![\"What's](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/day-in-the-life-1.png\")
<\/p>\nPin Me!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
So\u2026 what\u2019s it really like to be a location independent travel blogger, online course creator, and freelancer? What do I DO all day, especially now during COVID? What\u2019s an average day look like working from home in Tbilisi?<\/p>\n
These are questions I get all the time, so I figured\u2026 why not share an average day in the life?<\/p>\n
A few years ago I wrote about a day in the life of a China expat<\/a> and shared a typical day working as a college counselor in Beijing. I also did a little fun dream exercise way back in 2016 where I fantasized about what my life would be like<\/a> when I worked for myself. Embarrassing, but some of it isn\u2019t too far off!<\/p>\n So for those of you who are curious, here is what an average day is like for me, working as a travel blogger and freelancer in Tbilisi, Georgia!<\/p>\n Yasmina doesn\u2019t have any front teeth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here in the Republic of Georgia, we\u2019re all pretty much night people, so I don\u2019t actually get out of bed until around 9:45 am. Plus Chris runs online D&D games<\/a> until 1 am most nights which means I definitely can\u2019t go to be early, and even on the nights he doesn\u2019t have D&D, my neighbor will play loud music and clean her entire apartment while rearranging her furniture until about that time anyway.<\/p>\n Good thing I\u2019m a night owl!<\/p>\n I usually awake sometime before my alarm to my big fluffy rescue cat Yasmina<\/a> sitting on me. If that doesn\u2019t wake me up, she may poke me in the face with a fat paw while purring loudly. She\u2019s learned that meowing at me to get up and feed her just gets her in trouble, so now she acts really cute so I can\u2019t be mad. Hey, whatever works.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a photo of our living room and kitchen from the day we moved in!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Once I get up, I brush my teeth as I\u2019m serenaded by the meows of my big cat and little crazy kitten<\/a> (who is NOT allowed in our bedroom while we sleep because he can\u2019t be trusted).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been trying to train them to now scream-meow at me while I make their breakfast, but it\u2019s a work in progress. Before I feed them, I give Yasmina a little squirt of stool softener medicine in the side of her mouth to help her with all her digestion issues.<\/p>\n I keep an eye on the two of them while I sweep the living room and kitchen to clean up from last night\u2019s dinner prep and the cat litter that inevitably gets EVERYWHERE thanks to our kitten Mordie. Yasmina needs to eat special food for her medical issues, and often will try and bully the kitten out of his when she finishes hers.\u00a0Thankfully I\u2019m there to police any food theft. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n My view while I do yoga<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Every morning I do a Yoga with Adrienne<\/a> Youtube video. I roll my pink yoga mat out in front of the tv and use our Firestick<\/a> to hop on Youtube and play the next video.<\/p>\n Adrienne does a new 30 days of yoga series every January, so I\u2019ve slowly been cycling through them. I\u2019m currently working my way through her Dedicate series<\/a> from two years ago.<\/p>\n I like doing her 30-day series\u2019 because she designs them to be done every day and the videos build off of one another (with rest days that focus more on stretching and meditation mixed in). I get much more out of it this way than if I just did random videos from her account.<\/p>\n As I\u2019m doing yoga, chances are the kitten will play with my hair and jump on me, or will terrorize Yasmina and knock over the water bowl, or jump into the sink because\u2026 why let Richelle enjoy her morning, am I right?<\/p>\n After yoga, I wash my face, spritz my curly hair<\/a> with a spray bottle to calm the frizz, and get dressed for the day in a breezy dress, because, for some reason, it\u2019s inexplicably warm today!<\/p>\n Georgian bread and cheese on the balcony for brunch!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today isn\u2019t too rushed, so I decide to make a nice breakfast for Chris and I to start the week off right. I grab my Georgian mountain cheese, slicing a few pieces off onto a small saucer. Then I cut up a grapefruit for the two of us to share. Finally, I pour some fresh homemade sunflower oil from the shop down the road into a saucer and sprinkle adjika spices into the oil.<\/p>\n Once I\u2019ve finished, I grab a 1 lari coin (30 cents USD) and run down the block to my local shoti<\/a> bakery. I peer through the window to see a woman rolling dough, as I place the coin in her little window tray. The woman grabs a fresh shoti from her rack near the window, wrapping a small piece of paper around it for me to carry home. This one must\u2019ve just come out of the oven since it\u2019s burning my hands!<\/p>\n Once I get back, I make two cups of coffee with my handy Aeropress<\/a> and set up breakfast on the balcony so Chris and I can enjoy the sun and the amazing view.<\/p>\n The two of us rip off pieces of shoti bread, placing the mountain cheese inside, and dipping it into the adjika sunflower oil mixture. It\u2019s SO GOOD. Seriously, if you come to Georgia you need to eat this.<\/p>\n Also, eating breakfast on my balcony makes me feel so fancy and European!<\/p>\n My desk!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Monday is the day I do all the tasks I really don\u2019t want to do. I\u2019m really not a detail-oriented admin-loving person (Enneagram 7 over here<\/a>!), so I like to get them out of the way first thing. Rip it off like a band-aid!<\/p>\n Thankfully I have an amazing assistant Hilary who responds to a lot of emails for me and sorts the ones I need to see into folder categories for me to go through. She then texts me at the end of the day letting me know what to expect the following morning! Seriously, this girl has changed my life.<\/p>\n Today I need to go through and respond to blog post comments, double-check that the payment for one of my course<\/a> students went through, and insert a link from a brand into one of my old posts, which to be honest, is pretty rare since COVID hit.<\/p>\n I also post a quick reminder in the Teach Abroad Squad <\/a>Facebook Group so no one forgets to submit their questions for the weekly Tuesday Live Q&A! I then schedule another post to go out Wednesday, reminding everyone of the Live Zoom Office Hours on Sunday.<\/p>\n Quote of the week!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Once I finish my admin, I need to schedule my social media posts for the week for Merilyn<\/a>, my business coach who I now work for! I help run both her Facebook Page<\/a> and free Facebook Group<\/a>, so every Monday I block out an hour to schedule posts for the rest of the week.<\/p>\n I share her latest podcast episodes, post engagement questions encouraging people to share photos of their workspace, or tell me one thing they\u2019re going to work on in their business, and more!<\/p>\n While I\u2019m at it, I hop on Canva,<\/a> my go-to graphic design tool. Every week I take a quote from her podcast, a video she\u2019s done, or her website and create a fun graphic. I then take that quote and make it a weekly challenge for the free Facebook group. I have a graphic for the weekly challenge too!<\/p>\n This week Merilyn is launching a (super awesome) course about using your personality type in your business<\/a>. She designed her own personality typing system for entrepreneurs called the WowArchetypes (you can take the quiz here<\/a>, I\u2019m a PassionMaker!). The new program is all about using your WowArchetype to find more flow in your business.<\/p>\n Lead Your Day Challenge!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Because she told me last week in our meeting she was about to launch this, I decided the quote of the week would be a quote I took from her sales page. Of course, I promote the sales page for her course<\/a> in the text above the graphic photo!<\/p>\n Then for the weekly challenge, I ask everyone in her free Facebook group to figure out which WowArchetype they are and incorporate one piece of advice for their type into their business and let me know what they did in a comment!<\/p>\n Finally, after I\u2019m done creating and scheduling, I spend a solid 30 minutes responding to Facebook comments, commenting on Merilyn posts as myself (Richelle), and creating engagement and interaction in the group. Sometimes I go on, post as Richelle, and then respond as Merilyn and create a little conversation with myself like a weirdo. The more you know\u2026<\/p>\n The neighborhood of Vake!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For lunch, I heat up some leftover homemade chicken fajitas from dinner. I heat everything up in the microwave and make a nice little burrito for myself with chicken, peppers, onion, and salsa.<\/p>\n As I eat, I pull up Youtube and catch up on what\u2019s happening with US politics. Today it\u2019s just more about Trump being a COVID super-spreader, doing public speaking without a mask even though he tested positive\u2026 you know, the usual.<\/p>\n After I finish lunch I need to make a quick errand to the print shop to print my ballot for the election! I already filled out my ballot online over the weekend, so I just need to print it out, sign it, scan it, and email the ballot back. Thankfully Washington state is really awesome and they let you email your ballot if you live overseas! I also have a scanner app on my phone that works really well, so I don\u2019t need to pay to scan anything.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious who I\u2019m voting for, it\u2019s Biden\u2026 but if you\u2019ve been reading my blog for a while that probably does not surprise you.<\/p>\n As another part-time job, I\u2019ve been interviewing Chinese students for their college admissions applications. I do these interviews over Zhumu, a Chinese version of Zoom, and we send the recording to the universities the student is applying to.<\/p>\n Over the summer I might have back-to-back interviews all day (especially on Saturdays!), but since it\u2019s the National Week holiday<\/a> in China, I only have one today.<\/p>\n Before the interview, I spruce up a bit and put on my favorite lipstick<\/a> and my glasses (so I look put together without wearing makeup!). I then take out my little interview notebook and my headphones with an attached microphone<\/a> that I use for interviews. (Which finally work now that I bought an adaptor<\/a>!)<\/p>\n Before the interview starts, I hop on my interviewer portal and look at the interview questions so I\u2019m prepared. Five minutes before the interview is set to begin I hop on the call!<\/p>\n I used to work as a college counselor in Beijing!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The first part of the interview involves checking the student\u2019s ID, making sure they turn off their phone, checking their paperwork and the room, and explaining the interview process to them. We then move to the interview portion, which lasts around 12-13 minutes. After doing these back-to-back all summer, I\u2019ve gotten pretty good at them! I usually make some small notes during the interview to remember things they\u2019ve said to ask about later or to mark down if there were any audio or visual issues.<\/p>\n After the interview portion, we move onto the 30- minute writing section. Once I explain to them how the writing portion works, I start my 30-minute timer and turn off my video and audio and watch them to make sure they\u2019re not cheating. While I do this, I organize and submit the interview files to my company, and time stamp the interview questions in the video!<\/p>\n After the written part is done, I have the student take pictures of their writing sample, and send them to me over WeChat, which I then submit to the company.<\/p>\n Working on Adventures Around Asia at a cat cafe!\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you haven\u2019t already heard, I have a goal of writing one blog post per week<\/a> every week for three months. I usually reserve Tuesday as my blog post writing day, and then try to edit and publish my post sometime before the next Tuesday.<\/p>\n Well, last week I went on a trip for my one-year wedding anniversary with Chris, and then we went house hunting for a new apartment over the weekend, so I haven\u2019t had any time to write a blog post and it\u2019s already almost Tuesday. Ahhhh!!!<\/p>\n So for the next few hours, I\u2019ll sit down and crank out a blog post with the goal of finishing it before dinner. Thankfully, now that I\u2019m writing blog posts I actually WANT to write, it\u2019s much easier for me to write quickly. That said, my posts are always super long so\u2026 not that quickly.<\/p>\n I usually break up my blog posts into two days: one day to sit down and write the entire post, and on the second day I\u2019ll come back with fresh eyes, edit and proofread, and then add links, images, alt text, Pinterest images, featured images, tags, categories, a meta description, and more. Writing blog posts is SO MUCH more than just writing.<\/p>\n But since it\u2019s already Monday, I need to do it all in one day to meet my artificial self-imposed Tuesday deadline. I get it almost all done, with a promise to come back tomorrow morning to add the photos.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a Georgian tomato and cucumber salad with walnut paste<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Around 7 pm I\u2019ll start cooking dinner for the two of us. Tonight we\u2019re having pasta with a Georgian-style salad. I found this healthy eggplant and tomato pasta sauce recipe<\/a> that I\u2019ll use for dinner along with some meatballs Chris ordered from our meat delivery guy.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll pop the meatballs in the oven as I run to our local fruit and vegetable store down the block, throwing on my pink cloth mask just in case. I\u2019ll pick up some eggplant, fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and a few bananas while I\u2019m at it. My total bill comes to around $2 USD!<\/p>\n I\u2019ll whip up the eggplant and tomato pasta sauce and while that\u2019s cooking I\u2019ll start chopping up the ingredients for my interpretation of a Georgian tomato and cucumber salad<\/a>. I\u2019m too lazy to make my own walnut paste, so instead, I just crush up a few walnuts and sprinkle them on top, along with a tiny bit of Georgian mountain cheese, a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper, and some white wine vinegar. Yum!<\/p>\n We\u2019ll eat dinner around 8 pm (which is pretty standard in Georgia), and I may even pour myself a small glass of Georgian Saperavi wine<\/a>, which is a local red made in a qveveri.<\/p>\n Then Chris and I will settle in to watch one of our shows. We\u2019re currently watching Evil <\/a>on Netflix (which I\u2019m obsessed with).<\/p>\n Drinking Georgian Saperavi wine!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019ll make myself a cup of English breakfast tea before my evening of playing Dungeons and Dragons online (because I\u2019m a giant nerd<\/a>). Every Monday I play a game with Chris and a few other friends using Zoom and an online game platform called Roll20. Tonight we\u2019ll be trying to dismantle a cult posing as a pious temple\u2026 without getting ourselves arrested or dying. Wish me luck.<\/p>\n cuddling with my baby floof<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We finally wrap up the game around 12:30 am, so I then head to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, finally collapsing into bed just before 1 am. I\u2019ve been trying to avoid spending too much time on my phone before sleep, so I\u2019ll pull out one of my Enneagram books<\/a> to read for about 20 minutes before I\u2019m too exhausted to keep my eyes open.<\/p>\n So\u2026 was this schedule anything like you thought it would be? Do parts of my day surprise you?<\/p>\n Also, if you work for yourself online, I\u2019d love to hear what your schedule is like. What kinds of things do you do to make money during COVID?<\/p>\n Finally, if you\u2019re wanting to become location independent yourself but don\u2019t know where to start, please let me know in a comment! I want to design more resources for you in the future, so let me know what you\u2019re interested in learning more about, and what your roadblocks are!<\/p>\n Pin Me!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"cat](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/cat.jpg\")
<\/p>\n9:00 \u2013 9:30 AM \u2013 Awake to a Fluffy Cat Sitting On Me<\/h2>\n
![\"Tbilisi](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IMG_0262.jpg\")
<\/p>\n9:45 AM\u00a0 \u2013 Morning Chores<\/h2>\n
![\"Tbilisi\"](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_5293-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/p>\n10 AM \u2013 Yoga with Adrienne<\/h2>\n
![\"Georgian](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_7137.jpg\")
<\/p>\n10:45 AM \u2013 Bread on the Balcony<\/h2>\n
![\"Travel](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IMG_2274.jpg\")
<\/p>\n11:15 AM \u2013 Admin and Email Time!<\/h2>\n
![\"Merilyn](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Personality-.png\")
<\/p>\n12:30 \u2013 Social Media Freelancing Time<\/h2>\n
![\"Lead](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/personality.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Vake](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IMG_4758.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2 PM \u2013 Lunch and Errands<\/h2>\n
![\"work](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/allie-smith-newgpclgEZI-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n3 PM \u2013 College Admissions Interview<\/h2>\n
![\"College](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IMG_7692.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"China](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/DSC_0047-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n4 PM \u2013 Write a Blog Post<\/h2>\n
![\"Georgian](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_4814.jpg\")
<\/p>\n7 PM \u2013 Home Cooked Dinner<\/h2>\n
![\"Tbilisi](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_6182.jpg\")
<\/p>\n10 PM \u2013 Dungeons and Dragons<\/h2>\n
![\"Tbilisi](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IMG_3976.jpg\")
<\/p>\n1 AM \u2013 Time For Sleep!<\/h2>\n
Let\u2019s Hear From You!<\/h2>\n
![\"What's](\"https:\/\/www.adventuresaroundasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/day-in-the-life-2.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n