It seems as though Google might have caught up with my link selling ways, or maybe they’ve just jiggled around their PR calculations - either way, I’ve been walloped. They updated their Pagerank a couple of days ago and all of my sites felt the wrath.

Travoholic is now at PR2. Oh the humanity! My beloved site that I falsely believed was also loved by Google has well and truly learned its lesson. Stuck in London is still, very mysteriously, a PR0. Nerdy Nomad has dropped from PR4 to PR3 which is annoying because I had been blazing a little trail up the 45n5 Top 100 List. My PR5 travel insurance site has dropped to PR 4 which is still pretty high for a site like that. The only good news is that Wanderstruck went from PR0 to PR1. Yep. That’s the best I can do.

I guess the good news, for me, is that I went on a little links selling spree before the PR tanked across most of my sites. Some people would say that could be the reason for the drop in my PR… I would have to tend to agree that Google might just be onto me after all these years.

I had stopped paying much attention to PR but now that things are collectively dropping, I might start giving it a bit more attention and do my best to get the sites back up to scratch. When link sales is such a bit chunk of my paycheque each month, I would be stupid not to try to boost it back up.

It’ll be interesting to see if people renew their links that are due to expire within the next few months.

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One of the major benefits of working online is that I have the freedom and time to explore old interests and discover new ones. Part of this is being able to devote time to learning about all of those things I’ve always meant to get around to but just never have.

One of these is sustainable living. I’ve been interested in the whole idea voluntary simplicity since university and really love the idea of creating a lifestyle that is sustainable. Working online creates financial freedom so learning skills to be able to rely on myself for other needs besides money is the logical next step. I’m not interested in dropping out of society and joining the ranks of the great unwashed, just in living a more simple and healthy life while building practical, useful skills.

So with that in mind, I’ve enrolled in an internship at Pun Pun farm near Chang Mai in Thailand. I’ve come across their website many times in the past but never really knew about the internship until now. I had been planning on visiting a neighbouring farm, The Panya Project, and stumbled onto it. Not only will it allow me to learn new stuff, it’ll also fill up a large portion of my time. I was wondering what to do with five months in Southeast Asia since I’m not really too interested in the backpacking trail at the moment so this is perfect.

It’s ten weeks long from November 1st and costs US$1400 which includes food and accommodation. This works out to be just under $20 per day which is an amazing deal considering I will be learning loads of new things and probably eating yummy, organic Thai food. I will probably end up saving money while I’m there which to me seems like the bargain of the year. The course teaches about adobe and natural building, seed saving, permaculture, water sanitation and lots of good stuff like that. It’s set in a farming community and I expect I’ll meet lots of interesting local people as well as other travellers.

I’m hoping to use my free time to learn new things as often as possible on my travels. I would be really upset with myself if I blew all my free time at the pub! What sorts of things would you study or take courses in if you had the time and money? Is there somewhere in the world you’d like to head to specifically to study something?

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Every once in awhile bloggers like to make little posts about their work spaces. They post photos of their massive monitors (sometimes two), super huge desks crammed with important looking things, and sometimes even a strategically placed snowboard or some other cool type thing in the background.

Sadly, I have no workspace. Happily, I have many! So I thought a post with photos and little blurbs about my workspaces so far might be interesting. Some of my working spots so far have been inspiring, some have been depressing, but the beauty is that I didn’t have to be at any of them from 9 to 5. One thing I have realised though is that working from anywhere isn’t always practical.

Here they are, most recent first:

Airport - Shenzhen, China
China never ceases to amazing me with its free wifi and airports always seem to have a free signal floating around which is great. Too bad I spent most of my time trying to nap away a hangover rather than getting work done. I wish other world airports would get going witht the free wifi thing… come on Heathrow!

Mix - Soho, Hong Kong
This place is great. Fresh fruit juices, healthy, tasty food, free wifi, comfy chairs, air-conditioning, friendly staff, and there are loads of other wireless workers here too so I don’t feel like a big nerd sitting by myself and typing away. They even have a guy playing live guitar on Saturdays. If there’s one in Beijing I am going to have to find it.     

Garden Hostel - Kowloon, Hong Kong
It ain’t pretty but it’s an ok place to stay and there’s a garden area to plunk down and do some work. The patio furniture isn’t exactly comfortable but it beats working on my bed. If you need some distraction then there is a martial arts school on weeknights and they bust out the karaoke machine on Sunday afternoons.      

Bingo Hostel - Fenghuang, China
My travel buddy and fellow wifi addict found this place after combing the streets of Fenghuang. I decided to stay an extra five days because of the great working environment. There’s wifi access in the room and space to work and all for 25 yuan per night (under US$4). Their smelly dog wanted to befriend me which was distracting.    

Peasant Hotel - Langde, China
Located in a tiny village that is popular with day trippers, there really was seriously nothing to do at night. So I hid away in my room, enjoyed the silence and typed away. Not the most exciting evening, but it’s good to have some peace and quiet now and then. I had the giant spiders to keep me company and the roosters in the (early!) morning.            

National Hostel - Chengyang, China
This place had no wifi but the rooms were cheap at 30 yuan per night, the setting beside the river was beautiful, and I managed to rig up a desk by pulling a small table over to my bed. The hostel did have a really fast net connection and the hugest monitor I’ve ever seen so uploading work would have been possible.                 

Cafe - Dazhai, China
This place served great food and it seemed like I was the only one ever in there so I got plenty of quiet time. No wifi but the view was one of the best views I’ve ever had while working. I was tempted to spend all of my time just staring out at the rice terraces though.    

Apartment - Yangshuo, China
I volunteered at an English school for a week in Yangshuo and got free accommodation thrown into the mix. The room was equipped with a desk but no wifi. My roommate was an artist and tended to take over the desk most nights but I usually spent my nights at the bars and worked during the day so it was no problem.                 

Apartment - Beijing, China
It seems like all of the wifi I’ve encountered on my travels is faster than what I have in my apartment in Beijing. I always have problems uploading files with FTP. Things seem to stall a lot. But I’m all set up there with a desk in my room, food in the fridge, air-con pumping and access to books and other resources that help me get things done.                 

Yes Inn - Hong Kong Island
This hostel had fre wifi that oozed into the rooms. I made a makeshift desk, sat on the floor and I was in a six bed dorm so had a couple of people around to keep me company. One girl put on some music and it was a great environment to get stuff done, despite my increasingly sore ass from sitting on the floor.                 

Travellers Friendship Hostel - Kowloon, Hong Kong
This place was a hell hole! Terrible staff, scary toilets, prison cell rooms. There was free wifi but you could only access it from the hallway in front of the elevators and there were no tables. I had to plunk onto the floor and use a plastic stool as a desk under the watchful eye of the evil owner. Never stay here!                

Matahari Lodge - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A brand new hostel, this place was spotless. It had what looked like a nice working environment complete with a balcony but I did most of my work from my room. I’m not sure why because working on a bed is never comfortable and the room, as you can see with the modern look, wasn’t exactly inspiring.                 

Father’s Guesthouse - Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
A nice hostel with wifi, lots of spaces to work and some very rainy weather all meant that I got plenty done in the Cameron Highlands with a bit of hiking in between. Having lots of choice of where to work is great. The TV in the common room was noisy but there were lots of other nooks and crannies to escape to.   

D’Lagoon - Perentian Islands, Malaysia
Ah the hammock on a beach shot. It seems to be what people think of when they dream of working from anywhere. Let me be the first to tell you that it doesn’t work. It’s super uncomfortable and attempting to look at the laptop while sitting in the hammock totally killed my neck. But it certainly looks impressive.  

Trekker Lodge - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I really liked this place despite it not looking like anything special. The staff were super friendly and the common area was filled with nice people. It just had a great vibe about it and I was surprised I enjoyed it so much. It had free wifi but I spent more time chatting with people than working.  

Some Hotel - Dhaka, Bangladesh
This place had no wifi but I had my handy, dandy net connection through my mobile phone so that was ok. They had great food and even a Western toilet but staff liked to come in without knocking. The do that in Bangladesh. I got lots done because I didn’t want to venture outside to the chaos that is Dhaka.  

Hands On Headquarters - Rayenda, Bangladesh
Of all the places I’ve been online, this has to be the most remote. I never would have expected to be able to get online from rural Bangladesh and I was amazed to get a signal from somewhere not even on any maps, not even local ones! The power cut out all the time but I still got lots done.  

Greenhouse B&B - Dhaka, Bangladesh
This place promised a net connection but I never did get it to work. It didn’t matter though because I was online in no time once I bought a mobile phone. The guesthouse was super nice complete with a Western toilet, meals with the family and a huge room with a giant desk. I felt like I was back at home. Who would have thought?  

Enigmata - Camiguin, Philippines
This was one of the most unique places I’ve ever stayed. Built into an old tree with loads of character, it had lots of places to escape to do work. It had great food and friendly staff to party with. The place has a really creative vibe and it’s impossible not to be inspired. If it had wifi I might still be there now.  

Nuts Huts - Bohol, Philippines
Another beautiful, peaceful place with great food and not much else to do besides meet people and get down to some serious work. No wifi here either though but I managed to sort out photos and do some writing. I did most of my work in the cafe which overlooks the forest but I forgot to take a photo of it.  

Frendz Resort - Boracay, Philippines
My first attempt at working in a beautiful, tropical location went well. This hostel was just far away from the beach not to have in tempt me, and had a good wifi connection, nice working area on the front porch of my room, and a bar nearby serving up tasty beverages. The owner is nice and it was a great place to get stuff done.   

Friendly’s Guesthouse - Manila, Philippines
I loved this place. The guy who runs it, Benji, is so welcoming and friendly. He puts on a free wine and cheese night every Saturday and always parties with the guests who all seemed to be really interesting when I was there. The balcony is a great spot to work and meeting people is easy. I’d go back there in a second.  

I wish I had more photos of my laptop poolside or on the beach, but the reality is that working without a desk is really awkward and unproductive for me. Although, that said, I seem to spend an awful lot of time working from my bed which is only good for one thing - easy access to napping. 

What’s the most beautiful, craziest or impractical place you’ve ever worked? Is there anywhere you got a net connection you never would have imagined would be possible?

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I’ve finally made some decisions about my old, neglected friend Travoholic. The site has been rotting away for years exisiting only as a billboard for link sales. The site is loved by Google and I’ve decided to start giving it a little love of my own once again.

I’m a bit wary of changing the site around too much because I don’t want to lose any of my rankings in the SERPs. But I have decided to add a new section for articles, country guides and hostel reviews for Asia. I might set the new section up with a new design that I prefer and see how things go. If I see that Google likes it and start to see the pages ranking well, I might convert the entire site to the new design and restructure the navigation and hope for the best. I have a lot of content to add and really think I’m capable of doubling the site’s traffic with some new articles and an Asia section.

My other major project has been my travel blog, Wanderstruck. I had originally wanted to make this site a huge guide, review, video, photo and blog type site because I really love the domain name. I’ve instead decided that I can do all the extra stuff over at Travoholic and will instead keep Wanderstruck as a travel blog only. I’m looking for some feedback on it. I’m not sure about the colours (mainly the brown) and am in search of plugins that work well for travel blogs. I really don’t know much about the world of plugins so don’t even really know what I’m missing. If anyone can point me to travel blogs you like, maybe I can get some inspiration. There are still lots of little things I need to do to the site including uploading photos to Flickr. am I the only person who thinks Flickr completely sucks? I will never understand why it’s so popular.

I’m not planning on monetising the site. It’s just going to be a way to keep in touch with family and friends and hopefully attract a few readers who I don’t know. I guess it’s more for fun and maybe getting my name out there into the travel blogosphere. I can’t believe I just used the word ‘blogosphere’.

Any feedback is appreciated! I’m looking forward to getting the travel blog up to scratch and am looking even more forward to seeing what kind of an impact adding new content to Travoholic.com has on that site. Once I get back to Beijing I’ll be hard at work on Stuck in Beijing so I’ve got a couple of days worth of hard work ahead of me here in Hong Kong.

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The Good: Yes Inn

When I say that this hostel is good, I mean relatively. It’s really not that great a place, just the best of a bad lot. There’s no common area besides a couch in front of the reception desk but it has free internet (including free wifi that oozes its way into the rooms), helpful staff, and the rooms don’t feel like prison cells.

I met a few people here and had a good time at the hostel. It always seems to be booked so if you want to stay here, make sure to make a reservation well in advance. It’s located on Hong Kong island across the road from the Fortress Hill MTR stop so is a bit away from the action. But it’s handy enough and there’s a supermarket across the road to stock up on cheap eats.

Work wise, I was able to get a lot done here. The dorm rooms are pretty small but I made some space on the floor in front of my bed, pulled over a small table and went to town. It helped that there were a couple of other girls in the room who decided to spend most of the day hanging out in the hostel so I didn’t feel like such a nerd and had people to chat to when I wanted.

The Bad: The Entire 11th Floor of Mirador Mansion

This place is a strange one. I thought I booked into Travellers Friendship Hostel but was instead put into a different hostel called New Garden. Both of these hostels are simply hallways going off a main hallway with different names affixed to the hall entrance. Each ‘hostel’ (hallway) has a handful of rooms and one of the halls is used as a dorm room. This is also a walkway to a balcony, the internet cafe, laundry room and only has a curtain separating it from the main hall. I was happy I wasn’t stuck in here.

The ‘reception area’ (main hallway) consisted of a plastic table in front of the elevators. The desk was manned by what looked like a father, mother, daughter combo of the most surly, nasty, unhelpful kind. It seemed like the check-in for all of the ‘hostels’ on this floor were done at that desk. I suspect they have loads of different hostel names to get a bigger slice of the pie when people search for hostels online. If they’ve got 10 ‘hostels’ there is a larger chance a traveller will pick one of theirs. It’s actually a good idea but not exactly ethical.

Because the wifi juice could only be received in the elevator area, I spent several hours parked on the floor in front of the reception desk attempting to work. I witnessed loads of people come to the hostel to check in, ask questions or complain about various problems. All of them were met with a rude reception and the hostel tended to blame most of its booking problems on Hostelworld.com. There were many, many booking problems.

The Ugly: Garden Hostel

Not to be confused with the New Garden Hostel which is located on the notorious 11th floor of Mirador Mansion, this hostel is actually reasonably ok. If doesn’t look like much but the staff are nice, the dorms have air conditioning pumping through them, the sheets are clean-ish and there’s a great garden area in the back complete with wifi and people practising martial arts. I loved working here. There’s something about the rhythm of people practising punches and kicks that really gets me into a relaxed mood.

At HK$70 per night for a dorm bed, it’s pretty affordable for Hong Kong. It’s also located on Nathan Road in Kowloon which is in the thick of all the action and a good spot to be if you have to sort out a Chinese visa. It’s one of the few places with a common area and good for meeting people.

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I’ve been on the go for a little over six months now and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the ol’ finances and see if I’m in good shape or in need of a financial planner.

I can’t remember a single time since I left where I haven’t done something because of the cost. I haven’t been watching my money at all, really. I’m the sort of traveller who tends to throw money around when I have it and can only realy tighten the belt when the funds start to dwindle. It’s not the best of habits but it did lead to me having a hell of a lot of fun in Australia for my first six months there and having to pick a hell of a lot of fruit my last six months. But earning online allows me a lot more freedom with my irresponsible spending ways and it doesn’t look like the belt-tightening phase of my trip will be due to start anytime soon.

So after six months travelling… dum dum dum… I’m in the red US$1265.

So the whole earning more than I spend goal isn’t working for me at the moment but I need to keep in mind that I’ve paid my rent up until the end of October and will be attempting to find someone to fill my room after August so might be able to recoup some of that cost. I’ve also just had to pay about $600 for a new Chinese visa and flights between Shenzhen (near Hong Kong) to Beijing.

Considering I’ve been steadily earning $1500-2000 per month since I left, I think I’ve been spending a lot. I’ve also bee having a lot of fun. August will be an insane month for me with the Olympics and my crazy Australian friends coming. If I can survive August with my liver and bank balance still intact then things will be looking good.

After Beijing I plan to do some slow, low key travels around SE Asia and will spend some time on some farms so I still expect to be able to say that after a year of travelling I will earned more than I’ve spent. Maybe.

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When I stay in a place longer than a couple of nights my stuff tends to take on a mind of its own and slowly creep across the floor of the room. Usually it also finds itself strewn across tabletops, other dorm beds and some of it has even set up a temporary home in the bathroom.

I have way too much stuff with me on this short one month trip and even more crap awaits me in Beijing. Something has gone terribly wrong with my packing and I’m not going to make the same mistake on future trips.

My Chinese travel buddy has a tiny backpack that’s not even full and she’s even carting a huge laptop around with her! I have learned a few packing lessons on this trip and have some advice that hopefully I will actually listen to next time I pack.

‘Just in case’ doesn’t usually happen - I’ve discovered that carting a sleeping bag around the world ‘just in case’ I need it really doesn’t work for me. Same goes for dressy shoes. If I need any of these things ‘just in case’ type things while I’m travelling, I can always attempt to buy or borrow them.

Take only things I know I’ll wear - I’ve learned not to take things I’ve never worn in my life because I think the mood will finally strike me when I hit the road. It won’t. I can’t stand the heat and have a couple of lightweight tank tops that I love, they fold up super small and I can buy them in China so I think I’ll stock up on a few more. I know I like them, I know I wear them, and they’re great for hot places. I’m not that concerned if my fashion sense seems to be a bit repetitive… I’m going to stick with what works for me.

Most places have sinks and soap - If a place doesn’t have a washing machine, at the very least they should have a sink and some clothes washing soap. In China all of the places I’ve stayed have let my travel buddy have some soap for free. Doing a quick load of sink laundry every few days means that cutting down on clothes is possible. It doesn’t take too long and if you have lightweight things, washing done in the morning will be dry before the next day.

All those super small travel sized things add up - Buying things in travel sizes is great. Buying 20 things in travel sizes is not.

The post office is my friend - I will be heading to Sydney during the winter in 2009 and really can’t be bothered going on a shopping spree once I arrive (I hate shopping). I have friends there and plan to send a few of my winter-y type clothes over to be reunited at a later date. It’s cheaper than buying all new stuff and it saves me having to carry jeans and other heavy clothes around boiling hot Asia.

If I have a big backpack I will fill it up - I already have my backpack and I’m not about to head out and buy another one. Instead, I’m going to attempt to put my smaller add-on backpack on the inside of the big one, rather than the outside. I put my laptop and camera in my small bag and it means that when I get on a plane, bus or anytime I might be separated from my big bag, I can grab the smaller one and not have to worry about it. Aiming to have space to put it inside my big bag will really force me to pack well.

I will never be free from art supplies - This is a hard one for me. When I left Canada in 2001 I had a slew of art supplies with me that I proceeded to take around the world with me twice and use about three times in total. I finally rid myself of them when I left London only to buy some more when I found a cheap art store in Beijing. Now I am lumbered with them again hoping that, one day, I actually use them. I guess art supplies are my weakness and I should accept that. I just wish they weren’t so heavy and bulky.

I’m ready to become a super light packer! I’ve seen the benefits and I want in. Dreading having to carry my backpack around really limits me and I want the freedom that comes with packing light. I have even more crap back at my apartment in Beijing and I can’t wait to get back and purge it from my life!

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Village hopping around China is great for relaxation and even better for the budget but not so good for the whole website updating thing. Some places I visited had the internet but none had wifi which made getting much work done pretty hard for me.

So I arrived in Fenghuang (a large village in Hunan under siege by Chinese tourists) not expecting there to be any wifi but still hoping for the best. My Chinese friend I have been travelling arrived a few days before me and, fortunately for me, she’s also got a computer and is always on the hunt for wireless internet. She combed the streets for two days before finally finding a bar called Greenstone along the river with a dubious connection, terrible coffee and a menu consisting of peanuts and popcorn. Not really an ideal choice but better than nothing.

With nothing really keeping me in Fenghuang, I was ready to head straight to Hong Kong to catch up on some work, drink Frappuccinos and figure out a way back to Beijing. But my Chinese friend didn’t give up on her hunt for a good wifi connection in a nice setting and two days ago she stumbled onto a place called Bingo, a cafe and guesthouse set in a supercool, old wooden building and, most importantly, equipped with a great wifi connection. The food is pretty average and the milkshakes are inexplicably warm, but the six bed dorm is empty besides us and there are workspaces aplenty for me to hide away in and get stuff done.

I’ve decided to stay a few more nights because I’m being uncharacteristically productive here. It’s bizarre. I think I got more done yesterday than I did all of July combined. When motivation rears its head at the same time as I find a great place to work, good things can happen so I’m in no rush to move on, especially since I know how terrible hostels in Hong Kong are.

So for the next few days I’m going to be a hermit and I’m not going to feel guilty about it. I’ve found a great place to work so I just need to hope my motivation sticks with me.

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I fought Facebook for a long time before peer pressure won me over and I joined the throngs as a Facebook follower. Now I love it. It’s great for keeping in touch without actually having to keep in touch.

I know many people have started to use Facebook as a marketing tool but I haven’t really explored that area at all. I’m not a master marketer and tend to try to focus on building quality websites rather than searching out new ways to attract readers. But I certainly think that Facebook and others like it have lots of marketing potential.

I got a friend request last week from some guy who I vaguely remember as a friend of a friend from high school. I had no idea who he was at first so accepted the friend request to investigate. I realised I was never really a friend of his and have absolutely no interest in what the guy is doing with his life so was going to delete him. But for some reason I didn’t and this afternoon I was surprised to get a message from him. When I opened it up, I was even more surprised to see that he was suggesting a poker site to me, complete with an affiliate link.

If the guy had sent me the message saying that he thinks I might like the site and then mentioned that if I click on his link, he’ll get a few bucks I might not have found the whole thing so offensive. But I think spamming so-called friends through Facebook with affiliate links is pretty low and not being up front about it is even worse.

I think it’s sneaky and I don’t like it and I’ve deleted his sorry ass.

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I’ve been kicking around the villages of Guangxi and Guizhou provinces in China for about a week now and I think I’ve spent about $10. Ok, I may have spent a bit more than that, but not much in the grand scheme of thing.

For example, I was just in a village called Langde about an hour outside a city called Kaili in Guizhou and am spending a grand total of 20 yuan per night including a very yummy, big dinner of mysterious things. I could have got that for less I think as I know accommodation here usually goes for 10 per night but I am just a lazy bargainer. Exchanged to US$, 20 yuan comes to less than $3. There’s no internet here, nothing really to do besides wander the hiking trails around the town or swim in the river, and life is simple and peaceful. But if you’re the type who is after some quiet time to write, think, work offline, paint or whatever, then the price is right and the setting is stunning.

A few nights ago I was in a village called Zhaoxing which is just as beautiful but more commercial. It has a bit more going on for the visitor in the way of restaurants and hiking trails to other villages and accommodation here only cost 20 yuan per night for a room with a fan, toilet, and even a TV. Noodles for breakfast cost only 3 yuan and dinner with a couple of beers cost only about 12 tuan.

Before that I was in Chengyang, a super small one bridge (the attraction is a large wooden wind and rain bridge) town and the hostel cost 20 yuan per night with free internet (but no wifi), a toilet, a fan and a balcony overlooking the river. There are lots of trails around this village, lots of day trippers, and a couple of hostels with food and bars and it’s only 20 minutes away from the larger city of Sanjiang.

Last week I was in Dazhai, a community set among the Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces and my hotel cost a bit more at 30 per night but again, there was free internet, clean rooms, cheap meals, and it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

I just wanted to let everyone know how cheap you can live if you can do without certain things like Western food, wifi connections (although it is possible to set up a connection through a mobile phone… I think), and the hustle bustle of a big city. Living abroad really can cost as little as $5 per day in beautiful places if you know where to look.

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