So, how did we do this, huh? Why did this life-changing idea even come about. What on earth was going through our heads to make us want to give it all up? Well, partly because Chris was daydreaming and surfing the web at the office when he should have been working.
A Simple Life in Thailand
No jobs. No debt. All the time in the world. Spending time with each other. Oh, and with our cat.
The first time the idea of living in another country crossed our minds was in May 2011. I was introduced to Chiang Mai, Thailand in July 2011, with Chris’s email:
Hey Sweetie,
Check out this site. This community seems awesome! Check out the pics, etc.
http://www.thesparesorts.net/residence-investment/why-chiang-mai (this link has since been discontinued)
The 2 bedroom villa is $139,986 (1270sq ft)…and the one bedroom is between $82,000 and $108,000 (914sq ft)
On the resort they have pulls, spa services, one of the worlds top 50 restaurants, an organic farm, etc.
Love,
Chris
The thought of buying a condo in a foreign Asian city for $100-$150k sounded daring, but intriguing. Where could we get something like that in the States? To put it in perspective, a similar place in Northern Virginia would have cost $400-$500k. And what else does NoVA have to offer? Well, some very wonderful things on top of the incredibly overpriced cost of living, mind-numbing traffic, and the constant demand by social media to buy things that are bigger, better, faster, etc. And to be honest, all of that was starting to get old.
Call it a Mid-Life Crisis
Ok, not really, because we really hope we live longer than 50. But really, we both realized that there is more to life than spending 40+ hours a week working, slowly building up a retirement fund, while wasting away our healthiest years sitting in a cubicle. Not only do we not know what our retirement age will be, but saving for retirement is in itself a gamble because it is based on the assumption that we will be physically capable of traveling when we are finally free to do so. We asked ourselves, why wait? What are we afraid of?
So we dove deeper and did our research. Some serious and meticulous research. We zeroed in on Chiang Mai and figured out what we needed to do to get there. The idea to move over-seas started out just for fun, almost casual. We changed our lifestyle bit by bit. We started spending a little less, saving a little more, and stared selling some of our belongings. Then it sort of snowballed.
And here we are.
Mike and I can completely relate. The FL Keys, although a paradise for many, are extremely expensive to live in. All we did was work 50 to 65 hours a week to save up for little trips that left us feeling nostalgic about traveling. Like you, we decided that there was a better place for us to be and something much more to life. Also, I want to thank you both again for helping to inspire us to take the leap and start our journey. We’re not sure when we will get to Thailand as North America is keeping us… Read more »
Thanks you so much, Rachel. We are really looking forward to meeting up with you and Mike once you arrive. You journey is so inspiring! Makes us wish we outfitted a truck and took an epic road trip too!