I have finally got the online travel / expat living calculator uploaded. I have only added two places for now (Bali & Switzerland) but will be adding plenty more over the next few months.

It should give potential Working Nomads an idea of how expensive a place is to live (or how cheap somewhere is in the case of much of Southeast Asia!).

October is still looking like a poor month. Traffic is well down on some of my main sites just like they were last October. I am hoping this poor performance is just a seasonal thing!

Leading on from my last post about shooting short video while I am away the idea is starting to take some shape. My intention is to broadcast one short documentary every week (5-8 mins) that gives a real insight into the ups and downs of being a working nomad.

I have put the idea out on the Working Nomad forum and the feedback is that I need some sort of angle to make this work. A good example of one such person that has done this is Where the Hell is Matt who is dancing around the world!

Making the working nomad life of running websites and travelling entertaining is going to be a challenge so I am hoping to come up with some amusing ideas. If you have any for me then let me know!

The first episode will be about pre-trip planning and will be shown next week.

Back in the UK after a delightful 4 days in the South of France with my Mother and getting prepared to take off next week to Asia for the winter WN adventure.

The post that I wrote this time last year could have been written for today as well. Back in my home town, preparing to fly to Bali next week and even having a poor month on the earnings front!

In my post last year I mentioned an idea about taking photos of crazy places to work. Well that never really happened but I do plan to shoot more video this year. The videos should give an insight into how easy it is to work and travel. Watch out YouTube!

Two weeks today and I will be back in Bali, Indonesia just like I was this time last year. I am on a one way ticket again with the same airline and the same stopover. The ticket cost a lot more this year for some reason.

I will not be in Bali for long this time, just long enough to catch a few waves and catch up with a few people as well. I am then meeting a friend in Singapore and then onto Thailand for November before heading to Cambodia and Vietnam.

So the crazy life of the Working Nomad looks set to continue! Bring it on, I say…

I have two laptops (neither very expensive!). One big heavy Dell with all the whistles and bells and my small Toshiba Portege which is literally falling to pieces. The events of this slightly drunken evening in Kuala Lumpur did n’t do much to extend the life of my smaller laptop.

So I have pretty much decided to go with the Dell for my winter escape. It is much heavier than the Portege but it has many additonal advantages. It has much more processing power, the keyboard is bigger and it should help me be more productive.

It also has a DVD / CD Rom which is something I never had before which can be useful for nights in on the road.

I am off to France on Saturday with my Mother on a belated birthday five day holiday treat. It will be a little insight for her into the world of independent travel which should be cool.

Winter is fast approaching, there is a chill in the air and the clocks are about to go back robbing us in the UK of another hour of afternoon light. This can only mean one thing to the Working Nomad. I’ll soon be off to lower latitudes.

I have actually been away three of the last four northern hemisphere winters so it is no surprise that I’ll be taking off again. At this stage the destinations are not fully known but I will be following the sunrise to the East.

I don’t know what it is about Southeast Asia that keeps me coming back but the network of contacts and friends I have out there is certainly one key factor. It surely has nothing to do with the cheap living, warm climate, laid back beach lifestyle and widely available Internet

I might do a full circle and come back via the Americas this time which will add a different twist to my usual winter escape. We will see.

Who was it who said ‘Wherever the wind taketh me I will be’? Me, just then.

I am currently in Chamonix-Mont Blanc in the French Alps and I have discovered a new way of seeking out cosmopolitan places in the Euro Zone. Simply take a handful of your Euro coins and see where they originate from.

When I was in San Sebastian many of the coins were Spanish which reflects it’s status as a holiday town geared to locals. I remember handing a few French ones over to a Spanish shop keeper who looked slightly bemused when he disocovered their origin!

In Chamonix today I picked up a handful of coins to pay for my cafe au lait and they were from Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy and Ireland - not one originated from France!

I am guessing if the UK ever joined the Euro currency then the make up of small change in Chamonix would very much reflect the number of Brits here. There is even a British section in the supermarket here with Marmite priced at €5 a go! I think I’ll wait until I get home to decorate my toast with the evil black stuff…

Today is a OneWebDay which is an annual celebration of the World Wide Web and how it is changing our lives.

They suggest bloggers write a post today about how the WWW has changed their life. I am guessing any of you who follow me regularly can see the evidence of how it’s changed my life.

So here are a few ways the web has changed my life, perhaps not for the better…

- I think the WWW has help contributed to a neck problem that I seem to have due to hours upon hours of sitting at a computer.

- The WWW probably cost me contract work in the past as it enabled programming to be sent offshore for a cheaper price.

- The WWW probably kept me indoors alone too much when I could have been out doing more sociable things with people.

Well I am going to end on a positive. The web has enabled me to start my own business and travel more. As a consequence of this I have managed to meet a very broad spectrum of people and try lots of new things.

So it ain’t all bad. I must try and sort my posture out though!

For those who are not familiar with the regional stereotypes in the UK I am about to give you a quick overview. People in Scotland and to some extent the North of England view Southerners (geographically anyone south of Birmingham) as softies.

This perception has been continually reinforced over 2000 years of British history. Why do you think the Roman Empire only got as far as the Scottish border?

Well I am having to concede to the Scots as well, not a rugged army of crazy red-haired Highlanders but the Scottish weather. Yes I have already paid £20 for my train fare but the forecast of torrential rain and gales has blown my course due South.

Yep I am back off to the Alps, this time to the French side to undertake the GR5 footpath from Lake Geneva to as far as my little English legs will carry me in a week. The weather forecast looks kinder and it will give me a chance to get close to the highest peak in Europe, Mont Blanc.

By the way, I still have my passport because I have had a change of mind about getting a NZ work visa. I am still planning to go early next year but I have decided not to work there.

I have booked my train up to bonny Scotland for Thursday and winter is eagerly waiting in the wings to make a Scottish appearance next week according to the Sunday Times. This means 95 miles of wet walking.

The good thing is that my expectations have been lowered and I’ll be happy with one clear day out of the six, or even one hour would be nice. I am still well up for it though and it will be another one of my goals for the year completed (to walk a long distance footpath in Britain).

My newest website has been created yesterday for the people I did the Spanish week with. If you are interested in some amusing photos from the week at Valdelavilla then the link is below.

http://valdelavilla.4000webs.com

So I have three more days working from home and getting things back on track and I am hoping to wake up tomorrow full of motivation.