Why am I still awake?

You can do it for free, or almost free, and it’s not difficult. If you want to open it up to the public and possibly charge admission, it’s more involved but very achievable. I started out with nostream and a tutorial online, and customized over time.

As for why I run a paid relay…

Because I can? Because I learn best by doing, and wanted to contribute to the Nostr community? All of that. My admission is so low I make nothing on it, but high enough to avoid scammers using the relay. So I can offer my friends a practically free relay that’s fast and spam free.

Basically, I do it to give back and contribute to the network by providing another option. I make it a life goal to contribute to anything I believe in in a concrete way, and to leave things better than I found them.