Dmitrii goes public - The new beginning (Issue #2)
Hey everyone! š
I sent my first newsletter six months ago but never sent any follow-ups. Iāve had quite a lot of changes in my life since then. But I want to get back to writing this newsletter in a different format. I want to make it more personal and focus on the stuff I enjoy doing. Big shoot out to Ali Abdaal video for poking me to get back to writing it again.
But letās start with what happened over the last six months.
š³š± Immigration to the Netherlands
The most significant change in my life was that I moved to The Netherlands and said goodbye to my nomadic life. Becoming a digital nomad was one of the best decisions of my life, but I don't think it's something you want to pursue for the rest of your life. Towards the end of our 4th year as nomads, both my wife and I noticed that we were getting more tired of living off only our suitcases. We wanted a home base and more comfort. Even if you rent the most expensive Airbnb, it will never replace a home.
Our initial plan was to move to Canada. We even went through a lot of procedures to get in line. Unfortunately, during COVID-19, Canada stopped issuing all the immigration invitations, and we couldn't get in. The plan was to travel more and wait until Canadian immigration resumed, but Russia invaded Ukraine.Ā
Despite not living in Russia for almost four years, we still have Russian passports. We never planned to return to Russia, but the war has become the last straw. We realized we needed to move fast and get new documents. I'm not gonna go too deep into politics or world news. But let's just say we no longer see ourselves as a part of this country. And we still hope every day for our friends in Ukraine to be safe šŗš¦ā¤ļø
We both have been working for a Dutch company for a while. They offered us an option to move to The Netherlands, and after some thinking, we decided that's a good option. We had already considered The Netherlands before, but then COVID-19 started. It was almost impossible to get in during that time, so we dropped the idea.
Let's jump back to today. We're currently residing in The Hague, and we're extremely happy with our choice. The Netherlands is excellent. At least it was for the last month we've been here.Ā
This month was a bit crazy because you must do many things at once when moving to a new country. New documents, finding a place to live, buying furniture, and arranging everything inside the apartment. Besides, we had to work as well. That's what was occupying all our time.Ā
Things are slowing down, so I want to get back to my projects and pick up writing again. So one of the topics of this newsletter will be living in The Netherlands as an expat. I also hope to travel around Europe more since I have access to unlimited EU traveling for the first time in my life. I'll share the trips with you.
šŗ YouTube
Because of the reasons above, I abandoned all my projects. I haven't uploaded new videos since May 27th, and I almost didn't ship anything into my main project Taco Digest.
Honestly, I'm trying to test what I want to work on in the following months. 100% I want to do YouTube, and I will start editing a new video today. I have two that have already been shoot back to Georgia. I still have a few ideas about videos about Georgia. Then I'll switch to making videos about The Netherlands and traveling Europe. I still enjoy discussing finances, so I experiment more in that area.
The first minor goal is to reach monetization. I'm currently at 1455 subscribers, which is nice, but watch hours are still at the ~3200 mark, and I need 4000. By my calculations, I should arrive at that spot in 2-3 months.
Another topic I want to cover in this newsletter is growth on YouTube. I'll share my stats and tell you what's happening with the channel and what challenges I'm facing.
š· Taco Digest and other projects
Iāll continue working on Taco Digest for some time. I have a list of what I want to ship to mark the project as version 2 and relaunch it. One big thing I want to try is to replace free tiers with a free trial. My main goal with Taco is to get MRR growing, and thatās why I want to experiment with monetization.Ā
My life is getting more stable now. I switched to working full-time (well, almost, I work four days a week) from freelancing. Iām on speed with my financial goals. Hence, I want to experiment more.Ā
For example, I have a very ambitious idea for a project, but it wonāt make money soon. Itās something I have wanted to work on for a long time. Itās a pretty big and silly project, but itās something Iām quite interested in. Itās related to video games. But I also have quite a few project ideas that are more profit-focused so letās hope Iāll start working on them this year.
Iāll share in this newsletter whatās going on with the projects from my perspective as an entrepreneur. The goal is not to advertise the projects but to tell the story about my experience with growing them.
š° Finance and FIRE
Another stuff I love is finance. I got into finance, investing, and FIRE a few years ago, and I enjoy the topic. Seeing your net worth growing and you moving towards your financial freedom is something cathartic. Recently, the market wasnāt as exciting as last year, but itās not that big of a deal for a long-term investor.
Weāve reached 30% of our FIRE goal, and Iāll discuss it more in the following issues. The plan is to reach financial independence until I hit 40, which means in 5-6 years, and weāre up to speed.Ā
By no means Iām not an expert, so Iāll share my perspective on finance and reaching FIRE as an ordinary man here.
š Content Iām consuming.
Another part of many newsletters I always liked is the content recommendation. I want to add something similar here. Itāll likely be YouTube channels, articles, books, movies, TV shows, and video games.Ā
By the way, I finally managed to buy PlayStation 5, which usually sold out everywhere. More gaming is coming! I already started Horizon Forbidden West, and the game looks terrific.
Last week, I got back to the mainstream on YouTube and enjoyed a lot of Mr. Beast videos. His content is perfect for binge-watching in the summer after you assembled another piece of furniture from IKEA.Ā
For the same reasons, Iām enjoying rewatching Entourage. But the series turned out more sexist than I remember them being 7-8 years ago.
I didnāt read much, and Iām still in the middle of Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead. To be honest, the book is not as good as I hoped it to be but not bad enough to drop it, so Iām still going.
In the cinema world, I enjoyed Licorice Pizza from Paul Thomas Anderson. Exactly the level of weird and fun and meaning that I love. Also, fine animation from Pixar Lightyear. Not as great as the Toy Story series, but not as bad as the IMDB score reflect.
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All right, this newsletter is too long already, and huge thanks if you manage to get to the end. I appreciate it.Ā š
Please let me know what you think about the format of this newsletter or ask me any questions by hitting reply.
I plan to send it every Wednesday. Stay tuned for the next one, and I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends!
Also, feel free to follow meĀ on Twitter or InstagramĀ forĀ daily updates.
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Written on the balcony in The Hague,
Dmitrii