I recently received an email with many interesting questions from a fellow trader reading this blog. I asked for permission to post the transcript and here it is. Hope you will get something from it.

************************* the email

Hey Forex Nomad,

I just found your blog not to long ago, and while I confess that I have yet to read all your posts (I will, promise!), your ability to travel the world and support yourself through forex really speaks to me. As someone who sees forex as a means to live a life such as yours, this blog brings so much hope. Like you, I was 18 when I discovered forex, and probably like you, I’ve been digesting so much forex knowledge since then (I’m 20 now). Though I am no where close to being a great trader, I can turn a profit. If you don’t mind me asking however, what was your initial capital before you started your world-traveling-fun-filled-trading adventure? If you aren’t comfortable providing me with an exact number, that’s very understandable. Did you have to raise any initial capital before starting your journey? Also, does your trading coupled with your lifestyle manage to net you any profit that allows you to grow your trading account? Thank you for your time, and now I will enjoy reading your blog!

James

************************* my answer

Hello James,
well I don’t usually talk about my initial capital for the simple fact that it sounds to good to be true… and I don’t want to give false hopes to newcomers. I did had to trade 2-3 years in the stockmarket to start getting in profit, but still couldn’t make a living out of it. I started to be profitable in forex after at least 1 year.. Basically I was testing multiple strategies on multiple accounts, with something like 100$ in each. One of these strategies really stood out (thats the one I’m still trading currently), and I went to 20k$ in a 3-4 months period because of compounding.
So basically the initial capital was not spent on trading, but on paying my rent and food WHILE I was looking for a sustainable strategy. It’s a big difference, and I see it more as an investment or a down-payment. Yes I was in the red at the beginning, but that was the only way to have the time to work and study the charts.
For the lifestyle question, I can say that yes I grow account while traveling, but at the same I risk less while on the road (and thus gain less) for the simple fact that my schedule become more random, and I don’t have all my equipment with me (trading with a laptop is a little less convenient than trading with two 24″ inches widescreen monitors…)
I hope I answered all your questions!