THE WEEKLY #254: WEEK TWO IN KATHMANDU LOCKDOWN

The lockdown continues here in Kathmandu for another week. It’s the third week of the lockdown and the second week I’ve been back in Kathmandu experiencing the lockdown. I’m basically stuck inside the hotel and not allowed outside except for essential groceries or the pharmacy.

I’ve managed to book a charter flight out in a few days, which was a chaotic process but in the end, I have a very expensive ticked out of Nepal. The days have been long and slow but I’ve kept busy updating old blog posts and managing lots of behind-the-scenes business moves for the blog. 

I always predict these times will come. When these seem hectic and the itinerary is packed I just keep rolling with it because I know there will be an inevitable downtime due to injury, sickness, or a pandemic that will force me into weeks or months with not much else to do but the online side of the job rather than the adventure and exploring an aspect of my job.

Each day I wake up and head down for breakfast at the restaurant and enjoy a couple of lattes out in the sunshine of the courtyard. I then head into my den and get cracking on a few hours of work. If I can stay focused I keep at it, otherwise I venture upstairs to the rooftop pool for a break. I spend the afternoon tapping away on the computer some more before evening workout at the rooftop gym. Dinner on the rooftop follows and then if I still have some motivation I will put in a few more hours of work. 

These kinds of hustle periods are how passive income generally works. They allow you to earn a good wage even when you are offline for two weeks while hiking in Nepal due to the work you have done in the past. Sometimes t’s hard to grind, grind, grind but I heard a line the other day that resonated with my journey. It ran little something like this.

‘You can sacrifice and hustle for 4-5 years and set yourself up for a lifetime. Of course, this is very situational but I’ve watched many around me unable to have the foresight to put in the extra work now for a consistent passive income throughout their future. People say life balance is key but I think they forget it doesn’t necessarily mean there needs to be balanced every day. Sometimes that balance can be over a month-to-month comparison or one year can be work-heavy and the next can be a year-long backpacking trip with no work. To take it even further, what if the balance is five years hustle and then retire? Would that be a good life balance?

These are all the types of questions that float around my head but I guess at the end of the day, if you are enjoying your work or career then the balance isn’t as important compared to those who feel like they are battling through each day. 

Anyhow, the week is all but over and tomorrow I’m jumping on a plane and can forget my computer for a few days while in transit to another continent. It’s been a heavy week spent entirely alone and I’m glad to head off and escape the lockdown.

Thanks for the trip to Nepal even though it has its ups and downs.