After experiencing a European trip that cost up to 300,000 yuan, I deeply reflected on the expenses versus the gains. The 30-day itinerary covered 10 countries, produced 100 video materials, and 2,000 selected photos, achieving a year’s worth of work goals. This journey was not only costly but also led me to my own path of content creation.
However, it must be pointed out that a large part of the expenses during the trip could be optimized. For example, I should not have paid for first-class airfare costing tens of thousands of yuan, and the cost of shooting materials for up to 20,000 yuan per night in hotels. These astronomical accommodation fees accounted for one-third of the travel budget. In fact, I could consider more cost-effective accommodation options without sacrificing any comfort or convenience.
For the future content production process and expenses, I already have a clear plan. I will strictly control the budget and spend it on each necessary investment. Among them, I also want to particularly mention accommodation costs, which are usually the main expense of travel. Choosing the right hotel is key to ensuring a balance between rest and work. As for the choice of hotels, I prefer those that are moderately priced but conveniently comfortable.
Another major expense of the trip was paying for the assistant’s fees. In Europe, the daily wage for assistants is not cheap, especially in cities such as Cairo, Rome, and Paris. I paid a high price to hire a capable and high-quality assistant, ensuring the smooth progression of work.
It is worth mentioning that I specifically hired an internet celebrity with tens of thousands of followers on Xiaohongshu as my assistant. His influence ensured that my message was efficiently disseminated to the target audience, which is also a key content I am willing to invest in.
Finally, other expenses of the trip included dining and domestic flights within Europe. Generally speaking, domestic flights and business class prices in Europe are relatively reasonable and do not cause a significant financial burden.
Through this experience, I have a more comprehensive understanding and plan on how to effectively allocate the budget for work and travel, striving to control costs while also achieving efficient content creation and work efficiency.
Sitting in the non-business class seats at the front of the plane often faces luggage restrictions, making some air travel experiences unsatisfactory, especially when compared to domestic airlines. I am grateful for the opportunities for life and work in China, being able to start a business on my own and profit from geographical arbitrage is already a blessing. Therefore, maintaining a grateful heart, actively paying taxes, being generous to team members, and sharing profits with partners are basic principles of doing business. If paying the wages of young domestic employees or maintaining good relations with them becomes a problem, it is usually the responsibility of the business owner rather than the young people.
Another challenge is belief and planning ability. Humans easily get bored, both domestically and internationally. Therefore, planning content is crucial, and life needs planning too. The lives of many straight male and female entrepreneurs lack diversity due to a lack of planning, and they need to think about the importance behind this ability. Planning ability depends on personal experience, knowledge, and reflection. Having seen many entrepreneurs, who although ambitious, indulge in nightlife, which is repulsive. Females supporting younger men also need to reflect on whether this really fits with their ideal life and plans.
During my travels, I constantly search and ponder: what kind of life do I want, where do I plan to settle, and engage in business. Under a global perspective, Liu Siyi’s content planning model can be summarized as follows: First, to go overseas to absorb fresh information and introduce it to domestic clients, while promoting domestic business models to overseas Chinese communities, thereby generating business growth; second, to showcase the lives of global Chinese and the possible prejudices they face, creating content scarcity; third, to use popular sceneries from around the world as backgrounds, take a large number of photos for social media, creating high-quality private content; fourth, to adopt a supplementary linguistic perspective, film short videos to share insights on traffic, nations, business models, and personal feelings and growth; fifth, to share the real experiences and prejudices of each country on various social platforms for personal branding. Treating the world as one’s own stage and nourishment, it is not necessary to have a large team, but to use all funds for travel expenses, which turns out to be valuable.
Looking to the future, I plan to live in the United States for three months from April 15th to July 15th. At the same time, I extend an invitation to successful Chinese Americans, looking forward to exchanges and cooperation. For someone with a personality like mine, where should I ultimately make my home? Shenzhen + Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, or Bangkok? I welcome valuable suggestions. I share insights on travel, case studies, acquiring traffic, and entrepreneurial resources daily on social platforms. Considering the value of the content on my personal WeChat public account, those interested friends might as well add me to contact and send an introduction of themselves.
