we can as it's not as fulfilling. The reason why people enjoy vacations as much as they do is because it's a holiday away from their daily grind. The problem with not having a daily grind is that there's nothing to get away from or reset from. Routines work, and I've proven it, not only to myself, but to everyone else who has followed along and done the same. Here is what I used to do as my daily routine for success. It works, and it's stupid of me not to be following it. Traveling too much has been the excuse on why I haven't. But I'm turning 36 next month and i'm getting too old for excuses and won't tolerate it any longer. This is it. My life can either coast downhill from here, which I could do pretty comfortably by living a basic, cheap life, and by watching TV all day. But my decision is that I want to keep going uphill to see what's at the next summit. 





The Master Plan:



I've realized that by setting dollar or number goals is the same as setting wishes that are a bit out of our control. But what is in our control is setting goals for what we can to work towards them. So instead of saying I'm going to weigh X amount or make X amount of money next month, my goals are simple. What would make me happy is working towards being in great shape, working towards making a lot of money, and working towards finding a great girlfriend. As a side bonus, I think it would be fun to try and learn a bit of a new language, and since most people in Kiev speak Russian and since it's more useful worldwide than Ukraine, even though I'd love to support their cultural language, I've decided that Russian would be the way to go.

So here's the plan for July. 

5 times a week, I will log into my Duolingo App and practice at least 1 lesson of Russian.

5 times a week, I will do some type of workout whether it be at the gym, on the pullup bars, or at home, including one day of some sort of sprint routine.

3 times a week, I will work on a project to increase my online income or bring in a new stream of passive income.

I will also walk as much as possible, using Uber and the subway infrequently. I will not drink any beer or eat any bread this month. 

And that's it for now. It sounds simple and definitely doable, so now it's time to actually do it. I'm also super pumped to check out Hidropark and the insane street workouts that people in Ukraine do. 






Passive Income for June




It's so crazy that I've been traveling non-stop and on vacation mode since February and I'm still making money online through passive income. In March and April I was surfing and scuba diving in Bali, and hanging out with Komodo dragons in Flores. Then I spent May drinking Sangria and eating Tapas in Barcelona, followed by a month of hiking in Ireland and partying in Berlin, bringing me finally here to Ukraine. All while making thousands of dollars in passive income online without me hardly working at all.

Part of me stressed out knowing that I haven't been working, and honestly in the beginning of this post I before I actually sat down to do my accounting for the month I thought it would be super low and that I was screwed. But doing the math and adding up all of the sources of online income I have including money I make from my ebooks 12 Weeks in Thailand and Life Changes Quick, plus the income from my Youtube Channel which has grown from making $100 a month to having my first month of making $148 which I'm really excited about, to all of the affiliate income I still make each and every month from work I've done months and often years ago to set up, and teach how to do inside my course Earnest Affiliate which is going to be a huge income stream in itself once I get the update rolled out and raise the price from $197 to $497.


affiliate income
One of the income sources I teach inside Earnest Affiliate


The part of my income that is so nice is the fact that most of the source I make money from weren't created this month while I was traveling, but instead were things that I built months or years ago that still bring in hundreds or even thousands of dollars today. As an example, I still make passive income from some of the dropshipping stores I help built last year, and I also make money from dividends and interest from investing out the money I made when I sold the stores. I've now invested 100% of the $203,728.15 I made from dropshipping and this is how I started my first store, that continues to make me money even today, even after selling it! 

All together from my multiple streams of income added together including everything I mentioned above, I made a grand total of a bit over eight grand this month! 

Total Profit:  $8,384.25








Expenses for June:




But of course since I've been traveling as much as I have, I also had a ton of expenses. Luckily I'm pretty good at balancing out living well and balling on a budget. I mix it up between staying at Airbnb's, hotels, and hostels. Here is what I spent for the month of June 1st - 30th. 

The grand total this month was a bit more than I'm used to, but a lot of it went to helping others which is obviously option but is something I want to do. Aside from that, I've managed to keep my accommodations under a thousand a month which is what I aim not to go over, and even though I flew quite a bit, flights within Europe are cheap if you plan a ahead and use low cost carriers. 


Airbnb/Hotels/Hostels: $900 +/-
Flight Dublin to Barcelona: $136.83
Flight Barcelona to Hamburg: $89.10
Bus Hamburg to Berlin: $13.37
Flight Berlin to Lviv: $72.34
Train Lviv to Kiev: $15
Local Transport: $100 +/-
Food and Drinks: $500 +/-
Misc/Other: $300 +/-

Donation to Child's Dream: $600
Support for my Mom: $1,000


Total Expenses: $3,726.64 +/- 




Support the Charity or check it out here.



Thoughts for June:



It's been an awesome month and I'm really excited and looking forward to getting back into a routine and getting back on track. I feel so blessed to have found this alternative lifestyle where I don't need to work a normal 8-5 job, have a boss that I hate, and feel stuck in one location. It's truly a blessing that I'm able to have taken so many months off while still earning money passively online, and being able to see so many cool places.

Here's my video breakdown and explainer for the month. I hope you enjoy it and see you all next month!








Monthly Wrap Up:




Big thank you to Anton Kraly for his epic donation of $500 to the Child's Dream Charity and for his mentorship and guidance in his course that helped start it all.  I'm super grateful for not only being able to have done it myself, but also to have been able to use my talents and open sharing philosophy to have been able to guide others to do the same.

This month I've had to different people message me telling me how much their lives have changed ever since they started following my blog and the podcast




Kristyn is a member for David's eBay course 


Big congrats to both Molly and Kristyn! It's awesome to see people following my advice and making it happen! If you still haven't started your own journey yet, you can start here like I did, or sign up for the email list for more info! 



Hope everyone is well!



Warm Regards,

Johnny FD


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Post a Comment

  1. This was a great read. Thank you so much Johnny :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, Johnny! Passive income while traveling and donating to worthy causes. It's the epitome of abundance...

    And Thanks for the shout out! What a nice surprise :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey thanks Kristyn, that means a lot! I'm a huge believer of the abundance mindset!

      Delete
  3. If you are working on new streams of passive income doesn't that go against the exact definition of retired? Just curious what your thoughts on this are? PS, I'm a full time digital marketer now on track to make 6 figures this year from home and your blog/ Earnest Affiliate were a few of the inspirations to make this possible. I plan on retiring by 40 and now realize it's possible so thanks! (couldn't do 35, I got a late start in the game lol)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Ryan, big congrats on hitting over $100,000 a year, I'm glad my blog and Earnest Affiliate helped make it possible! As for early retirement, I'm glad to have had the option and to have taken half a year off, but I'm getting bored to be honest, and miss being able to splurge on things like flying business class.

      Delete

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