Chapter 2 - Cryptocurrency and Travel

Begin chapter 2 {Threading waters...absorbing content...new adventures}

One thing i quickly found out during my 3-week YouTube binge was the plethora of information about cryptocurrency. I was literally spending 5hr-days, everyday absorbing info on cryptos. Everybody was an expert with their candle sticks, their disclaimers and their crypto speak. I subscribed to a variety of YouTube channels and i categorized them into the good, the bad and the straight up pump and dumpers. They were all useful to a certain extent, it just took a minute to figure out the objectives of these so-called crypto experts, with each video. Very few people really catered to newbies. If you were just getting started, it was hard to find 'how-to' videos on the nuances and intricacies of getting started. Even as a technical person, i found it tricky, so i cannot imagine how a non-technical person would even get started. There were lots of advice on what to buy,what to dump, when to buy and when to dump. This sadly is useless for a beginner trying to get started and/or someone interested in a long term commitment. Eventually, i found a few pundits who actually took the time to break things down without the razzmatazz.

:(
Last Thursday was not a good day, although the day started well enough. I had stayed at the Marriott by heathrow to allow for an easy transition for my 9am flight to Zagreb. Woke up super early, worked out and even had time left for breakfast. Made it to LHR around 7am. I was feeling good and excited about my trip. Rovinj was initially not part of my itinerary, nonetheless, i was glad i was going to one of the biggest Latin dance events in Europe. Apart from a couple of expected hiccups, i was by the gate on time. The flight was delayed by a mere 18 minutes so this was not a big deal. Once boarded i was pleasantly surprised i was allocated an exit row seat. This was something i did not request, due to my haste to book something quickly, so i had to double check with one of the hostesses to make sure it wasn't an error since the seats had 'reserved' on them. I was pretty excited that i did not have to pay extra for my 6ft 4" frame and even more exciting was once the doors shut for take off preparations, no one had sat next to me and i will be able to spread my torso in any direction i feel like for the next 2hrs. Unbeknownst to me, the forces of bad luck were salivating over my false sense of achievement and blew bad luck my way and low and behold, the rest of my flight and day went downhill from there
:(

In the very few days that i got started, the one person that really got me going was Jerry banfeild. Yes, from reading his comments page, you can tell he has some haters. I no longer listen to Jerry as i have moved on from 'off the boat' beginner to now knowing what i am doing. Nonetheless, there were some idiosyncrasies about Jerry that i liked. He tells you exactly what he thinks and why. He pumps up what he buys and when it reaches a sale-able point he dumps. he doesn't hide it and he does not apologize for it either. But he did have free tutorials where he would teach you how to buy and sell from exchanges, how to place stop limits, mistakes he's made in the game and some very useful tips that i found invaluable. I did however find others that did the same thing and also gave some good investing advice but Jerry was the fist person i stumbled upon in my quest to learn about cryptocurrency and i thank him for the introductory sessions.

Few days of jetlag finally catching up with me derailed wrapping up chapter 2 by a few days but here goes...Long story short, i lost the priviledge of having the exit row all to myself when a irate passenger was displaced and he decided he wanted to sit next to me only to complain the whole trip about how i was hugging the arm rest or how my elbow was digging into his ribs. Maybe if you sit upright like every else, your ribs wont be touching my elbows? First time ever that i almost had air-rage and had to take many deep breaths and a bunch of whoosahs! I couldn't wait to get off that plane to continue my journey from Vienna to Zagreb but then my luggage got left behind in Vienna and i had to wait 4 hrs for it to catch up with me. By this time it was late and the only way to get to Rovinj was an overnight bus from Zagreb that took 6+ hrs and seemingly stopped for a 10 minutes break every 20 minutes.

Some rookie mistakes i made along the way...

• not weighing my luggage - paid dearly for it
• not checking my luggage online - would have cost me half the price
• assuming frequent bus schedule to Rovinj from Zagreb
• not checking bus departure and arrival times
• assuming 2.5 hrs journey will take 2.5 hrs, or at most 3 hrs

'Rovinj is a Croatian fishing port on the west coast of the Istrian peninsula. The old town stands on a headland, with houses tightly crowded down to the seafront. A tangle of cobbled streets leads to the hilltop church of St. Euphemia, whose towering steeple dominates the skyline. South of the old town is Lone Bay, one of the area’s pebble beaches. The Rovinj archipelago’s 14 islands lie immediately off the mainland.'

...and they have the best ice cream...ever!!

Oh, i never did make that civic crowdsale after all. Ethereum got bogged down from the rush and token sales were halted for a few hours .By the time it was my turn, i was fast
asleep as i needed to be up early. Ah well, i'll catch the next wave. Apparently Ethereum went bonkers the next day causing Gdax and coinbase to crash and Ethereum prices slipped into the cents. Totally missed all the crypto raucous. Caught up much later. Many theories as to what happened but kudos to those who probably had old stop limits on Ethereum in the double digits and picked up a few, My bad to the folks in the reverse situation. I hear the exchanges will make some type of reparations to those affected. I guess it's perfectly legal action for those who had stop limit buys at ridiculously low prices and made 'savage gains'

end chapter 2 {Threading waters...absorbing content...new adventures}