PJM - August '21

Long Lost Surfers, Devs, & Friends!

Phil here from Wavetrotter | Travel Developer.

It’s been awhile since I last shared an update.

That’s why I created this monthly newsletter…

To keep you posted on…

I hope you enjoy the first issue and feel free to email me with any suggestions or if you wanna catch up - phil@pjmanning.dev.

-Phil

I’ve had some major changes to my lifestyle and workstyle since the pandemic (as most of you probably have) - but that hasn’t stopped the gears from running…

I ended the Travel Developer Course.

Why? Mainly because nearly every job on a computer is remote now. You don’t need to be a developer anymore to work remote - just check out RemoteOK or any other remote job board.

Also, it took up a lot of my time for around net $40/month.

I’m happy for of all the people I’ve continued to get messages from saying their lives were changed and that made it 1000% worth it - but now it’s time for me to move on.

Speaking of moving on…I’ve also stopped freelancing (kind of).

Last year I worked with 1 client that paid well and consistent.

They benefited from me being an independent contractor - and I benefited from them with good, consistent pay and not having to search for work.

After that, I decided I would only work for 1 single client / company at any time, with minimum hours/week and a set contract length.

It’s turned out to be great - both for my mental & physical health, travel & social life, and having time to spend on my side projects.

I do think this is a trend that many freelancers and independent contractors will begin to favor long-term.

During the past year, I’ve revamped a few past projects and built some new ones. I found it best to rebuild everything with the same tools to make my design/dev flow as fast as possible.

I’m currently using…

With this flow I’ve…

I got some great feedback and publicity on a few of the projects, but most are open-sourced.

I’m continuing to #buildinpublic and post my progress on Twitter for my next projects.

I once wrote a post saying if you want to become a ‘Digital Nomad’ don’t come to Bali. The title was a bit clickbait-y but 100% true.

It’s too easy to live in Bali - internet, food delivery, transport, outdoor life, cost-of-living, etc. Once you’ve lived and worked here, it’s hard to go anywhere else…you expect Bali ease-of-life everywhere.

I never thought I’d be here longer-term, (I even told a friend in Jan 2020 that it would be the last time I’d ever stay in Bali) as the island had become disgustingly over touristy.

But now - it’s the complete opposite. Super quiet, small-town vibe, and much less of a party scene. Quite amazing for me personally - but absolutely heartbreaking for the 80% tourist dependent economy.

I started a GoFundMe to help the locals in the small town of Keramas where I’ve been based - if you are fortunate enough to be able to donate please consider it. It doesn’t cost much and the borders look to be closed for the foreseeable future. There is zero government assistance like in the western world.