Of Travel, Travel Blogs and Blogging

The Gloriette in all it's glory. Photographed by me June 2013, Vienna

I hate travel blogs. Nothing against travel writers really, I am sure it is the most fun profession ever. But travel blogs bring out the green monster in me; I get a teeny bit jealous, if you will. The logic is that I’d rather be doing it, or planning to do it, or not hearing about it. Which means I will read a travelogue if I am planning to go to that destination, it would be more of an information gathering exercise. Or if I want to alter my travel dream list in some way. But not otherwise. Don’t tell me about Haiti or Antarctica, it isn’t on my list, at least not yet. I know it is awesome and a lifetime experience and all that but still, I aint planning to go there yet, so don’t tell me about it.

This is also a reason I do not write much about my travels, I talk about travelling and my love for it, but I do not dedicate posts to places I have travelled. And I won’t start now. The maximum you will get are a few pictures, and that Venice was beautiful. I would probably like to repeat the trip given the short time I had there. Austrian culture fascinates me, it is something I have not explored before in spite of having been fascinated with Mozart and Freud. Not to forget Sissi, the popular 19^th century Austrian empress who has been occupying my thoughts so much through the last weekend that it certainly makes it worth a second hike to all the other palaces she lived in. Venice certainly goes up on the list of “Must Go Again”.

And as I write this sitting in a plane (of an airlines crazily called FlyNiki, although I booked in Finnair, almost feel cheated, damn these weird airline partnerships) as I approach the city I call home, Stockholm, I wonder how this trip has served it’s purpose. It has helped me unwind, and leave behind all that needs to be left behind. It has helped me sort things out in my head, about people who matter, about people who have stuck around versus people who have chosen to leave. It is ultimately not about fascination and passion, it is not about the intensity of feelings and experiences, it is about those who stick around. Friends, family, lovers.. the ones that need to be valued are the ones who have stuck by you. It has been quite a realization while walking through the castles and listening to fascinating tales of power, lust, love and betrayal in the royal families in the years gone by! Times change. Emotions don’t.

I was reminded recently by someone who claimed to be my “sole” reader that I don’t have much of a following. The conclusion was reached by observing the lack of comments on recent posts in Merlins World. I referred the person in question to some posts where I hotly debate about how anonymity and limited readership keep the integrity of the writer, and popularity and fame eventually and unknowingly make the writer… pardon my language, a whore (more here). You can deny it all you like, but that is how it has been with all bloggers that I have observed the last few years in blogosphere. An interesting flair with the pen, controversial topics, a sense of humor or sometimes just a pretty face gets them noticed. Active bonding, commenting and following other blogs, coupled with the “chain” phenomenon in blogosphere propels them to a celebrity status. And losing touch with their inner thoughts when they write, whoring with their words or sometimes just losing interest in writing is what leads to their decline. Writing is a passion, it has to come from within. It has to reflect one’s line of thoughts, one’s personality, one’s style, it simply cannot be pimped. And so I am happy that my limited (read zero) readership allows me to write any amount of crap that I want, without any kind of pressure to erm.. perform.

Do I miss the times when I had a regular  bunch of followers and a kind of a mini social circle within blogosphere, people I intellectually connected with, people I had conversations with in the comments section? Of course I do. Sometimes I go through my old posts and my eye wanders to the comments and I remember all the blogmates I bonded so well with, and I go back to their blogs. But with time most of them have stopped blogging. Some were never that passionate, it was just a fad. Some became extremely irregular, like me, making guest appearances once in a while. Some moved on to busier lives. Some got married. Some had kids. Some, well, just had better things to do. Some are still around and going full steam (hats off to the stalwarts) but have given up on me because I am so infrequent. Some are forced followers. People I force feed my posts to. People whose opinions matter. People who can say “Merlin, sometimes you write shit, I hope you do give up soon” and I can throw my head back and laugh. Well, poor souls continue to follow the blog, they of course won’t ever comment. They have given up on me too, in a way. Given up on trying to make me give up.

All I can say is, it is good to be back. I know I have gone through some turbulent times, and blogging has suffered. But like always, I hope I will be around more often. And continue to explore myself and be honest to myself through the blog. And I hope the readership continues to be limited ;).

Traveling on the train from Wien Mitte to Schönbrunn, this musician got up and started playing this song on his Accordion... and it instantly reminded me of this song, which incidentally, was shot in Prague, another one of my favorite cities.... signing off with this song... and this picture of Schönbrunn Castle

Schönbrunn Castle and a bit of Vienna city from atop the Gloriette. Photographed by me June 2013, Vienna

The Only Constant

Pic: Panaromic view from the balcony of my new apartment. Taken June 2013 by me.

Change. It has been the underlying theme in my blog. If you have cared to follow it since it's beginning. Which, if you are reading this post, I am sure you haven't. Because just like most things in my life, my followers also...well.... change. And I am not just talking about the blog.

Someone recently asked me what I blog about. And it seemed a bit narcissistic when I said "Me". But as bad as it may sound, it is true, I blog about me. To quote an ex-friend, if I was a reader of my blog instead of the author, I would never have read me. But thankfully I am the author, so I am bereft of the torture you have to go through.

Amidst all the massive change that continues to hit me and knock me off my feet, I am still living life to the fullest. Still believing in what I said two posts back "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone". Living by that philosophy every minute of every day for the last few months. I am sure you too are often met by the greeting "What's new?". I am sure that most of you don't have much to answer to that. Well, one of the luxuries of my life is that I can almost spend a day elaborating on that one answer. New job, new boss, new office, new clients, new field of work, new role, new reportees... new laptop, new phone, new visiting card and a new suit... new apartment, new furniture, new friends, new social life, new gym, new irregular workout schedule. So never.. never ask Merlin what is new, unless you want to spend the rest of the day listening to his answer!

Life has been a bit centered around the job. With the new job I stopped working my regular 10 to 5 which had gotten kinda boring, almost close to the dreaded comfort zone, and started working 8 to 12... 12am by the way. I was leading the largest deal I have ever worked on, in a new company, in a new domain with a new client. Which is as far from your comfort zone as you can get. But that is where I derive my kicks in life, I am weird that way. If I win this one, I would have hopefully established my presence in the new firm. And would have proven myself to... well... myself. Which for me is the most important thing right now. 

Life has also been centered around getting the newly acquired Stockholm apartment furnished in the right way. It is the on the 9th floor with a breathtaking view, it would be a crime not to furnish it nicely. In Sweden, one has to assemble all the furniture oneself, which, if you think of it as a jigsaw puzzle, might seem fun if it was not your own furniture. Some pictures of the progress below... although a lot of work still needs to get done.

Thankfully for me, some things do not change. My thirst for traveling is as how it has always been, albeit a bit ignored due to the changes. I shall keep my promise of sticking to the reduced run rate of exploring at least one new country every year. Hence booked a weekend getaway to Vienna, I am hoping it will help me unwind. Parents will be here in July, I somehow feel this gushing happy feeling that they manage to make a trip to Sweden almost every year, I am not sure if I would do that for my kid living in some far off godforsaken country above the arctic circle (if I was in good-old-India). That is why the whole concept of having kids and sacrificing so much for them still eludes me. I guess you gotta do it to feel it.

Amongst the other things that have changed, are also some parts of my life I would rather not had change. But then, you win some, you lose some. And I do believe all the cliché stuff that whatever happens, happens for the best. So I guess I will survive. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Darn... I am slowly becoming Mr. Cliché wimp. Okay, okay I will stop now. Like every time I write a post which sees the light of day, I am promising in my mind that I will write more often. Maybe that is another "change" that is coming your way! :)

Living room by night. I got new curtains, but will put up updated pics later

Living room by day. When you live in Sweden, light is a prized commodity!

For someone who likes cooking, kitchens are one of the most important places in the apartment

Travel Diaries on the Fridge

That is a 55 inch smart monster with 3D and all the other hoopla. 
The boxes are the latest version of the Wireless Sony Surround 5.1

Sunsets are amazing from the living room... everyday!!

The Milestone Blogger

Pic: Clicked by me on the way to Hohenzollern Castle, Germany, March 2012

I have gone from being a regular blogger, to a non-regular blogger to what I call a "milestone" blogger. A stage where you do not really care about what your write, when you write, who reads your blog and who doesn't. 'Coz admit it, nobody reads the blog of a milestone blogger.

For me now it is just a journal. A journal of events. A memoir of the journey, the journey of life. The minutes of a meeting. The notes that I make at each milestone. That is it I think.. these are the milestones in my life. Need not necessarily be characterized by big events, but the smaller milestones, I like talking about them. Hoping that someday I will turn back and read them, and smile to myself. I keep getting inspired/impacted by the small things people say. Recently I pondered a lot on something one of the guys I admire most in the corporate world (let us call him AK) told me. AK said he was never really close to his father, who used to be the General Manager in a company, quite the busy man. But years after he grew up, post his father's retirement, he got access to his father's diary. And felt that he got to know his father through those pages. And somewhere in his mind he could join the dots through his fathers scattered thoughts on life. And learn some things from the lessons learned which his father spoke about in those pages. So yes, you guessed it right, I like imagining that some generation after me would someday read my blog and be able to join the dots. 

So coming back to the milestones. Believe me, I had no clue about what I was talking about the last time I scribbled "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone". I was just in love with the idea, it remained my gtalk status for quite a few weeks. But I repeat, I had NO clue what I was talking about. Yes it does seem fancy. I did like fantasizing about the heroic deeds of people who went out of their comfort zone and did crazy stuff. But hey, in real life, it sucks..... big time. No, I am not saying that it is bad, or that it is not thrilling, if I could rewind life and go back, I think I would still do all the things I did all over again. But it sucks, at least for the first few months. It is a painful process. Not advisable for people who do not like change. Who like familiarity. Who love their known environment. And since my last post I have been in utter pain, going through the process commonly known as "change".

Me being the narcissist that I am, I like drawing a similarity to an imaginary situation that would arise if you left Shah Rukh Khan in some settlement in northern Sweden. Nobody would recognize him as a celebrity, he would just be another Indian there, and would probably have to strive to make a living and be recognized and appreciated in some way other than his face and name. For me it was a similar feeling, going from being quite the "rising star" at IBM (oh I now have the privilege of revealing the company I worked for!) who was recognized as a force to reckon with by clients, subordinates and superiors alike, to "the new guy" who is grappling with the new acronyms in the organization. A nasty nasty feeling I tell you. It kinda threatens to kill your confidence completely. And I escaped by a whisker, just being able to rescue my self respect and confidence. Which is the thrill really, something that will certainly not happen to you in your comfort zone.

I probably sound a bit demented, but this is kinda tough to explain to someone who hasn't been there. So let me be a bit straight, the transformation was a tough one, but I have been able to keep my head above the water... and I think I will survive. And oh yeah, life is certainly more thrilling and more exciting, it is like jumping from the safety of your dry boat back into the ocean, and swimming away to whatever life holds in store for you. I do terribly terribly miss flashing my IBM visiting card at the client reception desk and getting that look of recognition, but it is absolutely exciting trying to make a mark without a fancy logo, and success in every deal is somehow more personal and if I may, also slightly sweeter, than before. I am on the verge of tasting my first big win, and I will keep you posted. In short, the ride just got more interesting.

Am I talking too much about work? Well, it has kind of completely occupied my mind lately. In other news, I have managed to buy an apartment in Stockholm. It is my second, after the one I bought in Bangalore, and it is smaller and more modest than the fancy Bangalore one. The bidding process was a bit too fast for comfort. I just thought i went to see an apartment to check out the process, but before I knew it, I somehow was owning one in the next 48 hours. The story is too bizarre to write about, the strangest fact is that the Swedes think that it is just normal to sign contracts for the biggest decisions in your life within 48 hours. Well, anyway, it is on the 9th floor and it has an amazing view, and I love the kitchen, which I have realized, strangely, is the favorite part of any place I live in. And I have the HUGE task of furnishing it, from scratch. Someone recently remarked on my sudden heightened interest in furniture designs "Tumi shonshari hoe gaecho" which amused me no end. I have quite the opposite image of myself in my mind.

Winter is almost coming to an end. The temperature remained above zero for a week, to the glee of most Stockholm residents. I travel more in my job now, plans to go on business trips to Delhi and Singapore in the coming months, also plan to cover Brazil sometime this year. I have no clue what this year holds for me, which is what excites me no end.

Till the next milestone comes... so long!

The End of an Era

Clicked with my Galaxy S3 at a friends house,
Autumn leaves collected by my friend's 5 year old daughter! :)

“So why are you doing it?” someone asked recently, “Leaving a high paying job, where you are the prodigy in your dream role having had an unprecedented growth path?”. I rambled on with an answer for 10 minutes about some vague reasons, at the end of which the friend in question looked a bit skeptical and said “You haven’t really answered the question, you know.”

Which is perhaps true. I don’t have a reason, really, not the kind people look for. No nasty bosses, no boredom at work, no complains about compensation, no missed opportunities. Except the reason that sometimes I crave change. I become restless. I was reading my post “Just Another Phase” from June this year, and I realized that the restlessness has been there for some time. In Hindi we say that sometimes one has a “kida” (worm) inside him. A worm that will not allow you to sit quietly, even in the most favorable of situations. A worm that will make you restless and drive you to do things, make changes, strive harder. Yes, this was my dream company for as long as I can think, right from school. Yes they did treat me in the most awesome way possible. Yes I did accomplish a very steep climb up the corporate ladder. Yes, I am well loved, well respected and well paid. Yes, even the future prospects seemed very bright. Yes I love my job, my bosses and my colleagues. And yet, I leave. And the reason why I leave all the successful history for a blank page, the known for the unknown, the success for the new beginning, is this “kida”. The reason is because life, after all, begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Separations are never easy. And of course I am nervous, maybe even a bit scared. I do not know a single soul at the new company; the new role involves more responsibilities and decision making, and there are more chances that I will make mistakes. I am changing domains, which means I cannot walk into a meeting and have people listen to me just because I have unbeatable domain knowledge. I will also be speaking to more senior executives at the client end, and be the most senior rep from my company, with no day-to-day support from senior colleagues. As scary as it can get... so yes the transition is not easy.

What is surprising though is that the experience goes against all that I was told. That in sales you get ostracized the moment you put in your papers. That you are forced into quarantine, if, like me you are in a position where you have visibility to company management decisions and sales strategy. And that you are asked to leave immediately because they want to reduce competitor risks. Quite the opposite happened to me, the company made counter offers, but when I didn’t budge, I was requested to serve my full notice period, continue to take part in all negotiations and bids till the very end, and treated in a much nicer way than I expected. I continue to solve issues, address escalations, close bids and coach people even in my last week. And the love is overwhelming, I have a tough time keeping attendance at all the farewell dinners. All senior executives I meet say they are sad to lose me (and believe it or not, that's not what has been said to some people I know who left :P) and that I should contact them if I ever want to come back. And I continue to be invited to the company volleyball matches.

Which goes on to prove that even if I don’t, some people I work with might actually have understood my reasons for leaving, and respected those reasons. I am happy, it would have been horrible if I had left on a bad note. Just like the first kiss and the first girlfriend,  one is always emotional about the first job. Especially if one has been around for 5 and a half years. I am happy, because the company makes me feel loved, even if I will not be a part of it in the future. I am happy, because I know that I can come back someday and be welcomed back.

The challenge in the future will be to go out and find my own identity. As I graduated from my business school and joined my first firm, the identity of my firm became my identity, perhaps because it was a well known brand name in the industry. I became too used to saying “Hi, I am Merlin, from XXX” and people nodding and listening to me more because I was from XXX than because I was Merlin. That perhaps, will change. Just like a kid who comes of age and leaves home to find his own identity, I hope I will be able to stand up and say “Hi, I am Merlin” and for a change, just that.. would suffice! 

People in My Life

Clicked by me, Millesgården, Stockholm, Sweden, May 2012

Sometimes I feel a strange pleasure in surrounding myself with interesting people. People who are not ordinary. Not mundane. You might argue, rightfully, that everyone is interesting in their own way. Maybe. I come from the country of a billion people. Where even extraordinary is so common that it is ordinary. So pardon me if my measure of interesting is different from yours. Pardon me if I seem slightly superficial to you. Or maybe a bit too deep. But my kind of interesting interests me. If you know what I mean. To the extent that I go out of my way to surround myself with those people.

They are not all in one category. There is the IIM graduated banker with an enviable salary who is always kinda sad because of the feeling of not having achieved anything in life. And there is the single Swedish mother who has lived in Syria and is raising a half Persian daughter, lecturing about diversity in universities. And the half Indian-half Pakistani graduate hire in my company, born and brought up in Sweden, has never been to India, is yet so much more “desi” than a lot of desis I know who live back in their “des”. The childhood friend from my home town, who dropped out from school, has lost 2 jobs, and had a broken marriage and is still one of the most cheerful people I know of. Or the American work friend, who has been a gymnast, lived in a Kibbutz in Israel, studied in Japan and married a charming Uruguayan and is raising a family in Sweden. The Swedish colleague who left her career as a Project Manager in the IT industry to write a book on making European dresses from Indian Sarees. The rich magician’s daughter, who is an MBA graduate, has performed magic shows, dabbled with being a professional dancer, has been an internet entrepreneur and is now a consultant in a fancy international firm. The stranger mysteriously appearing on my google talk to tell me how I am a failure and have achieved nothing notable in life, that I am arrogant, conceited and full of myself, and then to tell me that he/she does not know me well, compares me with his/her successful corporate father and his friends and that he/she religiously follows my blog.... managing to dig out my identity and gtalk id while refusing to reveal his/her own identity... creepy, yes, but still interesting. I can go on and on.

I hear their stories and I secretly admire them. Some tell me that they have been called weird, strange, crazy and some other not-so-good things. But there are some things you cannot call them. Boring. Mundane. Ordinary. They are not that. Some of them tell me that sometimes they wish they were, their life would be so much simpler and easier that way. But in a way, I know that it is a gift. If they were ordinary, they would perhaps not be happy. And I am happy that I have them in my life. Sometimes just as an entry on my Facebook friend list. Sometimes as an integral part of my everyday life.

You guys make my life interesting!

Global "Gyaan" from the Global Citizen

Clicked by me, Barcelona, Summer 2010

I flaunt my "wanderer" status. Like all the time. Although I am not the most well travelled person I know of.... 15+ countries, 3 continents, 50+ cities, I have known better scores. But I can easily say that I am " better travelled" than most people I meet. But as one teenager recently told me, it is not the traveling, really, that makes one a global citizen. It is the attitude. Maybe. Traveling certainly enhances it. And I have no idea why auto-correct keeps asking me say traveling instead of travelling. Darn this american engish :P

There are only 2 kinds of people in the world. Those that are global citizens and those that are not. So what is the hype all about? It is simple, when you are brought up in a certain way, in a certain city, country and continent, you have notions, characteristics, culture and opinions which are influenced in a big way by that background. It is inevitable, even for global citizens. The difference with the global guys is that they can look beyond it. Be a less judging person. Not be governed by localized thoughts. Understand and relate to someone across the world. Who might be of a weird color. Speaking a weird language. Wearing weird clothes. Eating weird food. Behaving in a weird way. In the global world, there is no weird. Because you have seen so much weird, that weird stops being weird. Because in the global world, you understand that where you come from is the weirdest of them all. And you are comfortable with it.

The problem is, everyone thinks they are global. It is almost like how everyone thinks they are not judging. A friend recently told me she is not judging. And I asked her what she would think about a girl having a relationship with 2 guys simultaneously. Or of nude beaches. Whether she would relate to threesomes. Or orgies. And she reconsidered her "non judging" opinion. Saying you are not "judging" is a relative thing. Like being global. It has degrees. But like everything else in life, if you clear a certain basic level, you will feel comfortable with the fraternity. 

There are, of course the fakes. I have been bumping across a lot of those fake NRIs back home, people who have never stepped out of the country, or stepped out on that one stand-alone vacation/business trip (usually to Nepal), yet consider themselves an expert on global culture.  But they snicker at racist remarks, have notions about continental food (the real one, not the fancy continental restaurant in your local mall), and cannot understand most foreign accents. They do not know there is no language called "chinese", cannot tell you what caviar is made of and do not know that Montenegro is a country. Sorry, I will not call you global just because you watch CNN.

When you are a global citizen, you have a problem with people who want to stick to their stereotypes. Of course, I feel more comfortable with Indian people too, but I don't limit my friend circle to them. Some people I know give me the impression that they are working in a global work environment only because they are forced to. For heavens sake, broaden your horizons, stop being a "frog-in-the-well". Look around you. Learn. Grow. Mix. Try having a steak for a change. Or fajitas. Or tapas. Ask your Nigerian colleague about the language they speak and your Romanian friend the food they eat. Date a Turkish girl. Have some beer with the Irish guy. Dance with the American couple. 

Or if nothing works.. do this...

Clicked by me, Parc Guell, Barcelona, May 2010

And if you have not had the chance to socialize with anyone outside your country. Then I have only one piece of advice for you. Travel.

Be a global citizen. Break your local mould. You will discover how "Indian" or "British" or "American" you really are when you associate with others who are not like you. It will open your mind to bigger and better things. And you will stop worrying about the smaller insignificant things in life.

And yes, the teenager was right, it IS all about the attitude, so get that straightened out first!

P.S. I know that the official definition of the term Global Citizenship is quite different.... but you know what I mean don't you ;) 

Jack of All Trades

I hate stereotypes. Indians abroad are all techies. Or people in IT are nerds. Or Ph.D. scholars are geeks. Or good looking NRIs are players. Or guys don't like cooking. Things of that sort. The world is full of them. My life is in sorts a contradiction to many. And I have lived trying to refute a lot of them. I am a bit tired really, and wary. So sometimes I let people be. I let them talk, believe and spread the stereotypes. Till they realize that I am a contradiction of sorts. Then sometimes they shut up.

I know stereotypes are born out of generalizations. Generalizations are sometimes statistically more probable. If someone says he is European, there is a high probability he will be white Caucasian. But it's wrong to assume that to begin with. Just like it is wrong to address a chairperson of a meeting as "Dear Sir" in a letter when you do not know the person's sex. Or to call him a chairman. No, I am not feminist, but if I understand why that could piss off a lady. Like it pisses me off when someone asks me "Are you a developer?" when they get to know I am Indian and in IT.

So I am in IT. I am Indian. I live abroad. I am a guy. I am also a Ph.D. scholar. As I narrate these sentences, you start forming a picture. Don't get me wrong, I do too. White ill-fitting formal shirt. Blue baggy jeans. Expensive ridiculously colored sneakers which don't match. A laptop bag. Oiled hair neatly combed like a "good boy", or totally untidy. Looking a bit lost at some international airport. 

So it surprises a few that I don't adhere to the image. The clan who do, actually get mad at me for not falling in line. The other Ph.D. scholars find it strange that I am in the basketball and football teams at my company. Or that I am dressed in suits like the "corporates". My Indian friends think its strange that I ice skate. The other guys snicker when I tell them I love cooking. My Indian "onsite" colleagues look incredulous when they notice I gel my hair into spikes. My weight training mentor at the gym thinks it's ridiculous that I would want to have a Ph.D. degree. My Ph.D. guide thinks its ridiculous that I would want to do weight training at the gym.

I can go on and on. The point is that I don't like sticking to stereotypes. And I feel there is too much focus on being the "master" of a few trades. I don't question those who are, I actually respect them. But don't stop there. Just because you became an actor doesn't mean you are banned from pursuing higher education. Or vica versa.

So I do it all. I love sports. Volleyball, basketball, football, cricket, table tennis. I could beat a few at most of them. I am not really the proverbial IT manager, I actually have a sense of humor. I love to ice skate, or at least I try to. I weight train at the gym. I blog... or again.. I try to. I watch European football, and marvel at how it is close to a religion in Europe. I study cultures. I have friends from all over the world, from countries most Indians haven't heard of. I love cooking, I love to learn ways of cooking from others, the French, the Croatians, the Latvians. I love teaching at the University, it opens up my mind to interact with youngsters from all over the world. I adore the research workshops, the passion in each researcher thrills me. I love my job, people say I am married to my company. I love the fact that it makes me meet so many new people from all over the world. I travel. I hold motivational workshops. I listen to club and trance, and to Bollywood music. I play Boule. I have formal training in short-movie making. I like photography. I have been a national level debator, oratory used to be my life. I am crazy about motorbikes, stunt biking is my passion. I live for road-trips to weird places. I like business meetings. I like beaches. I love the fjords.

And so I do it all. Don't type cast me. You might say I am not good at any of them, or maybe I am. It doesn't really matter. I believe that everything in life is worth a try. If you can be good at a few of them, that is great. If not, at least you tried. At least you will not have a lot of regrets in life on your death bed. You will identify with more people, understand how the world works. And most of all, your horizons will be much broader. Oh yes, I love being the Jack of All Trades!

Pic courtesy: http://www.designzzz.com/tips-for-making-more-money-as-a-graphic-designer/