• ::just bought another domain, lets see how this working on the net thing really works #
• :: i think the guatemalan system of toilet paper in a bin doesnt work if you end up knocking it into the shower while youre showering… #
• :: the pool was cold but now were back in xela drinking hot chocolate in la luna. Mine is so thick the spoon stands up! Yum! #
• ::glad to find toilet paper but y is it *outside* the stalls?? Surely people just end up taking too much? Y is the owner waiting outside 2? #
• :: the water under the pool doesnt look very deep, but then i am a tall gringo & not a tiny guatemaltecan. Ken can test it first. #
• ::after a ride & a nice walk thru the sunny fields the pool looks nice. Im not sure about the diving board though which is concrete+spring #
• ::this morning were off to study at the pool. Weird idea but there you go. Have to take a hated chicken bus to get there #
• ::its not enough that the local school plays its terrible music all day by my class? They have to start at 11pm? Roll on independence day!! #
• :: now for dinner i had to eat red chilis that my family wouldnt even try… Is that sadism? #
• :: hmmmm, Digg can display my blog? interesting… #
• :: a quick test for RSSless…. #
• :: To be a well travelled man you need to walk fast #
• ::my teacher is pissed off that i didnt do my homework or record here the cd i promised. Im a bad student! #
• :: omg! Will pay *40 for 4 of stirrup! This is killing me! #
• :: going riding without a hat or suntan lotion. Stupid stupid #
• :: for dinner my host family was offering me very hot chilis. They chose the wrong foreigner to test! :p #
• :: i was intending to go to el salvador on the weekend but now im wondering if i should go back to mexico and look for a job… #
• ::the sun is shining and im going horseback riding tomorrow morning. All is good! #
• ::hmmm,waffles for breakfast & fake maple syrup…Whatever happened to oatmeal? No wonder my host family (& half the country) has a problem #
• ::house prices fell 10% this year in the UK. Sooo glad i went travelling and arent stuck in the property well! #

Day 254

Xela, Guatemala

Well, I’ve been away for nearly a year now and its time to face facts! My website isn’t earning any money. It hasn’t helped that I wasn’t being indexed by Google for the first 10 months :p Despite that, unless you have lots and lots of traffic a regular blog just won’t cut it.

I have a few ideas on how to make a buck and I’m not broke yet but my dreams of travelling the world just on one domain doesn’t look realistic. Damn!

Still, I’ve been looking into SEO and other web marketing and have another plan. If one blog won’t cut it, how about a few more? Thus the inception of my new site : http://www.firsttimebackpacking.com

I have a few more ideas for various sites too so I’ll be slowly bringing them up in the next couple of weeks. All I have to do is pray for some love from Google.

Watch this space….

:: hmmmm, Digg can display my blog? interesting…

The day Lauren’s luck ran out.                                                                                                                                                                            

The little mermaid gets what’s coming to her. Sadly no one told these backpackers they had to buy the candy separately :p

He’s smiling but that snapped board just cost him about $100.

Oaxacan dove.                                                                                                                                          

Having a huge digger come off the road right in front of us only slowed us slightly. More enterprising people cleared a path on the left and everyone carried on as normal.

Who needs a surf board? A local boogie boarder shows off his moves.                                                                                                                                                       

Bags of semi-precious stone in a Mexican Market.