Broke, in the Himalayas, on a phone

After the cafe got ruined in the cyclone, I found myself in a state of confusion that lasted 4-5 months. I had no idea what to do. I went to Dharamshala and did a few hikes for a month. After that, I went to Parvati Valley, where two of my friends were staying.

I thought I'd stay there for a couple of weeks, but ended up living there for more than 4 months. After Goa, I went to my parents' house for a week to meet them, since I hadn't been there in over a year. While I was there, I got a text from Trix saying he was staying in a place in Kalga and planning to trek to Kheerganga. I got interested and promised to swing by and join him.

So I took the bus to Kullu, and another from Kullu to Barshini. From Barshini I walked towards Pulga, crossing a beautiful dam. After the dam there was a steep climb towards Pulga, made messy by the rain. I found myself breathless by the time I reached the main market, about 30 minutes later. At the market I took a break and had some food and chai. From there it took another 15 minutes on foot to reach a place called Moonlight, which had a cafe too. On the way from the market to the cafe, I passed gardens full of apple trees. Those trees were full of apples that still needed another month before they'd be ready to eat. The whole walk was filled with the fragrance of apple, and it made me feel relaxed even after nearly 12 hours of travel. The view from there was astounding, with snow-clad mountains all around. This was truly a place made in heaven.

After meeting my friends and settling into a room with four beds, it was time to face reality. I was on the phone, looking out at the endless apple trees with snow-clad mountains in the backdrop, when it hit me — I needed to find a way to earn. I was nearly broke, with no plan in sight. Everything that had happened over the past couple of months suddenly hit me like a rock. Too much had happened in the last two months, and I needed a break to clear my mind.

I'd traded crypto for a while in Goa, back when the cafe was temporarily shut due to Covid restrictions. So I thought this was the moment to actually sit down, trade properly, and understand the whole crypto thing. The more you understand a market — and have a deep understanding of an industry's culture — the better your trades will be.

So finally, after three days, I sat down to learn about crypto. I had no laptop, since my last one had been ruined the year before. I just had my phone, and that's what I decided to learn on. I started with a few YouTube tutorials, which were mostly just talking about which tokens to buy. I started trading with just $10 and promised myself I'd treat it like it was $10k. So every $1 trade was worth $1,000 in my mind. That way I took every trade seriously, as if I were trading a huge volume.

to be continued...