TL;DR
There’s a reason series like Star Wars and Game of Thrones were filmed in Sevilla - the city is absolutely stunning!
This was my first hostel stay of the adventure. While that made it harder to work (since the hostel was loud at night and the co-working spaces in Sevilla closed at 8pm each day), I got creative, and it was a super fun and social hostel.
Madrid and Sevilla were fun to re-visit, and I’m excited for a totally new experience this next week in Granada, Malaga, and Tangier.
CURRENTLY
Documenting my journey
This week’s Reel (click to watch) shows a bike ride across Madrid.
I was able to get into a nice routine in Sevilla, working from the library alongside a bunch of college students. Yes, they use ChatGPT on their homework.
Meeting up with some friends in Madrid was a blast last week, shoutout to Madi!
I’ve gotten two fun bike rides in, but haven’t found any great gyms yet. My five-star hotel in Granada is supposed to have a nice one, stay tuned.
Tomorrow, I’m posting a Day In The Life video from Sevilla, it should be a fun one!
BUSINESS PULSE
Foundation Media
We’ve had a fun week with some really solid results for our digital ads clients. It’s always great when you test an expansion strategy that performs super well. We have proven frameworks we implement of course, but when you’re expanding beyond standard strategies in a specific account, you never know exactly how every metric will react.
Ads are certainly a mix of art & science.
Treatly
The website for my new app is live at www.Treatly.app, but my app has been stuck in review in the App Store for a week now... Normally it takes 24 hours apparently, so I’m hoping it finishes the process soon.
I’ve gotten over 70 random visitors to the site from Google and LLMs, but I don’t have an app to send them to yet! I’d like Apple to approve it ASAP…
A preview of the Treatly app!
WHAT I’M LEARNING
Technical Skills
I dove into APIs, web scraping, and more this week. I’ll announce some of the tools I’ve built once they’re live 👀
Claude CoWork still feels like magic. I had many people text me in the last week expressing gratitude for the nudge. I need a referral link, lol.
a happy friend
another happy friend
WHAT I’M CONSUMING
I tried to watch the Australia Formula 1 race this last weekend, and had lots of internet issues. It turns out the F1TV (and the new Apple TV partnership) are blocked in Europe.
I had to try six different VPNs before getting one to work... which was then blocked an hour later.
At least I found a way to watch the highlights. With the new regulations, this should be a super spicy year for F1!
FINANCES
Money and Investing Updates
€26. The amount I saved by having my trains cancelled. Wait what?When I had to rebook on busses, they were actually cheaper. That being said, I wouldn’t re-trade an hour of my time doing the re-booking and refund requests for another €26…
± $7,000. The amount up and down my crypto portfolio has seen in the last year. It’s been an interesting year for sure, but zooming out still tells a compelling story.
$0. That’s the cost of many “free tours” here in Spain. Ended up tipping my tour guide in Sevilla €20 (definitely more than they expected) after a fantastic three-hour city tour. I like the model.
Another fantastic €2 coffee
DESK OF THE WEEK
📍 Rooftop Hostel in Sevilla, Spain
Really fun to chat with other solo travelers from all over the world while working up here!
(no, the cigarettes aren’t mine)
WHAT’S NEXT?
Madrid and Sevilla were fantastic. I’m sending this edition from a bus to Granada - another Game of Thrones city :)
The first half of this month includes more trains and planes than the second half. I’m looking forward to the constant movement but I think Barcelona and Lisbon will be nice to settle in a bit more at the end of March for a week each.
Adventure is out there!
✌️ Matthew
SUPPORT
From time to time, I may enlist the help of sponsors to help me afford to continue writing this newsletter. And it’s pretty cool to get paid to share my story!
You can check them out below, and find other (totally free) ways to support me via affiliate links here. Cheers!
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Not financial advice. Just a guy sharing his journey. Thanks for being here!
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