Thailand Journal: Flying Hanuman

That was………intense.  Julie, for some reason, can’t get enough of these adrenaline pumping, heart stopping, thrill seeking activities.  She absolutely lives for them and can’t get enough.  I, on the other hand, get my thrills from more mild activities like good conversation, tasty food, and the creative brainstorming of products, ideas, and anything technology.  I’ve never once in my life desired to skydive, bungee jump, drive at reckless speeds, or race – dangling from zip lines – from one tree top to the next in the heart of a tropical jungle.  My idea of adventure is going to Thailand.  Julie’s is going to Thailand in order to do activities that put your life in jeopardy.

Now, she’d tell you that our lives were never in jeopardy – at any point – and that I’m being a baby about the whole thing.  Right Julie? (right. – Julie)  I mean – if Kim Kardasweqerawe (sp?) can do it, so can we.  (there was a picture of her on the wall – I suppose that’s their claim to fame.)  That, and there were grandmothers, children, and 6+ feet tall, 250lb+ Russian men on the trip along with us.  Somehow, despite all of this, I was the only one in the group with shaky knees and tremoring hands.  I would have felt embarrassed or shameful of this ridiculous response to being up there if my mind had possessed any ability to process anything other than irrational fear of falling to my imminent death for the 2 hours that we were up there – but it couldn’t.

Of course, once it was done, I was happy we did it.  It’s one of the reasons that I married Julie in the first place – she gets me out of my comfort zone and living life.  I’m immensely grateful that she got me up there and helped me develop my newfound fear of heights. (haha).  Seriously, though.  What an incredible experience.  I’m not sure I would “do it again in a heart beat” – but I suppose I’d do it again if I was running for my life and the only means of escape was running to the nearest hillside and zip lining away to safety…

African Journal: A Change of Plans

 

It was a Wednesday night for us on the 22nd of October, Levi had turned 30 the previous Saturday, and our time in Thailand was quickly running out.  We were kind of having a moment of panic – a panic like I assume one would feel during a mid-life crisis.  We have had a great opportunity set before us in being able to travel and visit Thailand for three months.  This was the most budget friendly plan that our original travel brainstorming sessions had produced.  Originally, when we first started throwing ideas out there, we wanted to hit up almost every continent and see India, Thailand, East Africa, Germany, and then finish it off with a deep dish pizza in Chicago.  Feeling like we should be a little more responsible with our money, we downsized from our extravagant, around-the-world tour to the three month “re-set” in Thailand that we finally landed on.  In Thailand we planned to spend the majority of our time working out, working on our new business ventures, and working to eat healthy and wholesome foods…in a beautiful world of fried noodle dishes (oh the irony)…

So…back to Wednesday night…Levi and I were talking and we sort of discovered that, as our time here is now past the halfway mark, we were still wanting for a bit of adventure and to make the most of our dwindling time.  We first thought India!  That’s it!  We can hit up 3-4 major cities and be back by November 10th for the already-booked (flights and hotels) Bangkok and Changmai legs of our Thailand tour.  After what amounted to a few hours of fervent research, our excitement was doused out once we realized that it would take 1-2 weeks in Bangkok to get a Visa to travel to India.  Because of what we already have booked for the end of our trip, we didn’t have that kind of time.

So then, my dearest Levi thought, maybe it’s not too late for Africa!  He quickly did some research on Visas, the ebola situation, and exchanged a few emails with the Safari company that he had originally researched back in February when we were thinking about including Kenya in our travel plans.

Less than 30 hours or so later, we had malaria pills, a financial plan, and tickets from Thailand -> Mumbai -> Dubai -> Nairobi (our destination.)  We our splurging on a 9-day Safari trip that will take us through two reserves and then on to Mombassa where we will hopefully get to meet the child that we sponsor through Compassion International!!!  I couldn’t be more excited than I am!  All of our vaccinations are good for the trip.  Like I said above, we even picked up our Malaria meds (less than $15 USD total for the both of us) from our friendly Thai pharmacist next door to my favorite salon, Peung Salon.  We also found a way to ship a package back to the US with our Thai treasures to make room for our African goodies!  Everything is just falling into place so perfectly!

I must confess, though, that at this point in our journey the frustration of us not being as far along in our health goals or our studies was really weighing on us and I know now that we had some very unrealistic expectations.  Now it’s becoming even more difficult to stay focused knowing all that is to come!  We have 3-4 last touristy favorites that we want to see here in Phuket before we move along – with only 5-6 days to fit it all in.

I also plan to finish up my real estate course before the end of our trip and Levi plans to continue his work on graphic design and apps.  By Levi’s math, (Levi stepping in here…) we’re missing out on 9 days of work by doing this journey.   At about 6 hours of work per day, that’s only 54 hours of course work.  That said, we have an approx. 30-hour itinerary (each way) going to Africa and coming back.  We should be able to spend at least 10-15 hours of that 60 hours of travel in airports working on our coursework.  That puts us at about 35-40 hours behind what we originally planned.  We think that we can easily make that work up in the meantime and whatever we don’t finish, we can resume once we’re back home – so it’s a calculated sacrifice that we both feel is very much worth the time…(Julie stepping back in…)

I’ve found myself, for the first month here, neglecting health and adventure for work – it seems as though that ever-elusive work-life-balance that we all look for can be difficult to get no matter where you are or what your situation is.  Personally, I tend to dive into a project and not come up for air until it’s finished – if you have ever been to my place while I was quilting or involved in a bake-day,  you know what I mean.  So, this is us trying to break out of our default, head-down, work-relentlessly lifestyle to make a concerted effort to introduce more balance in that area.  We plan on keeping you posted along the way, so stay tuned for what may prove to be the most exciting 30 days of our life…

 

Thailand Journal: A One Month Budget For Two

Hey all!  It’s been far too long since our last post – but there haven’t really been any new developments over the last month – so you haven’t missed out on much.  Julie and I have been working tirelessly on our respective real estate and app development studies, we’ve been working out 5-6 days per week in the morning, walking in the afternoons, and eating very uneventful meals throughout the day in our pursuit of health and fitness.  So, as I said, unless you want boring, repetitive posts about how tough the workout was or how bland the salad was, we haven’t really had anything to report.  That is until now!  We’ve just made our second round of monthly payments on rent, the gym, and the motorbike.  We’re starting to get a grasp on what a monthly budget might look like if someone were to come and live long-term in Rawai, Thailand.  A couple of things to consider – the exchange rate is now at 32.45 Baht (THB) to 1 USD, so my baht to USD calculations take that into consideration.  Also, the below data represents September 10th through October 10th.  We’re just getting out of low season and into the high/busy season here in Thailand and that definitely factors into the cost of things like motorbikes and lodging.  I don’t know how much the prices flex exactly, but it’s something to take into consideration if you’re planning a trip.  I’m simply reporting what the costs are for the months of September and October in Rawai – so if you’re reading this for your own Thailand trip planning purposes, please take that into consideration.  Without further adieu, here is what our expenses have been over the last month – with a brief explanation below each.

LODGING: 15,000THB, $462.25

Lodging in our scenario includes rent, electricity, garbage, water (shower/toilet/sink – not drinking water), a pool, cable (which we don’t really utilize – but it’s available), and internet.  It also includes general cleaning (but not deep cleaning – like the toilet or shower……) and fresh towels about every 2-3 days.  We have modern amenities in a villa that was built within the last 4 years.  It’s new, nice, top-of-the-line place as far as quality goes – but it’s a small and simple 9-unit compound.

MOTORBIKE: 5,000THB, $154.08

Julie and I share a 150cc motorbike for 5,000THB per month.  The 1 bike does just fine for us and gets us everywhere we need to go.  We honestly have yet to wish we had 2.

GAS: 630THB, $19.41

That’s right…we’ve gone everywhere we needed to go – the gym, out to eat 3-4 times a day, water runs, beach days, trips into the mountains / tourist towns / the main city, and everywhere in between – on $19.41 in gas.  Pretty awesome.  It breaks down to about 1 full tank per week and each tank costs approx. 150THB to fill.  So my math is basically 150THB*4.2 (the number of weeks in a month).  I didn’t keep every receipt, so this is a math-based estimate.

CELL PHONE PLAN: 426THB, $13.13

The cell phone plan, itself, is 399THB and then there is a 7% fee on top of that.  That breaks down to $13.13 USD per month.  It buys us 100 minutes or so and unlimited data for a whole month.  If you remember from one of our more recent posts, we also purchased an unlocked phone so that we could get the plan in the first place.  I didn’t include that cost here because it’s not part of the monthly budget.  For trip planners: if you have an unlocked phone already, this is an accurate amount to expect for cell phone service here.

LAUNDRY: 1,680THB, $51.77

This was a SHOCKER for us.  We thought we were getting an inexpensive treat having our laundry washed, dried, and folded for us – but boy were we wrong.  I suppose it’s close to the cost of going to a laundromat back home – but as folks who are used to the inexpensive process of simply washing our clothes at home, this was a surprise.  Here, we pay 50THB per kilo to have a lady wash, dry, and fold our clothes.  That breaks down to $3.39 USD per lb of clothing.  They have options here for us to purchase our own detergent and go wash them ourselves (30THB for a 9 kilo machine / $0.66 USD per lb of clothing + detergent costs) – but the problem is, there isn’t really anywhere for us to hang our laundry here – so we’re stuck going with the expensive option while we’re here.  If one’s lodging affords them the space to dry their clothes outside, it’s much more realistic to do the cheaper option – but even then, during rainy season, that gets a little dodgy.  The other reason we have to go with the more expensive option is because we traveled with about 5 days of clothing in our bags and because we’re working out and being extremely active, those 5 days have become more like 3 days when it’s all said and done.  We’re dropping off 1-3 kilos (half of our clothing) every 2-3 days or so for washing.  The math I used to configure the number above is based on those averages.

GROOMING: 2,650THB, $81.66

I had a hair cut and a beard trim for 150THB ($4.62 USD) and Julie had a cut and color for 2,500THB ($77.04 USD).  That’s a typical month for us – I usually go once every 3 weeks and Julie goes about every 6.  These were surprisingly good prices on both fronts as far as I’m concerned.  We were happy about that one.

FOOD AND HOUSEHOLD: 41,661B, $1,283.85

This category consists of groceries (oranges, various nuts and dried berries, snacks for cheat day), water (about 50THB per day for 6 1.5L bottles), meals (all of which are out), body wash, toiletries (including TP – not provided??), sun screen, and that’s about it!  This category covers all basic meals and hygiene.  Now, for some analysis.  One could spend around 120THB on a few eggs and toast for breakfast, 60THB for a Pad Thai lunch, 60THB for one of many delicious coconut-milk-based Thai curry dinners, and about 25THB for water per person.  That’s approx. $16.34 USD for 2 people to get basic / amazingly delicious food and all necessary liquids in a day.  Or, to keep things consistent, that’s $506.54 USD per month for food – all prepared by someone else as one lives the lavish life of luxury they’ve always dreamed about….and gains a TON of weight over the course of a month.  Julie and I have had the opportunity to take advantage of some pretty informative and motivating nutritional training while we’ve been here, though, and have completely revamped our diet.  We’ve been doing a paleo breakfast for me and an egg dish for Julie for about 150THB each, fruit / kale / protein shakes for first lunch for about 100THB each, and then hummus / pomegranate / walnut / various nuts / fruits / olive oil / balsamic / chicken (for me) / tuna (for her) / onion / pepper / lettuce / spinach / kale / and just-about-every-other-exotic-fruit-and-nut-combo-that-you-can-imagine salads for about 190THB each – for both lunch and dinner.  That’s become our regular diet – plus water, of course.  Do the math and that’s about $40.37 USD per day for the two of us – or $1,251.46 USD per month.  You’ll notice that our amount spent for all of last month was only $1,283.85 – well, we’ve only been eating this way for about 1.5 weeks.  Next month is going to be MUCH more expensive than we had originally hoped.  Back home, we could eat this way for about half that much if we were buying the groceries ourselves and preparing our meals at home.  So in that light – we’re definitely looking forward to the variety, cost, and control over our food that getting back home will provide!  In the meantime, though, we’ll enjoy having others prepare our foods and pay handsomely for that luxury.

SHOPPING: 1,749THB, $53.90

This marks the end of the needs-based expenses and the beginning of the wants-based ones.  We’re talking about diffusers to make the room smell good, new flip flops ’cause my strap on sandals were driving me nuts, clothing splurges, souvenir purchases, and everything in between.  This shopping category basically represents the fun-money that we blew in September.  I thought I’d include it, just so you could get an idea.  For context, all clothing is about 2-3x the cost of what you’d find in a Wal-Mart back home (not my clothing store of choice – but a common, nation-wide store for reference).  The shirts I brought with me from home were $4 each when I got them and the cheapest shirts here are around 350-400THB which equates to more than $10 for non-branded, basic shirts.  I needed another pair of workout shorts and so Julie and I went to the mall to purchase some Adidas shorts and they cost $24.35 USD.  That’s not outlandish, by any stretch, but it’s definitely not cheap.  I have to say this was a surprising part of Thailand – I thought that things like that would be a bit cheaper.  Oh well.  We haven’t spent much on those types of things, so those costs haven’t really affected us much.

THE GYM: 18,000THB, $554.70

We pay Beach House Fitness for unlimited access to 3 classes per day for 2 people for a whole month.  It’s definitely our second largest expense next to food – but it’s also one of the two primary reasons that we’re here in Thailand – and very much worth the short-term expense.

MASSAGES!: 2,520THB, $77.66

We had 3 each and it came to this much.  That’s 6 massages for $77.66.  We really have found paradise…

SUB-TOTAL, NEEDS BASED EXPENSES: $2,066.16

TOTAL, NEEDS & WANTS BASED EXPENSES: $2,752.42

I’ve got good news and bad news.  We’re half way done with our trip!

Now for more good news – we planned our budget perfectly and everything is exactly on track when compared to what we expected based on our extensive pre-trip research.  We’re very happy about this, as it means that we’ll be able to afford our flight home!  We’re going to keep on keeping on here for the next month or so as we race towards the finish line of our 2 month intensive training.  After that, we’ll be updating you a bit more frequently as we travel through Bangkok and Chang Mai for a couple weeks on our way home.  Until next time!