Free Chile Pages & Chile List ads for all registered users!       Log In
Day 348 of 1827: Trading Time for Money

Day 348 of 1827: Trading Time for Money

One of the best things about being your own boss is getting to ask yourself every morning when you wake up, “Do I feel like making money today?”

One of the worst things about being your own boss is that it is really difficult to say “no” to that question!

I spent the last few weeks extracting as many billable hours out of my time as I can physically (and psychologically) manage.  Most people would consider that a living nightmare (including myself up until about 2 years ago)… and yet, I feel so satisfied when I look back on it.

I’m really happy with how this phase of my life is working out.  I’ve attracted rewarding projects into my life, and I get to work with people all over the world western hemisphere (working on expanding that one!).

Plus, I’m making great money.  It’s probably about ⅔ what I was earning in my country of origin, but my cost of living here in South America is a little less than half of what it was in the States.

End result:  Even though I’m making a little less money than I was in my country of origin, I’m able to put about twice as much into savings each month.

However, there’s a bit of a challenge associated with this lifestyle.  See, I get paid by the hour (at the moment), and that means that the more hours I work, the more I get paid — the only limit is my physical and emotional stamina.

Needless to say, I haven’t gotten out much since I arrived here in Lima.

Speaking of which, how is Lima?

Well… the words “barely-restrained chaos” come to mind.

The first thing I noticed – almost right away – is that there is always noise here.  Either a loud car is driving by (setting off a bunch of car alarms as it passes), or sounds of construction drift in from a nearby building, or somebody is shouting on the street… there’s always something going on.  If you’re into people-watching, Lima is a fun city to hang out in.

The weather is also pleasantly depressing (or maybe that’s depressingly pleasant; I’m not quite sure which).  It’s overcast here about 70% of the time, but I kind of like it.

When the clouds come out, it looks like the city disappears into nothingness every direction you look.  And when I gaze out across the ocean, it feels like I’m at the edge of the Earth.  I got a similar feeling when I was at Farellones in Chile… there’s just something magical and ominous about it that I really like.

Oh, and the other 30% of the time when the sun does come out, the city shines.  Lima really is a beautiful place.  If you find yourself in the Miraflores district on a sunny afternoon, I highly recommend dropping everything and spending the next few hours walking along the Malecón.

Also, I should mention that everything you’ve ever heard about Peruvian food is absolutely true.  Everything tastes incredible here!  Maybe it’s something they put in the water (which is not safe to drink, by the way).  I don’t eat out that often these days (takes up too much time that I could be billing for!), but I have yet to come across a single meal in Lima that I didn’t love.

I’m still not completely decided whether I will stay here until November before heading up to Mexico; that will depend mostly on how things go with my second attempt at residency in Chile.  Either way, though, I’m probably not going to be doing much touristy stuff for the next couple of months.

There’s a saying:  “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

Assuming I don’t get hit by a bus tomorrow (a very real danger here, by the way; Lima drivers do not cede right of way to pedestrians!), I’m going to look back on this time as a good investment.

Restored buildings!
I did manage to pull myself away from my work and check out downtown Lima.  It’s full of restored buildings — very much unlike any other city I’ve ever visited!

Leave a Reply