2026-19 | May 4-May 10

Monday

Woke up quite early, I think; rainy day. I just worked on writing the entry for Saturday for this blog and on the design to integrate the images, resizing them and starting to put the correct meta info. Then, I wanted to get into meditation. It was very successful. I started a whole bunch of notebooks. I also wanted to create the design for my Instagram grid. I felt like I was struggling and decided that I simply had to do some competitive intelligence and, in the end, that I wouldn’t get anywhere if I didn’t do a full design project file as I learned to do in my UI Design training. I went to the gym horribly late. I hesitated to skip it. I think I did well to go anyway. I arrived at the gym at 8:30 PM and the recently formed Muay Thai class was tidying up. They all said hello very politely and I asked if I could join. Now I just need to buy some gloves. All of this gave me a good excuse to take my phone with me into my tent and spend part of the night watching Muay Thai videos instead of sleeping.

Tuesday

Daily Stats:

  • Sleep: 3.5h (2:30 AM – 6:00 AM)
  • Sugar: 20g (raspberry skyr and dark chocolate)
  • Coffee: 1.5 + Matcha
  • Earnings: $40
  • Expenses: 31€ (Water: 2€, Food: 25€, Snack: 2€ [Raspberry Skyr], Coffee: 2€)

The Update:

The ants have started building a new floor for their structure. On Tuesday, I didn’t sleep much because I kept my phone with me, so I didn’t go to bed until 2:30 AM, and the cat woke me up around 6:00 or 6:10 AM. Luckily, I had coffee.

I started the day by chatting with Gemini for 3 hours to analyze some social situation at the gym. Then, I got to drawing; I actually analyzed the Instagram grids of brands I like—assuming they know what they’re doing—by reproducing them in sketches. I looked at Moleskine and Paperblanks. I lingered on Paperblanks because, after coming across a video of the Moleskine founder, I finally realized why I don’t like that brand all that much.

I posted my to-do proof to my BAAS boss around 1 PM. I earned $5, created a story on Instagram, and watched a “101” video from the Boxe Thai 15 channel and the recent one with Zeitoun before getting ready to go into town. It’s currently raining. We hadn’t had rain for about ten days, but now we’re going to have a mini monsoon. That’s just how the weather has become lately.

I went to buy water and supplies, then spent 4 hours at BK to recharge my batteries and pick up a coffee for breakfast. I earned a total of $40. I’ve been thinking that now that I’m starting Thai boxing 3 times a week, I should perhaps have 3 “creative days” dedicated to boxing, drawing, and meditation with almost no gig work, and keep 4 days for earning.

Wednesday

Daily Stats

  • Sleep: 7 hrs
  • Coffee: 1.5 + matcha
  • Sugar: Dark chocolate and protein bar at the gym vending machine.
  • Creative work: Drawing (2 hrs).
  • Exercise: Bike (20 km); Muay Thai (1h30); flexibility (30 minutes).
  • Meditation: 0
  • Kegels: 0
  • Gains: $10
  • Spending: Protein bar (3.5); Decathlon (76: boxing gloves 40, inner gloves 8, cap 10, bag 2, picnic blanket to protect my 2nd bike 12, bike signal light 4).

I got up around 8 a.m. I worked on drawing and Romanian together in the morning. Since all my devices were blocked, I couldn’t send my work to my BaaS boss at the end of the morning. It was raining, which made things a bit complicated. I don’t remember what I did from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; it’s the daily “black hole” where I do my makeup, hair, tidy my tent, pack my bag, eat green salad and vitamins, write a few lines and a daily schedule on a notepad, and keep chatting with Gemini if I can’t watch videos on YouTube.

Today, I had to go to Decathlon to buy boxing gloves. The ones for 17 euros felt like cardboard, so I took the 12 oz ones for 40 euros which I found perfect and comfortable. I also got inner gloves, a spare cap to avoid burning my face on the bike (also practical for protecting my face from the rain under the hood), a picnic blanket to protect my second bike now that I have two, and a budget bike light while waiting to get another Ravemen.

First Muay Thai class in the evening. Planning to arrive an hour early to wash up and do my toenails, I finally arrived at 6:25 p.m. and entered the classroom at 6:59 p.m. There were only 3 students: another nice girl, very young, the disabled man, and me… The coach is a guy about 1.58m tall, no exaggeration, who spent his time showing off, mocking show-offs, and hitting on the young girl while treating me almost like an outcast. He didn’t look at my sparring for a single second. So I had no feedback, and I fought and trained for the full hour and a half with the disabled guy.

During the fights, my partner had instructions to only “hustle” me, so it was hard to understand what was happening because he was quite stiff and I spent my time doing side-steps one way or the other to keep him at a distance and hitting him with kicks from there. It seemed so easy that I couldn’t tell if he was letting me win because he was told to just hustle me or because I had an effective technique. We’ll see in the next classes if I have to spend an hour and a half with the same disabled partner or if the coach rotates us. It would be absurd, when there are two girls in the class with a similar profile of strong legs, not to have them face each other. All these exciting activities—starting drawing in Romanian and starting boxing, finding good gloves—kept me busy all day without finding time to earn more than $10. I also spent hours debriefing with Gemini.

Thursday

Stats:

  • Sleep: 1:20 AM – 8:10 AM
  • Coffee: 2
  • Sugar: Coco-passion tiramisu, Rapunzel Tiger bar, store-bought apple pie, 2 squares of chocolate
  • Earnings: $5.00 & £1.74
  • Expenses: Coffee (€2), Isotoner ballerinas (€25), Bike parts (tube €3, tire €16, pump €11, levers €3), Laundry (€9), Groceries (€22)
  • Total Expenses: €91
  • Meditation: 0 | Kegels: 0
  • Sport: 10 km cycling
  • Creative Work: 1.5 pages of drawing in Romanian

I had estimated spending 6 hours at BK to earn $70 after finishing my morning creative work. I started my creative session slowly, which took quite a while as I chatted with Gemini for two hours first. It’s still a mystery what I did in the early afternoon that took up another two hours. I got ready, applied sunscreen and makeup, and gathered my things for the laundromat. Due to the rain, everything in my gym bag was soaked, as were the towels I use to block water from entering the tent. Since my boots and sneakers were also drenched, I wore my rain boots.

About five minutes into my bike ride, I realized the rear tire was flat. I decided to drag the bike to Decathlon rather than turn back. The tire slipped off the rim, and the tube tangled around the cassette and tore. I had to stop on a dirt path, remove my bags of dirty laundry, flip the bike, and loosen the wheel to untangle everything. Fortunately, the weather was nice. I stopped at the supermarket first. I bought several sweets—coco-passion tiramisu, a slice of pie, flavored water, and a chocolate bar—to compensate for the stress and prepare for the tire change and the wait at the laundry. I also bought a pair of Isotoner ballerinas for €25 so I wouldn’t have to continue my errands in rain boots. I needed shoes anyway, and I found exactly what I wanted: a small heel and a comfortable sole.

I reached Decathlon at 6:45 PM, just 15 minutes before closing, and bought a 28mm tire to replace the 23mm one. I noticed the tire on this “serviced” secondhand bike was actually in terrible condition. I also had to buy a new pump, as I didn’t have one with me, along with some tire levers and an inner tube. Afterward, I relaxed and ate in front of the washing machine in the sun. After 30 minutes, I tackled the repair. Changing the tire took a solid hour because of a lingering thumb sprain and the rigidity of the new tire. Gemini was very helpful, because I wasn’t even sure the new tire would fit the rim. I ended the evening at BK, but since I didn’t arrive until 9:20 PM, I only managed one evaluation task and an ecology-themed study.

Friday, May 8th

Daily Stats:

  • Sleep: 8h 40m (1:20 AM – 10:00 AM)
  • Coffee: 1.5
  • Sugar: 0
  • Creative Work: 2 hrs
  • Exercise: 0
  • Meditation: 0
  • Kegels: 0

Note: I’ve set up Beeminder for my Kegels and meditation

Since it was a public holiday, the gym was closed, so I stayed at my tent. I really should write these entries on the same day because my memory is already getting a bit hazy. I focused on my drawing work, then went to unlock my phone to send my proof of work to my BaaS boss.

After that, things got a bit blurry, but my period started. I felt a wave of exhaustion, so I chose to stay put rather than head into town, letting my batteries run out. I used the last few percentages to watch episodes of “Ça commence aujourd’hui” and study Cindy Sylvestre’s Muay Thai fights on her YouTube channel.

I did a bit of tidying up and went to bed very early, at 10 PM. I spent some time visualizing my achievements over the last ten years and imagining where I want to be in another ten. I pictured a future without the need for “bread-and-butter” jobs, where I can spend my entire day dedicated to meditation, boxing, and artistic creation.

Saturday, May 9

Daily stats:

  • Coffee: 1
  • Sleep: 8h
  • Exercise: Bike 10km
  • Meditation: 0
  • Creative work: 0

Since I didn’t leave my tent at all on Friday, I had no coffee to start my day on Saturday morning. Having spent the entire evening visualizing my life at 60—my lifestyle and the journey from 50 to 60—I did get my full quota of sleep. I used airplane cabin white noise because the highway was loud.

I didn’t manage to get anything done in the morning, and I was within the first 36 hours of my period. I really needed to stay lying down, but I wanted to check in with my Boss as a Service (BaaS) coach and Beeminder to avoid losing $10. So, I headed into town despite feeling weak.

Once there, I went to charge my phone at Marcel Bio while eating a skyr, but I nearly fainted. I had to rest my head on my arm. I couldn’t breathe properly. The slightest movement was exhausting; the AC was draining; even the elastic waistband of my skirt felt too tight. I think with the combination of zero salt, zero sugar, and my period, the meal was just too much effort for my body. My blood pressure must have been very low.

I went outside to get some sun, and while talking with Gemini, I identified that I needed salt and water. I spent an hour at the bakery, slowly eating a baguette and drinking sparkling water. After an hour, I felt better and went to Intermarché to buy some Saint-Yorre. I ended the evening at BK; I had an ice cream since I was feeling better and still hungry, and I earned a bit of money on Prolific.ce cream since I was feeling better and still hungry, and I earned a bit of money on Prolific.

Sunday, May 10

Daily stats:

  • Sleep: 7h
  • Coffee: 1.5
  • Meditation: 0
  • Creative work: 0.5
  • Exercise: Bike 21km

I spent the morning analyzing Cindy Silvestre’s Muay Thai fights with Gemini and earning $25 on Prolific.

I got up in time to grab a shower before the gym closed at 4 PM. By 4:25 PM, I was settled at McDonald’s (the one that’s just 800 meters from the gym). I ate a veggie 280 rösti. I didn’t like it that much. I earned another $20 and tried to draw, but didn’t manage much. Once again, it’s a mystery where my mind wandered during all that time. I actually spent quite a bit of time trying to post a Reel on Instagram, but I didn’t get to finish it.

Nevertheless, a day where I earn $45 is never a wasted day. After charges and taxes, that’s about 33 euros—enough to live well in my tent and afford some extras, fashion, or apps.

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