How to Earn Passive Income from Your Passions
I was listening to Graham Cochrane on the Zero to Travel podcast earlier this week and what I learned there is what I want to use as foundation for this newsletter.
Basically:
Adding value is everything. If you aren’t adding value then stop doing.
The secret to adding value: work on something you feel you GET TO work on rather than something you feel you “have” to work on.
Do not be creative, be clear. But more importantly, be consistent.
Publishing once a week for a year > > Publishing 3x a week for 3 months
You will be afraid to start but do it anyway. If not, someone else will do it.
And once you’ve started, forget the competition. Pretend you’re the only available resource on the subject. Pretend you are the only person in the entire world who can answer questions on your chosen subject.
Atomic Travels
With that, bienvenidos!
This is the Atomic Travels newsletter where you can expect to:
Travel the world with me (starting with the 81 provinces of the Philippines),
Meet renowned travelers from around the world, and
Build your database of travel hacks fueled by my mistakes and (mis)adventures.
Why Zamboanga? . . . And why alone?
When I reached out to Uncle Allen, my dad’s gradeschool classmate and the only person I knew from the province, this was the very first thing he asked me.
I would be asked this many more times throughout the trip, but on this first occasion I was surprised. I did not expect to be asked why.
All I could think was “why not??”
Why not use your expiring Cebu Pacific Superpass to visit the “City of Flowers” and its famous pink beach? Why not stay for a whole week if can find a hotel with strong internet? Why not explore the city that was sieged in 2013 to and see for yourself if it is as dangerous as they say?
Well, it probably helps that I only thought of the last question now.
So why Zamboanga?
I wanted to explore Mindanao so I made a shortlist of provinces in the region to visit. My options were Zamboanga, Pagadian, Ozamiz, CDO, and Dapitan.
I found Zamboanga the most beautiful.
I wanted to visit the Great Santa Cruz Island’s pink beach.
I wanted to try Tausug cuisine.
The city has walking tours.
All the blog posts I read said Zamboanga was safe.
Why alone? Well, no one I invited was allowed to go. 😅
Not what I expected. . . And glad it wasn’t
Am I glad I did not try to seriously answer my ‘who not’ questions:
I saw no flowers in the city. I’m not even sure why it’s called the City of Flowers.
The pink beach isn’t really pink.
The P599/night hotel I found promising strong internet was located on a dead-end road in a sketchy part of the city.
It’s not actually easy to walk around the city and trikes cost a fortune.
Chavacano is more like Spanish than Filipino so I would have stuck out like a sore thumb.
Instead,
To make this happen for yourself. . .
Call Kent Joseph (0975 595 0274) to visit Basilan.
Call Jan (0997 944 0527) to tour Zamboanga City.
Call Zamboanga Tourism (975 6341) to visit the Sta Cruz Islands and Once Islas.
** You need to book at least one day prior if you want to do any of the above
Gracias!
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