Two Weeks of Mini-Retirement: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Last Two Weeks Have Been an Adventure

Just about 2 weeks ago, I left my life in Sydney for a 6-month mini-retirement that will involve backpacking around the world. It started in Australia, going through Southeast Asia, and then finishing up in Europe in December. During this time, I’ve set a budget of $20,000 for the whole experience and planned to spend about $2,000/month ($65/day) in Asia and $4,000/month ($130/day) in Europe. My goals for this mini-retirement are:

• to explore and experience new cultures
• get used to a nontraditional lifestyle living on the road out of a backpack
• getting more work done on this blog and generate some passive income

On top of these goals, I’m hoping to experience some adventure, make new friends and meet interesting people and go through many learning experiences that will help me grow as a person.

I’m not just going to be “vacation-ing” for 6 months, as long-term travel requires some sacrifices and a certain tolerance to being uncomfortable.

And already during the first 2 weeks we’ve been on the road, we’ve experienced a few setbacks….

On the first step of our trip, we left Sydney for 10 days in Perth and Western Australia, where we were going to spend a few days in the “world’s most isolated city” (the closest city with over 500,000 people is over 1,200 miles away), and then were going to go on a 7-day tour of the west coast of Australia.

And the adventures started pretty quickly….

So to detail how these adventures panned out, I’ll break them down into “the good, the bad and the ugly”…

 

The Good

After we left Western Australia, we flew to Bali, which is an island in Indonesia that’s a famous tourist destination for many people from Australia and Asia, particularly. It’s known for great weather, beautiful beach and rainforest scenery, and friendly Balinese people who always have a smile on their face.

 

Hanging out with Yoga Yoda at in Ubud, Bali

Once we got to Bali, there were a few improvements that we quickly took to as compared to Australia:

• The weather was much better in Bali. Winter was in full swing in Perth, so though it’s nothing compared to many North American or European winters, the temperatures were still in the 40’s/50’s (single digits of teens for Celsius) with rain many of the days.
• It was significantly cheaper. In Bali we could get a room at an AirBnB or homestay (local family’s guesthouse) for $10-$20/night, and then many meals only cost about $3-10/person for great local food in a basic restaurant.

The way to get the best value for your money in Bali (or anywhere really when you’re travelling) is to live as the locals do. Stay in a guesthouse which usually consists of a basic bedroom and private bathroom, and then eat at restaurants that serve local-style food. To get around, people either walk or take motorbikes. Driving in cars really doesn’t make sense since traffic is so bad and the streets are so small.

We were even able to splurge on a few luxuries and still stay on the budget of about $65/day. We got a massage at a very nice spa that only cost $40 for two people, and we had a few nice meals at more western-style cafes where we enjoyed smoothie bowls and fancy omelettes.

 

 

The Bad

So far things probably sound great from the perspective of “the good”, but you probably noticed that I left out everything from Western Australia.

Our first few days in Perth were relatively cold and rainy, but we still managed to see the city. The weather was forecasted to be pretty cold and rainy the whole time we were there, but we were determined to not let that stop us from having a great time.

We then left on our tour with Aussie Wanderer tour company for 7 days up the coast to experience hiking, swimming, snorkeling and other outdoor activities in the Outback. However, on day 2 of our tour, our guide informed us that the tour company we were with, Aussie Wanderer, had gone bankrupt and that our tour was cancelled, meaning we would have to go back to Perth immediately.

We would be given no refunds or rescheduled with another tour company, and our poor tour guide was out of the job without his last paycheck as well.

Our tour group’s last moments together on our way back to Perth after the tour was cancelled.

As a result of this tour being cancelled, we incurred a few extra costs since we had to book a place to stay in Perth until we could fly to Bali, and since we already had flights booked, we had to pay to get our flight changed to an earlier day.

Anyways, we were able to make the best of it and spend 2 final nights in Perth before flying off to Bali without too much extra cost. In the end, “The Bad” wasn’t too bad.

 

The Ugly

Don’t you worry, our adventures don’t end there!

What would be the bad without the ugly….

As I mentioned before, our tour that we had fully paid for was cancelled, and we were not offered a refund on our tour that cost $2,200 for two people. But luckily we had purchased travel insurance through World Nomads a few days before we left on our trip. However, while I was getting ready to submit our claim, I did read that for instances of companies becoming insolvent (a fairly common occurrence so I’ve found out), there is a 14-day “cooling off” period from when you buy insurance until you can submit a claim.

Sooooo, we are still waiting to hear back from World Nomads on whether or not we will be able to receive compensation for our cancelled tour, but there is a chance that we might be out $2,200…

Lesson learned: buy your travel insurance early and make sure you read the fine print

 

And then what wouldn’t travel be without some illness involved. For those of you who aren’t familiar, I came down with a case of the infamous “Bali Belly” that put me down for about 2 days. You probably don’t need to ask what Bali Belly is, but basically it’s a fairly ugly gastrointestinal illness that happens to many travelers to Bali after being exposed to their food, water and different levels of sanitation. Even if you only drink bottled water and eat cooked food, it’s still possible to come down with Bali Belly. The only way to guarantee that you don’t get it is to not visit Bali…

And unfortunately, since the water and sanitation situation is so bad in Bali, you can’t really cook your own food without the proper water and equipment, which basically no accommodation will have.

So the ugly was fairly ugly for a few different reasons, but overall we have still had a great time and had many awesome experiences. It’s all been an adventure for sure!

 

Conclusion

 

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustav Flaubert

 

Though not completely easy and relaxing, so far this trip has been a fun and rewarding experience. I know we are only two weeks in, but I’m comfortable and confident with the way things are going. Challenges are expected, but way more fun times are likely.

We are finding it hard to stay on budget when out of our comfort zones and things are going wrong. It’s so easy to reward yourself with a nice place to stay or a fancy meal when you’re sick, tired of eating fried rice or just plain exhausted from moving around so much.

This will likely be the biggest thing I need to work on at the moment. Sticking to the budget, even when we’re uncomfortable. But there’s many more weeks of travel ahead, and I’m excited to see where it takes us!

But luckily I can keep enjoying the little luxuries, such as a fresh, cold coconut for only $1….

 

 

Question: How do you adjust to new settings and experiences? Do you find it difficult to stay on a budget when things go wrong?

 

Leave a comment or send me an email!

NYPFGuy