Week 2 Bali

Just over 1.5 weeks here in Bali and still enjoying it.

I’ve learned a lot here already in Bali.  Drink more electrolyte water when it’s really hot out, especially when your stomach gets messed up (“Bali Belly”).  You have to be pretty aggressive on a motorbike, or even just walking, if you want to turn/cross the road.  Real estate, including Airbnb, is massively negotiable.  Like 50%+ cheaper than the listed prices.

On the housing front I did my typical 7-day Airbnb, then booked something for the duration of the stay.  Unfortunately the place we booked for the rest of our stay turned out to be tiny and very expensive.  We made the mistake of assuming that if it was expensive it would be really nice, but I think the true price should have been a third of what we paid.  Luckily we were able to negotiate moving out after 5 days (there were also problems with wifi, AC, etc.), and will be relocating to a nice villa (we checked it out in person) tomorrow.

One of the annoying parts of nomading, especially in new places, is finding housing.  You don’t want to be in the wrong area, get ripped off, etc.  The contrasting thing is after all of the travel to Bali the last thing you want to do is spend day and night scouring listings, querying expats for the best places to live, etc.  It’s enough at first that you have to learn how to get around, join a gym, find out where to eat, and get over jet lag.  I reminded myself that I greatly prefer a 2 month minimum while nomading, and ideally 3-4, so the process of finding something doesn’t feel so wasteful.  I’ll probably learn even more things the hard way over the next month, so I’ll give my final recommendations on where to live later.

I had a good month in trading after a rough start to the year.  I was starting to doubt my algorithms a bit, even though it was my own fault by overriding their decisions the past few months at the worst times.  Trading is like dieting: you build a rigid plan that you feel confident should work, but sometimes following it at the exact moments you need it is very hard.

I follow some trading related accounts on Twitter, even though I purposely avoid reading them most of the time.  I make a strong effort to keep my headspace in trading when it’s necessary, and to otherwise relax with other things.  It’s interesting to me how many people love the idea of trading.  I guess the mix of gambling with the possibility of creating near infinite wealth is exciting.  I’ve been in it for so long that I just see probabilities with a cumulative expected value return.  Balancing the probability of winning, losing, getting lucky/unlucky, hacked, unforeseen exchange/computer issues, etc.  Even if I make money every month there is still a real chance (as in way more realistic than getting hit by a car or plane crash) something could happen that takes it all away.  I don’t stress about these type of events (although I do my best to avoid them), but that means I also can’t get excited about when things go really well.  I have to admit though it is fulfilling that you can essentially play a game and get rewarded based on your results, vs the politics that most jobs entail.  

On the creative front I’m back to writing fiction.  No crazy output, but warming my muscles back up with some short stories.  It’s hard for me to get started writing on any given day, but I get a lot of joy out of it once I do.

Currently I’m reading “House of the Rising Sun” by James Lee Burke.  I’m 50% through it, and thoroughly impressed by his writing as usual.  I read an article where he stated it’s his best work out of many novels, and I can see why.  Intimidating how good it is on several levels.  It reminds me of “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy with beautiful prose in a western setting, except that I can actually understand what is going on in “House of the Rising Sun”.  I have to take it in slowly with chapter or two a day as it’s quite rich, and I don’t like to start glossing over the lyrical description.

With that I’ll leave you with the currently rainy but tranquil view from Nirvana Strength Bali where I’m currently writing this.  Have a great week!