Today I write this blog overlooking beautiful rice fields and in the background Bali’s highest and holiest volcano Mount Agung. For now, it will be my last blog from Ubud Bali Indonesia. I am going to miss the cheerful and hospitable people here.

Next month, I am going to the land of Boxing, Pad Thai and the chemical toasties of the 7leven; in short, I am going to Thailand. I am leaving not only because I have to leave the country -immersed my visa has expired- but mainly because I want to explore Thailand and discover if it is a suitable country for a Digital Nomad like me 😉. Hopefully then I will manage to take the exam for the Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect – PL-600 certificate.

And ? ! Have you seen it passing by on my LinkedIn feed? My Website is online www.sanderblank.nl ! Been busy with it for the past few months. I am very pleased with it. Another step forward for my company and I immediately developed a new IT support service. With this service, I want to help SMEs support and manage their running apps and systems within the Microsoft environment.

And been busy with more things. For instance, I gave a presentation on the Microsoft Power Platform for my Co Working spot Outpost. It was fun to give my fellow Digital Nomads an idea of what Microsoft can do in terms of Low Code, Automation and AI. Who knows, maybe I can give another presentation somewhere else in the world? In any case, it was also an exciting experience for me how the story came across. Would my English work well? Would I be understandable? Would I not speak too fast? Etc. Afterwards, I had a good feeling. It was a nice learning experience.

In terms of projects, the last few months were a bit too quiet. Still, I ran a few nice small projects. I did notice that projects -which are 100% remote in themselves- are more difficult and challenging to obtain than I had thought beforehand. It sometimes gave me a feeling of helplessness when a lead that was promising in itself did not get a follow-up. But I think every entrepreneur has and recognises moments like this. It only makes me stronger, I think. And the upside is that it also teaches me other skills than just my IT skills. For instance, I am working on all kinds of aspects of marketing and then implementing them myself. And this instead of just reading about it and watching youtube gurus 😉 .

For beginning Digital Nomads, I recommend building a good network quickly. The chances of getting an interesting project are always higher then. By the way, I still have space and time left for an assignment or a 100% remote support job. Let me know.

Extra special last month was that -invited by one of friend here in Ubud- I visited some ceremonies of a Buddhist Lama from Nepal. I participated in ‘The Mountain Smoke Offering’. This is a Tibetan-Buddhist ritual in which smoke from burning herbs, wood and incense is offered to gods, spirits and elements of nature to bring harmony, protection and prosperity. It is often performed on mountain tops or sacred sites and symbolises purifying the environment and connecting with higher spiritual forces. Hopefully it will give me just that little extra boost to get another assignment soon. Well, how often do you meet a Lama? Also saves me another silence trip to Nepal 😀.

So much for my latest experiences from Bali. Soon I will be flying offline for 4 hours to meet new enterprising Digital Nomads and create new stories for you.

With one more Balinese Greetings,

Sander