It’s hard to believe that my last post was a month ago. Time sure flies when you are caught up being busy.

I am grateful though for this business trip–being able to visit Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangalore, and Delhi has been a privilege, and even more so considering the colleagues I otherwise would have never met face to face.

It’s been eye opening to see how others live. Life is so busy in APAC; people work so hard and yet earn so little. My colleagues in India start at 10 or so in the morning, but regularly work until 10, 11, or even 12 at night, because they need to jump on calls with the US. While they are relatively comfortable by Indian standards, they earn far less than a similarly skilled US professional. It’s not hard to understand why that, despite the 10-year queue to get a green card, and the years-long-anxiety-inducing sponsorship experience, many still jump at the chance.

Japan was equally humbling. Our office is attached to a mall, and there’s an open area with single tables / seats for people to eat breakfast in the morning. At 8am, this place is full, and you see white collar workers who are so exhausted that they take a nap before even starting work for the day.

It feels like every day here has been a master class in gratitude and humility, and I want to harness every ounce of this energy for my continued drive toward financial freedom.

Shanghai, starting this weekend, will be the last leg of my trip–I will miss it here, and I can’t wait to go home.