I have worked in various industries with a wide variety of companies, from financial planning to high technology to entrepreneurships and Fortune 100 companies. I have come to a point in my life where I have made a little money, don't want to work for paychecks and would prefer to pursue other investment avenues as well as spend more time traveling, on my hobbies, and other interests.
The pictures I posted are just 1 side of me. I am actually very quiet like a shy house cat, at least until I warm up to you.
Went to Tokyo last year for an extended R&R and a friend's bachelor party. All I can say is that even with only an average of 3-4 hours of sleep every day, it was still the best 10 days in a row of my life (at that time)! Once you sampled the sweet taste of Roppongi, you will always crave more. And with the dollar strengthening against the Yen, now is a good time to go back for another visit.
Job wise I am still happily NOT working (May 31, 2006 marked the anniversary of my last day of work) and if I have it my way I will not work again!. Now I trade mostly stocks and derivatives to pay my expenses and trips. This kind of investing can be really stressful and depressing on bad days (down $50K on paper), but I am making more than what I would have earned working 50-60 hours weeks (even with my many rookie investing mistakes and bad picks) and my schedule is as flexible as someone who is practically retired. I know some people who look down on me thinking I am some unemployed bum lacking professional ambition and basically not living up to my potential, which is fine. My lifestyle is not for everyone, and not everyone can roll with the huge ups and downs that comes with my aggressive style of equity investing. I know I don't have the coveted titles or cool initials at the end of my name, and I may not make as much guarantee income as those professionals, but I "work" as long as I want when I want, from anywhere with good Internet connection and have the time and financial resources to live a life of leisure. Besides how many of these "Directors", VP at JP Morgan can just take off and travel for months at a time? Sure they probably have the money to live it up, but their time belongs to someone else.
The 3 weeks spent in South America was interesting and I was able to hit up most of the tourist spots in Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, but it was also very costly in terms of significant paper losses in my portfolio and missed opportunity costs that would have offset much of the decline in portfolio value. I still have plans to spend 6 months in Asia after this last trip, but just have to book my flights to Taiwan, and then research vacation condos to rent while I stay in Thailand and Vietnam. So if you are knowledgeable about Bangkok or Saigon, send me a message, I would love to find out more from an 'expert' before heading over there.
Since coming back from Italy, I find myself waking up when the stock markets open (which is good since I live in California), but then needing a little siesta in the afternoon to make it through the rest of the day. I guess that is the residue of the Sicilian lifestyle that I have managed to picked up. Piano piano :)
