It is now two months since I got to the Dominican Republic, and it seems like I’m able to achieve most of the goals I set for myself before I came out here.
Let's see,
Save money for my EuroTrip - My cost of living here is about $600 a month, including rent for a room 20m from the beach. Also, I make about $100 a week from my shows, which means I'm only taking about $200 a month from the bank. Economically, coming here was the right decision, since the enormous savings in my cost of living combined with my monthly compensation payments, I can finally live comfortably and save money for dreams. By the way, if you’re looking to figure out the cost of living somewhere, you should go here - www.numbeo.com it’s a cool site.
Make music - I have here with me my acoustic guitar that goes with me for about 10 years, drumsticks, shaker, ukulele, harmonica, laptop, external sound card, microphone and cables. I play every day and I learn new songs, with whom I appear twice a week. Two new songs were written here and have been played regularly. I'm even happy to share that the people here love them and even remember the words.
Write - I've always wanted to write for a magazine, or hold a weekly column in a newspaper, like Dave Berry. Over time I realized they won’t just pick up the phone and offer me a job, as they should, but I should try and gain experience and an audience. This blog was established for that purpose and the goal is that by the end of June I will interest someone and my Euro trip mischiefs will be disclosed in a weekly column in one of the portals, or something. The more you share and my nonsenses, my chances of success will increase, and you can take the credit for it.
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| This is what you do when it rains |
Launch a personal website - As a musician I had to have a website. A place where I could give my music and myself the right exposure, to get more bookings etc.. Beyond that, I needed to promote my lectures and to ensure a way of contacting me, because so far, people contacted me by word of mouth, and in time those were reduced. The website now also incorporates my personal blog and also allows users to listen and buy music, watch my live performances, read and discover more about me and contact me about future lectures or concerts. Over time the site will change and probably will shape a character of its own, as I learn and implement on the move.
Develop a new startup - My love for technology and music, and my lack of content from the current music market, led me walking back and forth in my living room in Tel Aviv, Florentine streets and along the boardwalk in an attempt to produce a neat thought. This led to red eye nights where I poured my ideas on the keyboard ‘till I got to see the full picture and all its details. I shared the idea with musicians and friends and they were excited. I decided to go for it. Three presentations were prepared. Two for potential investors, one was far more detailed. The third was designated for a programmer and it entailed the characterization of the site in full. I had some back and forth with a number of investors and a number of programmers, yet I stayed in the same place. I realized that I have no patience to explain myself too much, because I think anyone who does not understand it immediately will just take too much energy from me. In a week from now I'll start working on a non-working prototype of the site hoping to finish within a month. Then, once again I’ll try to interest investors or potential partners.
Get back in shape - Here I’m falling a little behind. It all started amazing, daily runs on the beach, yoga, sit-ups and push-ups. But then it rained, and there was a party, and it became hot. Then it hurt and then it just didn’t fit. At least I'm eating much healthier than in Israel, and I am bombarded with Vitamin D. But worry not, I'm going to windsurf now and I will get my vitality back. Hopefully, my place in space will be diminished in the next two months, before I head to Europe to live on beer and festival food. Tomorrow we run.
Learn Spanish - I have no power to learn anything.
Read - I'm standing on an average of more than one book a week, and last week I managed to buy 8 second-hand books at $10.
Reading this list might created the impression that I am busy all day. Fear not my child, I'm not. Most of the time, I’ll be sitting in the same spot, and only the people around me change. Rum and beer play musical chairs on the table. Soft drinks find their final resting in rum-cushioned glasses. Sometimes, a bottle of wine would appear and disappear before you’d get a chance to say Merlot. Cigarettes will be hand-
rolled or taken out of a box. Sometimes, a cigarette will be torn and tobacco will spill out to a vehicle and sometimes it won’t be needed, depending on the guests. Either way I'm staying in my chair and the ocean continues to bite into the sand.