Monthly Review — October
October update
Hello Friend,
I hope you are well,
Another month down, and time for another monthly review. October has been a busy one, it’s absolutely flown by, just like every other month seems to do. I’ve loved every second of it.
This time last year…
This time last year, me and Jennie had just arrived in Koh Rong Samloem, a tiny, remote island located to the South West of mainland Cambodia. It’s an amazing, very unique place. The Island is so small you can literally walk from east coast to the West coast in about 20–25 minutes, and virtually every hotel and hostel is located on the beach front. For all you beach lovers, Koh Rong Samloem is a dream.
It’s also the place where Jennie was bitten by a dog, but that’s for another story!
Highlights of the month
Manchester Half Marathon
Me, Jennie and two of our friends ran the Manchester Half Marathon, making it my second half marathon of the year. As you can imagine, it was yet again a painful experience! Although, I wouldn’t say it was as painful as my first one. I thought I was doing pretty well until around 15km, and then my legs and ankle decided to say, no thank you! But despite the lack of cohesion between my mind and legs, I still managed to slowly amble/shuffle along and cross the finish line at a time of 2:05:44. I was pretty pleased with the result because it was five minutes faster than last time. Progress is progress, right?
This was Jennie’s first half marathon and she smashed it. I’m proud of her because she was pretty nervous at the start line, but as I always tell her, ‘we suffer more in imagination than in reality.’ She even managed to finish off with a sprint, something I didn’t have the capacity to do. Shout out to my friends as well, they totally smashed it too.
Onto the next one!
Malta!
Jennie and I left the storms behind here in rainy Haworth for the glorious sunshine of Malta. It was a very relaxed trip this time around full of eating, drinking, visiting family, and we even managed to spend a day surfing (Jennie is much better than me, I must say).
I love going back to Malta, and I’m very grateful that I can literally call it a second home. Jennie’s family are all so welcoming and always make me feel at home, they’ve adopted me as one of their own! I mean, how can you not feel at home when as soon as we arrive at Nanna’s house, the first question she asks you is ‘Are you hungry?’, and then proceeds to dish up the worlds biggest, and bestest, slab of Lasagne which is literally the length of the plate.
We also went to Jennie’s Uncle’s farm house where we indulged in more food as he filled us in on his future plans to sail over to the Caribbean — how cool is that?! He’s created a YouTube channel and will be documenting his journey along the way, so if you’re interested to see what life is like on a yacht, feel free to give it a watch and subscribe by clicking the link here.
Most Interesting Thing I’ve Learnt
At the end of 1944, Warren Buffet filed his first income tax return. He paid $7 in taxes; and to get it down to that, he deducted his wristwatch and bicycle as business expenses.
Favourite Quote
“The truth can hurt, but that probably means you needed to hear it” — David Goggins
Favourite Book I’ve Read
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life — Alice Schroeder
The Snowball is a biography of the greatest investor of all time, Warren Buffet. Prior to The Snowball being written, Buffet rejected many different approaches from different journalists, biographers and publishers to write a biography on his life. But he eventually agreed to let Alice Schroeder write his biography since she was the only Wall Street Analyst he would speak to.
It’s a fascinating, detailed account on one of the worlds smartest and most respected businessmen. If you’re a bit of an investing nerd like me, then I would highly recommend it. I was honestly hooked from the first page to the last. I promise, you won’t be disappointed, it’s such brilliant and engaging book.
Here are a few quotes from the Snowball:
- “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
- “You’d get very rich if you thought of yourself as having a card with only twenty punches in a lifetime, and every financial decision used up one punch. You’d resist the temptation to dabble. You’d make more big decisions.”
- “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre. It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
- “I learned that it pays to hang around with people better than you are, because you will float upward a little bit. And if you hang around with people that behave worse than you, pretty soon you’ll start sliding down the pole.”
Goals Update
- Figure out how to work and make money remotely — No progression on this one. I haven’t been pursuing this one for a while.
- Read a book a week — Weeks so far this year — 43. Books read: 48. I should be able to complete this goal by next month.
- Learn how to play chess properly — I now know how to play chess, albeit pretty poorly .
- Run a half marathon — Completed it mate. TWICE.
Future Plans
It’s my birthday next month! Over my birthday week me and Jennie are planning to go on a road trip. We’re not 100% sure where we are heading yet, potentially the Cotswolds, but no matter where we go, we’ll have a great time regardless.
That’s all for now folks,
See you next time,
Yours sincerely,
Tom
