Six months and eight countries later, we look back on the craziest—and possibly cheapest—time of our lives!
Total Spent This Month
$2048.82 (basically back on track!)
Average Spend Per Day in Month 6
$33/pp/day
Total Spent in 6 Months
$13,740 ($1,740 over where we wanted to be)
Thirteen grand might sound like a big number, and it is, but have you ever actually done the math to see how much you spend each month? The average 1 bedroom apartment rental in San Francisco costs $2800 and the average dinner with a glass of wine is probably something like $50 a head. That means that our spending when we lived in the States was a multiple of what we spend nowadays, except our new number includes volcanos, turtles, elephants, waterfalls, beaches, sharks, culture, three "restaurant" meals a day, and so much more! (Also, there are no cubicles!)
Of course, back then we had jobs. Now we're traveling off our savings, our rental income, and the stock market. And unlike some bloggers, we're not making a penny off this site, so we can't afford—nor would we want—to do full-time travel forever. (Enjoy the site's clean design? That's why we don't accept ads to help fund our travel.)
We feel incredibly lucky to have had the six months we just had. Not only have we learned about eight new cultures and countries, but we've actually been able to meet one of our initial goals and help others. From a following of only our friends and family, our site has grown to over 7000 pageviews a month, with readers from all over the world. (In fact, less than half of you guys are American!)
So what's next for us? After another week of working (for ourselves) in Malaysia, we get back to exploring. On September 2, we fly to India where we meet my (Lina's) mom. Around September 19, we cross over into Nepal and then the two of us will attempt to do a 17-day trek around Everest. Wish us, and my knees, luck.
After that, we have a brief stopover to visit a college buddy living in Melbourne before we head to New Zealand, where we've secured an awesome housesitting opportunity in the coastal town of Dunedin. With plenty of hiking and scenery right outside our door, as well as two dogs who'll have no choice but to love us, we're excited to settle down for a month and get cracking on our future. And no—you can't know more. At least not now!
Favorite experiences for Month 6
Lina
- Discovering the hidden beaches of Bali—not sure why we ever went to the other ones!
- Learning enough Indonesian to trick the locals into thinking I could actually hold a conversation.
- Having Rob treat me to a day of luxury for our two-year wedding anniversary. Sometimes you just need a massage with oil and a dinner with cloth napkins!
Rob
- Doing another crazy day hike to the rim of the Rinjani volcano and discovering the mini volcano spewing inside a crystal blue crater lake.
- Motorbiking. I might need to invest in a bike when I get home. There's nothing like the feeling of exploring new locations on two wheels.
- Taking some time off travel to relax, work and eat in Georgetown, Penang. For $1, you can have a noodle dish that blows your mind and an Indian bread bigger than your head!
New to our blog? Read about how and why we blew our budget in month 5, and the other adventures we've had along the way in months 4, 3, 2, and 1. You can also read about why we chose to be well traveled over well employed.
Still here? Why not get out there and see the world? It doesn't cost nearly as much as staying home!
You could also leave us a comment telling us where you'd love to go in the future!
-The Erohs
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