Found another new wifi place to work from. The Murgavets Hotel. It’s one of the best hotels here and has good internet access. There’s an internet cafe on the 8^th floor with great views of the mountains and ski runs. Will take some photo’s from there when we get a nice sunny day.

15 Dec 10 – Day 9

The sun was shining all day today and it was great to get out and feel its warmth. Although about minus 2, it felt really warm and I didn’t need my hat and gloves.

A couple of guys came round to fix my leaking shower. Hopefully it’s sorted now. Just need the window fixing.

Drove down to Somolyn with Amanda. Ordered a winter duvet and some more sheets for the bed. Also did some more food shopping. It’s amazing that the cost of food is actually more than in the UK. Some of the raw fruit and veg is cheaper but most other things are not.

Had a coffee round at Pearl Lodge and Katlin drove me home in the evening.

16 Dec 10 – Day 10

A lot of snow fell last night and I woke up to another whiteout.

Had a shower and it still leaks water all over the floor! Will have to get maintenance back again. Flippin useless!

Spent most of the day in the internet cafe in the Murgavets hotel.

7 Dec 10 – Day 1

Arrived on time from Stansted to Plovdiv.

Had a bit of a mare offloading extra weight at airport.

Nearly missed flight – last call – missed priority boarding! Got an aisle seat though.

Massive thanks to Louise for taking me and taking my discarded items! Cheers honey! x

Picked up by a lad called Abraham at Plovdiv airport and drove to Pearl Lodge.

Had coffee and some lunch with Amanda.

Amanda gave me a little car to use while I’m here. Drove to my apartment and met by mad security guy! Got into apartment ok. Heating on – very cold.

Unpacked, had a cup of tea and went to bed in my thermal underwear and ski socks!

My complex – Elite Holiday Village:

8 Dec 10 – Day 2

Got up about 9am and had breakfast. Drove to Pearl Lodge to meet Amanda, Michelle (hotel manager) and Paul (head chef).

We drove into Plovdiv to do some shopping. I bought a microwave and a bedside table lamp and a few bits for the apartment. Had lunch in the Happy Grill.

Stopped off for dinner on way home, half way up the mountain.

Got an extra heater from Amanda and Dougie.

Drove back to apartment and did some work. Have a dongle that Amanda has lent me. Need to get one for internet access.

9 Dec 10 – Day 3

Got up about 9.30 and had a leisurely breakfast. Spent the morning editing articles.

The house keepers came round. They had a call from the developers office reminding me to pay the maintenance fee of 410Euros. I will pay once they have sorted out my shower and the leak under the sink!

Coming back on Sunday to sort the sink and Wednesday to do the shower..we’ll see!

Had lunch and drove into Smolyn. Got 2 keys cut for me and Amanda. Spent 100lev (£50) on food shopping. Not particularly cheap for Bulgaria.

Filled car up with disel – 50lev.

Worked on articles and uploaded them to sites.

Made dinner – boiled rice, chicken breast and peas..mmm I like peas!

Carried on working til midnight.

Decided that I would try and do 100 press ups a day. Only decided that at 8pm so had to cram them all in before midnight. (Did the last 20 at 12.30!)

10 Dec 10 – Day 4

Woke up to the first snow fall of the season. Nothing too much but a covering non the less.

Had breakfast and did some work.

Drove over to Pearl Lodge after lunch. Went for a swim which was nice but very cold! Stayed there for the rest of the day working and chatting. Met some girls working there on a gap year. The internet connection is super fast there so downloaded lots of information so I could work on it when I got back to my apartment.

Came back about 9.30pm

11 Dec 10 – Day 5

Slept in til nearly 10am this morning. Had my breakfast and cracked on with some work.

The house keeper came round about 1pm to fix the leak under the sink. All sorted now. Also tried to explain the gap in one of my windows that was letting in freezing cold air! Between sign language and playing charades we managed to agree that yes there was a gap and it was letting in cold air! It’s something he can’t fix but hopefully he’s going to pass the problem to someone who can fix it! Well that’s what I think he indicated.

After lunch I decided to try and find a short cut up into Pamporovo resort. Found a make-shift path up through the woods and was in my first pub within 10mins. Happy days! Before I got to the pub I was accosted by a bloke called Dave (good ol Bulgarian name) who tried to sell me some tacky cowbells. Not sure how I resisted, as they were half price! Anyway he was dead chatty and excited that I was English (think he smelt the money that I don’t have!) wanted to know what I drank so I told him beer. So from there he frog marched me to this little restaurant. Glad he did now because I probably wouldn’t have gone in without some convincing!

It’s an authentic Bulgarian restaurant that is quite quaint and has a roaring fire with dodgy Bugarian music. Friendly staff and a girl called Ivana spoke good English and naturally wanted to talk the back teeth off me! Could be my local!

A pint of draught larger was just 2.5 lev (£1.25) and the food menu looked pretty reasonable too. Had my pint, a good chat and headed off into the snow storm outside. (-12 degrees!) Good start to my adopted town.

Walked into the main resort where all the pubs and clubs are. Obviously very quiet right now but I can imagine it getting verrry busy in the next couple of weeks. After walking up and back down the strip I called into the White Hart pub which is one of the main pubs in town, especially for the Brits. Had Sky Sports on and good old 80’s music playing.

A local boy called Jimmy (I’m sure they give themselves made up names) served me a bottle of the local stuff. Tasted ok but not as nice as the Tuborg I had half an hour earlier and nearly double the price! By the time I left, I knew Jimmy’s life story. Nice lad but Jeez..

It was dark by the time I reached my path down through the woods. Lucky for me I bought my wind up torch and I followed my footprints like Hansel and Gretel back to the complex! I can imagine after a few more Tuborgs that journey might be rather more hazardous!

Made myself a slap up dinner of chicken, rice and peas and did a few more hours work.

12 Dec 10 – Day 6

Didn’t get to sleep til 2am last night as I started watching the series ‘Supernatural’ on my notebook. Probably not the best idea to watch a scary program in the middle of the night, in a foreign country, in a 5 storey complex with just me in it! Every creak and bang was the Devil coming to get me!! I’ll be glad when the place fills up with holiday makers.

Worked until 2.45pm and then took a walk into town via the road. It was actually quite a nice walk and only talk 25mins. Had a coffee in the White Hart pub and a chat with my mate Jimmy. They have wifi but I couldn’t connect – rubbish reception.

Came back via the woods and wandered around the complex. There’s still plenty of work that needs doing and a lot of the building is still unfinished. The Spa centre still hasn’t been built. Probably another year or 2 before it’s all finished. Bulgarian developers are just so crap. Mind you, at least its not mafia built.. I think!

Watched American Pie 7 and did some more work.

I’ve decided to record my journey as an internet marketer and details of my travelling. A sort of marketing blog on the road.

At this present time I’m still working from home in the UK although I’m taking mini breaks to various countries around Europe. I have recently been to Tunisia (ok not in Europe!) and Germany. Next month I am going to visit Milan.

In December 2010 I will be travelling to Pamporovo in Bulgaria to stay in my apartment there for just over 2 months. While I’m there I want to ski, learn to snowboard and learn some of the language. Anything else will be a bonus!

I will be taking my Lenovo notebook so that I can carry on working on my internet business.

When I get back from Bulgaria I will need to make my mind up as to where I intend to travel next. At the moment Thailand looks favourite but I’m also thinking about the US and South America. But hey, I might even decide that travelling isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and settle back into my regular life!

The point is, I have the option, the choice and the opportunity to do something that most people will never have or simply don’t have the balls to try.

I want to use this blog for 3 reasons:

1. To document my jouney in writen and photo form, so it will be nice to look back on and reminisce!

2. So that my family and friends can see what I’m up to and join me at various locations if they so wish.

3. To show people how to see the world while making a passive income online.

That’s about it really. I’m sure the blog will grow and develop over time and hopefully I’ll make lots of new friends because of it.

If you want to drop me a line, it would be great to hear from you! Just add a comment  to any of my posts or contact me directly at: peter@petertremayne.com

Time to start my journey..

Pete