I was thinking today about what to do next. I don’t mean anytime soon since I’m pretty happy here on the farm for now. I mean more what I want to do between when I leave this place (maybe in a month or two) and the World Cup in June 2010 in South Africa. That gives me about a year to play with and up until just now I hadn’t given it much thought at all.

I have had a lot of time to think about this sort of this lately and I’ve come up with a couple of grand plans that may or may not end up working out. My main idea right now is to spend two or three months living in NYC, maybe taking a painting or photography course or maybe just being a bum. I love NYC  and spending some time living there is definitely something I want to do at some point. Now seems as good a time as any, especially since I have a few friends living there and it’s so close to home so I can pop in and see my family a few times before heading further afield.

After doing a bit of research I confirmed the obvious – NYC is expensive. Given the unhealthy condition of my bank account a few months ago, I wouldn’t have even considered a move to New York, no matter how short. But now, having spent a couple months living super cheaply and with at least another month ahead of more of the same, I will be a bit more set up for spending some time in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

This new set of sort of plans has sort of got me thinking about how I approach my travel splurges. I spent a couple of months spending next to nothing in Bangladesh and then lived it up in Beijing in a great apartment and spent money like a crazy person at the Olympics. I hung around Thailand and Burma spending very little and then gave up a deposit on a course and bought an expensive plane ticket to Haiti. I lived cheaply in Haiti for three months and then flew to Australia for two weeks for a wedding. Now, after a few months of cheap living in Nicaragua, I’m ready for a life of painting courses, good food, baseball games and generally living it up in the Big Apple.

If I wanted to (or if I were smart…) I could stick with the cheap living which I enjoy just as much, pad the bank account and give myself more options in the future but I things always tend to balance out in this way where I will spend nothing and then spend loads. I’m not sure it’s on purpose but it seems like it’s becoming a pattern.

So as of right now my super rough plan is to hang around Nicaragua and maybe Costa Rica for another couple of months of farm work and Spanish lessons before heading to New York City for no reason in particular. Afterwards… well I’m not sure but you can bet whatever I end up doing it will be cheap!

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I’m currently living on a farm called Finca Bonafide on the island of Ometepe called in Nicaragua and I’ve got a pretty sweet deal going. I’ve got a great setup and am loving it and this is really the first place in my travels where everything has fallen into place. I could certainly see myself staying here for awhile.

Here’s why:

• Food - I had fears that the mostly beans and rice diet of Nicaragua would be too much to bear after 4.5 months of it in Haiti but it turns out that the food here is amazing. Because the farm grows a lot of its own food, it means that meals are diverse and we can even make our own peanut butter, pesto and chocolate which is great.
• Work - I like having something to do each day beyond a bit of internet work and a bit of reading. The day here means getting up at 7am to do an hour of work, having breakfast, and continuing with work until noon when lunch is served. The work is really diverse but mostly physical which gets the heart pumping and it’s a great way to start each day.
• Education - I have wanted to learn about sustainable living/permaculture/farmy type stuff for awhile and this place is very conducive to learning. The people who run the place and the staff are all very patient and totally willing to answer questions about the work which means I can really get whatever out of this experience that I want to.
• People - I was worried that the farm would be full of hippy do-gooder types but, as it turns out, everyone here is really down to earth, laid back and fun. It’s an interesting dynamic because you have interns and long term volunteers who stay several months mixed in with people or groups on shorter stints of a week or two which keeps things exciting.
• Location - The farm is located on Ometepe which feels remote but is only a half day’s worth of travel from Granada which is a major tourist hub and a place where I can escape to if I need a break or need to buy things.
• Scenery - Ometepe has to be seen to be believed. It’s an island formed of two volcanoes, one dormant and one active, and attached by a small piece of land between the two. It’s located on the bottom part of the smaller volcano and has a great view of the larger one and Lake Nicaragua. The sunsets are unreal and it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in my travels.
• Cost - I am a volunteer but because the farm is a non-profit they have us cover our living costs. This means $10 per day for short term volunteers (under a month) and $200 per month for long termers. So for me it means food and accommodation for $200 per month plus $6 for internet. Bargain.
• Flexibility - They are used to having volunteers come and go and I don’t really need to have my plans set in stone. Obviously it’s better for everyone if I keep them informed of my plans, but if something came up and I had to leave giving short notice, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
• Language - I want to learn Spanish and this is a great place to do it. Most of the employees are locals and they’re used to hearing terrible Spanish as volunteers attempt to communicate. So far the people I’ve spoken to have been very willing to help me learn new things and also correct me when I attempt to cobble together some random phrase. Plus one of the interns here is fluent and is giving Spanish courses to a group of Canadian students and I’ve been sitting in on them which has helped.
• Community - The farm is very involved in the community and run a lot of programs from women’s groups to seed exchanges to library hours to child nutrition programs. They actually founded the community centre and fund it as well which means there are a lot of opportunities for me to help out and get involved in a lot of interesting ways.
• Good cause - The farm is a non-profit and have lots of great programs on the go (see above). I enjoy doing this sort of work but it’s even better knowing I am supporting something that has long term goals that will benefit the community as a while.
• Time to myself - After finishing work at noon each weekday I can pretty much do what I want. I also have weekends off which means I get a lot of time to myself to read, paint, work on web stuff, swim, bike, hike, cook, chat or whatever. I love my ‘me’ time so this suits me.
• Nature - The island is peaceful and full of nature and it’s just a great feling to be amongst it and away from the hustle bustle of a city. I like cities and tend to spend most of my time in them but I love nature too and I appreciate the time spent in places like this.
• Opportunity to take on responsibility - The farm is a bit strapped for longer term volunteers at the moment with only two interns (staying around 6 months each) and two long term vounteers leaving on Saturday. This means that if I want to, I am able to take on a bit more responsibility to help take the burden off of the interns.

So I think I’ve got a pretty good setup and at the moment I plan on sticking around for a couple of months at least. After only a week I feel really comfortable here not only with the work and day to day activites but I also feel like I’ve clicked with the people here pretty quickly. So far I’m really loving it but rainy season will be upon us in a couple weeks so I might have changed my tune by then. But as of right now, for all of the reasons above, I think I will be here for the long haul and I’m looking forward to the next few months soaking up some farm life.

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April was poop just like March but May is looking good after a couple of sweet link sales early in the month so I’m not too worried, as usual. April was also a pretty cheap month for me spending-wise and May is shaping up to be even cheaper so even though I didn’t earn as much as in previous months, the bank balance has gone up which hasn’t happened in a while and that makes me happy.

Earnings Breakdown:

• Google Adsense - $251 - Adsense rebounded from the month before when my main site was on a brief ban for bad behaviour. I really feel like Adsense is underperforming though. I am hoping my two new sites will push this up but it won’t be for several months at least.
• Affiliate Sales - $425 - Once again this was mostly my main affiliate program. The other one that had been doing well a few months ago has been crap for three months in a row now and I’m not sure how to fine tune things. I will try to tweak some links, add a few new affiliates and hope for the best.
• Linkworth - $25 - The same two links are chugging along and pulling in a small amount each month.
• Private Link Sales - $204 - I had my three $10 links renewed once again. These have been going since August 2007 so, while it’s not much each month, it has definitely added up over the years and none of them seem to be in any hurry to cancel. I had another last minute link sale for nearly $150 which was a relief.

I’m currently paying $200 per month to cover my food and living expenses plus an extra $6 for internet (bargain!) It’s a really sweet setup and I’ll write a post about it soon but, long story short, it’s in the middle of nowhere and I have nowhere to spend money so I should come out way ahead this month. Plus I only work in the mornings which gives me loads of time for web work. Hopefully I can crank out a couple of cheap living and productive months.

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After a month in Leon, I was ready to leave. I really liked the city a lot, but I spent way too much time sitting on my arse there and I was ready for a bit of physical activity. At this time of year, Leon is painfully hot and the only thing I wanted to do was lie in bed with two fans pointed at me on full blast.

When I wasn’t doing this I could be found either at a four hour Spanish lesson, lounging in a hammock reading my book, soaking up air-conditioning during longs walks around the supermarket or painfully sitting on a wooden stool attempting to do internet work.

I couldn’t handle walks around the city for much longer than a half hour and I’m pretty sure that cycling would have been deadly. So after all of this sitting around, I am ready for a bit of swimming, biking and farm work and have decided to head to Ometepe to take advantage of some nature under the watchful eyes of two volcanoes, one active and one dormant.

There are a lot of organic/sustainable farm type places on the island and I’ve arranged to volunteer with one of them at the end of May. I’m here a month early though because of a change of plans and am hoping to move my work stint up. If I can’t though, I’m quite happy to work a bit, pedal a bit, paint a bit, read a bit and swim a bit and might even try to hunt down another weekly Spanish course.

The island is stunning and I’m looking forward to a bit of exploring!

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