Today’s photo comes thanks to my brother in Thailand. It’s been a cold spring here in Colorado, and this photo makes me look forward to summer even more. We spent a few weeks hanging out on the beach loungers in front of Maya Beach Club on Koh Tao, and I have to say, they get some of the best sunsets nearly every night.
In light of the fact that we have spent the last three days moving into our new apartment, it seems like the perfect time to address the question that all long-term travelers have to deal with at some point.
What are you going to do with all your stuff while you’re gone?
We knew we were coming home in less than two years, and we also had planned to settle in Colorado, so we chose to get rid of the stuff that we didn’t think we’d want/need later, and we drove everything else out to Colorado and loaded it into a storage unit. The biggest argument long-term travelers have against storing everything is that, well, it can cost a fair amount of money. Depending on where you are, and how big of a unit you have, you could be spending anywhere from $50-$200/month. If you are living in a city, your best bet is to drive out, usually a half-hour will do it, and you’ll find rural storage units that can cost 1/3 of what you’d spend in most major cities.
It might seem, at first glance, that the $1000-$2000 needed to keep your stuff could be better used towards travel, especially when you factor in the money you could make selling it all! The thing is, if you know you are coming home, you need to realize that you still are going to need a bed, dressers, bookshelf, couch, TV, dishes, towels, sheets, silverware, cups, pots and pans, a microwave, etc… when you return.
We have a really nice mattress that is only a few years old. We have basically brand new dishes, pots, pans, glassware and kitchen appliances, most of which were wedding presents. We bought a new TV just two years before we left. Realistically, we would have had to spend far more money to replace these items than we ended up spending to store them, even taking into account what we might have made if we sold them. If you don’t have high quality items, or many items at all, then storing things might not be worth it, especially if you have family or friends that are willing to keep a few personal items for you.
If you go the storage route, there are some things you can do to make packing, and unpacking it all just a bit easier when you get back.
Number your boxes. Then, make a list where you give a basic description of what’s in each number box. For most things it can be as simple as just labeling the room the box should go in. There are a few things you’ll want to name specifically though – like your wifi router, or the corkscrews…Storing your belongings isn’t for everyone, but if you know you are coming home eventually, and you have even a few expensive items that you’d like to keep for the future, it might be worth it in the long run.
If you are a long-term traveler and have a different solution for dealing with your ‘stuff’ while you’re gone, let us know in the comments!
Mmmm….fried bugs. You can find carts full of fried bugs all over SE Asia. Apparently they are not only filling, but can be really healthy for you. Some seem like they’d be more horrible to eat than others (see the giant cockroach?) whereas others are so crispy that they just taste like a very well done french fry. One thing I didn’t know about eating bugs is that in Thailand, most of these critters are raised in captivity for the sole purpose of being sold as snacks. Yum!
Fabulous shot of our new home city by vandan desai on Flickr
A year ago today I wrote a post about the heart of why we decided to take our career break to travel around the world. Part of me wanted to write it to answer some of the questions we’d gotten about why we wanted to take this kind of a trip in the first place. Another part of me wrote it as a way to recognize some of the terrible moments of loss that caused us to re-evaluate our path in life.
We’re done with the trip, and in a bit of a state of limbo. We’ve returned to my home state of Colorado, and are in the middle of the hurricane that is searching for new jobs after not working for nearly two years.
Now that we’re home, people want to know if we think we’ll miss all the travel or if we think we’ll be happy here. I’ve learned to not anticipate how I will, or will not feel about something. Right now I’m very happy. I was ready to come home and see my family and friends. I have been longing for my own space, a garden, the intellectual challenge that comes with my line of work. Right now I don’t miss travel, but that’s partly because I know our travel will never really be done. We’ll always have a strong sense of wanderlust, and I’m sure we’ll be travelling as frequently as we can, just as we did before this trip.
One thing I do know for sure is that we are much more focused on living the rest of our lives with as little regret as possible and we’ll continue to listen to what burns inside of us because really, those are the things our dreams are made of.
Recently we met a young couple who genuinely didn’t understand why we embarked on this huge journey. They wanted to know why we didn’t seem to miss our clothes, our home, our ‘regular’ lives. Why aren’t we worried about what happens when we go back, or when we run out of money? Why aren’t we worried about our careers? Why would we choose this unstable sort of life?
These are all valid questions, and some can be answered at least partially by checking out our “About Us” section.
We’ve been on the road for almost five months and we’ve thought a lot about the things that motivate us to travel, and the reasons behind the decisions that have landed us where we are in life.
I’ve started this post a dozen different times and discarded every attempt at an answer until now. It’s a complicated answer because life is complicated.
Why do writers write? Why do athletes compete? Why do artists create? Most of them will tell you that it’s because it is their passion. There is something that burns inside of them and says “This is what you must do”, and so they do it. If you ask Justin if he has a burning passion for travel he’ll say no, but he does enjoy it. If you ask me, I’ll say yes, I have a passion for travel, but it’s not all encompassing. We have a love of the world, a desire to see new things, to immerse ourselves in different cultures, to meet new people. Yes, it can be frustrating to not have a huge wardrobe selection, or to have to move every few days, or to have to sleep in dorm rooms with 20 other travelers, but the benefits of what we are doing far outweigh these minor issues.
This alone might be answer enough for most people, but there is more behind it.
We’ve lived fairly comfortable lives. We had the opportunity to earn university degrees, we had careers that we enjoyed, family and friends we love, and we could have settled comfortably into a nice routine in Colorado and lived out our lives pleasantly…but…there’s always a ‘but’.
People talk about living life to the fullest, taking advantage of every moment, every opportunity. Most people don’t follow that philosophy in their everyday reality though. Life is busy, things get in the way. All those responsibilities build up and we have a hard time looking through them to where those moments and opportunities might lead us. I’m as guilty as anyone else of living like that. The conventional wisdom tells us to work hard. Save money. Plan for the future. We were on that path. We were saving money for a down-payment on a home. I was pushing myself professionally to make sure my career path had an upward trajectory. We were diligent about putting money aside for retirement.
Then, over the last few years, a number of things started to jolt us out of that cocoon of complacency. A close friend’s mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. My mother was hit hard financially and lost her home to the bank. A schoolmate from when I was a child died from a brain tumor. A classmate from high school died from melanoma. Three years ago today, one of my most dear friends was murdered by her ex-husband.
Everyone knows life is precious and fleeting, but these events sucker-punched me. There were things that had been left unsaid, regrets, and ‘should-haves’ and the weight of them felt terrible. We came to realize that while we had a great life, we weren’t actually taking advantage of what it could be. It became painfully clear that despite the best of plans and the most careful of arrangements, it can all be gone in an instant. We took a good long look at ourselves and asked,What is it that we dream of? Why don’t we follow that dream and see where it goes?
That burning passion that writers and artists and athletes have for what they do? Well, I don’t exactly have that, but the thing that burns inside of me says take the chance. So we did.
Today’s photo comes to you courtesy of Justin. He snapped this awesome temple-top and prayer flag photo somewhere just outside of Kathmandu. While I was busy burning up in the hospital, I insisted Justin head out for some sightseeing with a friend we made while trekking the Annapurna Circuit. I really wish I would have been able to go with him, but we at least have some photos of the places he visited. Unfortunately, he didn’t bother to write down where they were going…so we don’t know exactly where this was. Do you know? If you do, let us know in the comments!
Number of days spent in country – 4
Cities/towns visited – Siem Reap, Chong Kneas, Kompong Pluk
Number of different lodgings – 1
Flights – 0
Bus journeys – 1
Boat rides – 1
taxi journeys – 1
Rickshaw rides – 7
Bike rentals – 1
Attempted extortion by border officials – 1
Total US dollar amount spent –$ 348.60 including $40 in visa fees
Average cost per day, per person -$43.58
Average lodging cost per night, per person – $7
We only stayed at one place during our time in Cambodia – The Phrom Roth Guesthouse – $14 for a HUGE room with AC, private bath and wifi. The only room they had was for 3 people and cost slightly more than we would have paid for a double room, but we arrived at night and didn’t want to waste a lot of time searching for a place in the dark. We had already looked at a few other places in a similar price range, but this was easily the nicest. They also had a FREE water re-fill service which saved us probably $8-10 during our stay so it worked out very well in the end.
Average food/drink cost per day, per person – $9.75 You can eat at anything from local street stands to very nice Western Restaurants. Some days we spent $12 each on food, other days we spent $6. We also drank a lot of beer here as there were .50 cent draughts all over the place.
Angkor Wat – This really goes without saying, but if you are in Siem Reap, this is what you are here to see. This was my second trip and it was just as awesome as the first time, even with the HUGE increase in tourists.
Too many people to deal with pre-dawn…
FYI, if you want to get the classic reflecting sunrise shot at Angkor Wat, you will need to battle for your spot in the massive crowds that gather along the edge of the little reflection puddle. We took one look at the mob and opted to go to the other side of the road, skipping the classic shot, but still seeing a lovely sunrise.
Breakfast at Temple Club – This was a pretty good deal for a hearty breakfast. The cheese omlette is large and comes with a huge baguette, fried tomato, and a tiny little juice for $2.50.
Pumpkin curry from the local food stalls that line the market.
We heart cheap beer.
50 cent mugs of beer from most places in town.
Hammocks and beer.
If you rent a bike you can ride the 11 kilometers out to the boat launch for the incredibly touristy floating village Chong Kneas. We rode out there, but didn’t end up taking the boat since we found what we consider to be a much better option for whiling away the afternoon. All along the road before the village are little local restaurants where you can lounge about in a hammock with a beer and a great view of the rice fields. With the bike you also get the chance to see the villages along the way.
The border crossing at Poipet can be a pain in the ass. If you pay in Thai Baht you are getting ripped off. If you let someone buy your visa for you ahead of time you are getting ripped off. If you pay the extra ‘fee’ the border officials ask for, you are being ripped off. The visa costs – for US citizens at least – $20, payable in USD. That’s it. Don’t pay more. When we were asked for extra I smiled politely and shook my head ‘no’. There is a ton of info about the crossing on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum as well as on Travel Fish so I won’t reinvent the wheel here.
We found the ‘tour’ of Kompong Pluk, a stilted village, to be a bit of a rip off. The village itself is interesting enough to see, but it takes about 40 minutes in a tuk-tuk (about $15 round-trip) to get to the boat launch, then an hour in a little boat to get to the village itself. We were taken around in the boat for about 20 minutes through the main town area, and then returned to the boat launch. In the guidebook the price was listed as $8 per person, but when we arrived it had risen to $20 per person. We balked at this and turned around to leave but it was low season so we ended up getting a ‘discounted’ price of $25 total. It just wasn’t worth even the discounted cost for how little time you actually spend in the village, especially considering our boat guy didn’t say a single word to us the entire time.
The Parallel Life 