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March 2018: Travel and Income Report from Nepal!
https://www.johnnyfd.com/2018/03/march-2018-travel-and-income-report.html
This has been a fun month traveling around Nepal. It started with Holi, the festival of colors in Kathmandu followed by two treks in the Himalayas and just a tiny bit of work in between sitting here at my favorite coffee shop lakeside in the town of Pokhara. I've been staying mostly at tea houses on the mountain and in a hostel so comfort and a proper working space hasn't been the priority this month. Lets hope that the passive income streams I've set up these past years are still going strong even with limited internet and cruising by on maintenance mode. I know it feels like I've been in maintenance mode for a long time now, and you're right. But after Nepal and after the Nomad Cruise next month, I promise to get back to growth mode and build again.
Financially, it's been a slow decline as in general, when you're not growing your income, it'll either stay the same or slowly go down. But at the same time, trips like this are something most people dream about their entire lives, and i'm really grateful that I'm able to even break even and continue this crazy travel lifestyle without dipping into savings. Pretty much everyone I've met on the trek or here in Nepal is living off of savings or taking a short vacation from work. It's an amazing feeling knowing that between hikes, I can simply open my laptop at a coffee shop and get back to it. Here's everything I did this past month from March 1st-31st, 2018, how much money I earned with the businesses, and where I traveled as well as some lessons learned.
I spent the entire month of March in Nepal, but there was tons to do and places to see. I actually extended my visa for another 15 days as I figured I should make the most of being here as I didn't think i'd ever come back. However, now that I finished my second trek, the shorter Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek I realized that I can always come back to do shorter, lower altitude, treks and that I don't necessarily have to climb to Everest Base Camp or complete the Annapurna Circuit. That being said, I think there's a good chance I'd come back to visit again even though I originally didn't think I ever would. The nice thing is visa's to Nepal are easy to get on arrival at the airport and for most countries, we can even extend it to 150 days a year which is 5 months if we really wanted to stay longer.
Aside from the shorter Poon Hill Trek, I also attempted the 19 day Annapurna Circuit earlier this month before getting altitude sickness and needing to hike back down the mountain. At first I was really disappointed it happened as it was something I had been training for and had my heart set on for months, but at the end of the day, it was still a beautiful trek and a great way to spend 12 days in the Himalaya range. It also allowed me to have plenty of time to hang out and relax in the lakeside town of Pokhara which I could see being the Chiang Mai of Nepal in the future as they have great coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, and nature nearby. Directly from where you're staying you can hike up to the World Peace Pagoda, and every month new facilities like really nice western style gyms are opening. There aren't any coworking spaces yet, and the internet is just passable at 6.58mbps down/4.37mbps up but with great food, tons of cheap restaurants, and really friendly people, I see potential.
Here's a video I made on the 1st of the month in Kathmandu during the Holi, Festival of Colors:
It's been a fun month without a big focus on work. But it's starting to slip. I'm still able to travel and live off of passive income as the money I'm making is still more than I'm spending, but don't be surprised if you see me going back into growth mode this summer to either build another dropshipping store using Anton's method or creating another business of some sort. I actually have one store that I built with a partner that is profitable and should be getting ready to sell soon so keep an eye out next month for another dropship store sale similar to the two stores I've sold in the past.
Aside from that, it's nice to see people still buying my two books, 12 Weeks in Thailand and Life Changes Quick after all of these years and seeing that they are still relevant for people who are in the start of their journey. Below are screenshots of a couple of my online passive income streams for an idea of what sources of income are coming in each month. This month's total income was $5,644.34 which is lower than what it's been in the past but considering the fact that I've been on a mountain for most of the month without internet, I'm still pretty happy that I'm able to make enough money to cover my expenses even while traveling the world and doing things like trek in Nepal.
A lot of people have been asking me if I'm still doing dropshipping and why I haven't talked about it much since I sold both of my stores last year. Also a lot of people have been curious about the results of the dropship partnership that I setup last year with a bunch of guys. The original goal was to start a bunch of stores, optimize them, get them profitable, then run them for 12 months to give them a proper track record and work out any issues, then sell them like I did the other stores. A few of the partners got busy running their own stores or starting other projects, and a few others ended up selling early for just a few thousand dollars. Another partner bought out my 25% share as he wanted to focus 100% of his time on it.
But one of the partners, who's actually from Germany even though we're running a U.S. store, Sebastian has been quietly crushing it, and he asked me not to publicly talk about the numbers until we were ready to sell. Good news is, that day has come, he's been putting in the work and it's been paying off! THee store we started together was a super niche product but since the supplier had other worthy products that we were already approved for, we decided to sell those products under a different store so technically I've been part owner in two stores for this past year and both have done pretty well.
Before everyone gets too excited and offers to buy the stores, we've decided not to post them for sale publically as first off the sale price is $47,000 which is out of a lot of people's price range, but mainly because we want whoever buys the store to continue to do well with it so we want to make sure whoever buys it has some experience running their own stores in the past. So if you're already a member of Anton's dropshipping course you'll see details on how to get more info on the stores and inquire to purchase. My recommendation for anyone who has thought about taking the shortcut to buy an existing store without first building and running your own is don't. Your goal should be to not just take it over and maintain it and continue collecting the monthly profit, but to go in with a fresh pair of eyes, ideas and the excitement to grow it even more.
It's been a fun month and I've been sick for half of it and without internet for most so I'm not too concerned about my passive income dropping a bit this month. For the past couple of years my priority has been to make as much money as possible, and it's been a fun journey to be honest. But now my goals are to really enjoy the location independent freedom as much as possible before starting another project or business. I also haven't been counting my dropshipping store income on my income reports as my partner normally doesn't get me the numbers in time, and we're really just waiting for the big exit, but you'll be sure to see a big month when that does happen. But honestly, even without that extra income and having my actual passive income level down a bit, I'm really glad that I even have the option to be able to take it easy and focus on other things and not stress about money.
A very good monthly salary in Nepal would be $500 which is 1/10th of what I made this month while the minimum wage is only $92 including a living allowance. Those numbers really remind me of how fortunate I am and to be grateful to have found this lifestyle.
Also the fact that I've been able to create videos like the Poon Hill Trek and record multiple "This American Life" style podcasts while on the trek has been a creative blessing as it's something I really enjoy both doing now, but also having the memories for in the future. If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe to the Travel Like a Boss Podcast as these two trekking episodes recorded live on the mountain with the people I came across, hiked with and met were really fun to make and I think you'll enjoy them. You can also search for and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. Enjoy this video, I hope you like it!
Financially, it's been a slow decline as in general, when you're not growing your income, it'll either stay the same or slowly go down. But at the same time, trips like this are something most people dream about their entire lives, and i'm really grateful that I'm able to even break even and continue this crazy travel lifestyle without dipping into savings. Pretty much everyone I've met on the trek or here in Nepal is living off of savings or taking a short vacation from work. It's an amazing feeling knowing that between hikes, I can simply open my laptop at a coffee shop and get back to it. Here's everything I did this past month from March 1st-31st, 2018, how much money I earned with the businesses, and where I traveled as well as some lessons learned.
Where I Traveled
I spent the entire month of March in Nepal, but there was tons to do and places to see. I actually extended my visa for another 15 days as I figured I should make the most of being here as I didn't think i'd ever come back. However, now that I finished my second trek, the shorter Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek I realized that I can always come back to do shorter, lower altitude, treks and that I don't necessarily have to climb to Everest Base Camp or complete the Annapurna Circuit. That being said, I think there's a good chance I'd come back to visit again even though I originally didn't think I ever would. The nice thing is visa's to Nepal are easy to get on arrival at the airport and for most countries, we can even extend it to 150 days a year which is 5 months if we really wanted to stay longer.
Aside from the shorter Poon Hill Trek, I also attempted the 19 day Annapurna Circuit earlier this month before getting altitude sickness and needing to hike back down the mountain. At first I was really disappointed it happened as it was something I had been training for and had my heart set on for months, but at the end of the day, it was still a beautiful trek and a great way to spend 12 days in the Himalaya range. It also allowed me to have plenty of time to hang out and relax in the lakeside town of Pokhara which I could see being the Chiang Mai of Nepal in the future as they have great coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, and nature nearby. Directly from where you're staying you can hike up to the World Peace Pagoda, and every month new facilities like really nice western style gyms are opening. There aren't any coworking spaces yet, and the internet is just passable at 6.58mbps down/4.37mbps up but with great food, tons of cheap restaurants, and really friendly people, I see potential.
Here's a video I made on the 1st of the month in Kathmandu during the Holi, Festival of Colors:
Online Passive Income
It's been a fun month without a big focus on work. But it's starting to slip. I'm still able to travel and live off of passive income as the money I'm making is still more than I'm spending, but don't be surprised if you see me going back into growth mode this summer to either build another dropshipping store using Anton's method or creating another business of some sort. I actually have one store that I built with a partner that is profitable and should be getting ready to sell soon so keep an eye out next month for another dropship store sale similar to the two stores I've sold in the past.
Aside from that, it's nice to see people still buying my two books, 12 Weeks in Thailand and Life Changes Quick after all of these years and seeing that they are still relevant for people who are in the start of their journey. Below are screenshots of a couple of my online passive income streams for an idea of what sources of income are coming in each month. This month's total income was $5,644.34 which is lower than what it's been in the past but considering the fact that I've been on a mountain for most of the month without internet, I'm still pretty happy that I'm able to make enough money to cover my expenses even while traveling the world and doing things like trek in Nepal.
Total Income for March: $5,644.34
*decrease from $9,114.66 last month. |
| Earnings as an Amazon Affiliate |
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| Earnings from Youtube Adverising |
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| One of my affiliate sources: Cased Studied inside Income Boss |
Dropshipping Store Income
A lot of people have been asking me if I'm still doing dropshipping and why I haven't talked about it much since I sold both of my stores last year. Also a lot of people have been curious about the results of the dropship partnership that I setup last year with a bunch of guys. The original goal was to start a bunch of stores, optimize them, get them profitable, then run them for 12 months to give them a proper track record and work out any issues, then sell them like I did the other stores. A few of the partners got busy running their own stores or starting other projects, and a few others ended up selling early for just a few thousand dollars. Another partner bought out my 25% share as he wanted to focus 100% of his time on it.
But one of the partners, who's actually from Germany even though we're running a U.S. store, Sebastian has been quietly crushing it, and he asked me not to publicly talk about the numbers until we were ready to sell. Good news is, that day has come, he's been putting in the work and it's been paying off! THee store we started together was a super niche product but since the supplier had other worthy products that we were already approved for, we decided to sell those products under a different store so technically I've been part owner in two stores for this past year and both have done pretty well.
Before everyone gets too excited and offers to buy the stores, we've decided not to post them for sale publically as first off the sale price is $47,000 which is out of a lot of people's price range, but mainly because we want whoever buys the store to continue to do well with it so we want to make sure whoever buys it has some experience running their own stores in the past. So if you're already a member of Anton's dropshipping course you'll see details on how to get more info on the stores and inquire to purchase. My recommendation for anyone who has thought about taking the shortcut to buy an existing store without first building and running your own is don't. Your goal should be to not just take it over and maintain it and continue collecting the monthly profit, but to go in with a fresh pair of eyes, ideas and the excitement to grow it even more.
Dropshipping Revenue: $13,280
*increase from $9,142 last month. |
| Our Dropshopping Store #1 |
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| Our #2 Dropshipping Site |
Thoughts for March
It's been a fun month and I've been sick for half of it and without internet for most so I'm not too concerned about my passive income dropping a bit this month. For the past couple of years my priority has been to make as much money as possible, and it's been a fun journey to be honest. But now my goals are to really enjoy the location independent freedom as much as possible before starting another project or business. I also haven't been counting my dropshipping store income on my income reports as my partner normally doesn't get me the numbers in time, and we're really just waiting for the big exit, but you'll be sure to see a big month when that does happen. But honestly, even without that extra income and having my actual passive income level down a bit, I'm really glad that I even have the option to be able to take it easy and focus on other things and not stress about money.
A very good monthly salary in Nepal would be $500 which is 1/10th of what I made this month while the minimum wage is only $92 including a living allowance. Those numbers really remind me of how fortunate I am and to be grateful to have found this lifestyle.
Also the fact that I've been able to create videos like the Poon Hill Trek and record multiple "This American Life" style podcasts while on the trek has been a creative blessing as it's something I really enjoy both doing now, but also having the memories for in the future. If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe to the Travel Like a Boss Podcast as these two trekking episodes recorded live on the mountain with the people I came across, hiked with and met were really fun to make and I think you'll enjoy them. You can also search for and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify. Enjoy this video, I hope you like it!
With Love from Nepal.
Johnny FD
Got questions? Comments? Ask below!
Nice! :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome trip. I remember hiking up Poon Hill on New Year's morning. The day was beautifully clear and the view was incredible. It must be about 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteWhen do you plan to walk the camino to Santiago de Compostela? I am planning my next one the year after next. But, this time I'll be walking the northern route.
I very much enjoy your posts and videos, thank you...
Hi Noline, that's awesome you got to hike up to Poon Hill and see views that like New Year's Morning! Much better than waking up hungover like most of the world. =) I have Camino de Santiago on my bucket list as well. Let me know how you like it. =)
DeleteThe camino is an amazing experience. The first time I walked in Autumn and the second time in Spring. I am planning the Camino del Norte for 2020. This will be a slow hike as I am taking my laptop with.
DeleteI hope you are completely recovered. I saw really fit people struggle on Kilimanjaro. We never know how we are going to respond to the altitude. On Kili we followed two golden rules walk langzaam langzaam (slowly slowly) as they say in Nepal and walk high, sleep low.
Each land is a new experience. I really hope to be here. Live and feel the people, culture, history of this land
ReplyDeleteWow. 5000 USD is pretty big amount, I hope I reach there too. BTW, I am also planning to visit Nepal the next month.
ReplyDeletewww.johnnyfd.com
ReplyDeleteI feel it is interesting, I hope you continue to have good posts like this to share.
ReplyDelete