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Early Retirement SG

Short trips to make the road seem shorter

16/12/2013

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Couple of years back my wife and I took a tour to Hokkaido. Wow it was a beautiful country. Snow covered rooftops, nice food, etc etc etc. The only problem was that it cost us about SGD6000 for both of us on that single trip. 

2 weeks after I returned to work, the dread of work kicked in again. The fairy tale of Hokkaido was long forgotten at the back of my memory. There was nothing to look forward to. I wanted another trip to get out of the system again. How many of you have encountered such a scenario or a similar case? 

This got me thinking. How about I use the SGD6000 to go on 4 short trips a year? That would enable me to have something to look forward to every quarter. Sure I won't be going anywhere far and I'd have to scout the best deals. But its still a good idea to get away from the drone of working without seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.

As mentioned previously, this budget is quite flexible. I usually plan around SGD6000 but when I reach the destination, I'm more relaxed in the spending money and since we don't look at luxury products, the budget doesnt exceed by much in a year. So the annual actual spending would be SGD7000 or so. The budget is also reallocated over the quarters. Meaning we could be going to Southeast Asian countries for 3 trips and 1 better trip to Taiwan or Japan. 

We'll also start planning 6 mths in advance so that we can scout for good air fares and cheap hotels to pre-book. You'd be amazed at how possible it is to be planning based on SGD1500 when you can target deals 6 mths in advance. 

Basically, the trips we make are more for relaxing and taking time off from work rather than for heavy exploration of the country. So we tend to re-visit some of the areas if we enjoy the lifestyle there rather than to look for new places all the time. 

Some places which we go to are.
Penang, Malaysia, about SGD600 for 2 pax, 3 nights stay, flight, transport and food.
Taipei, Taiwan, about SGD2000 for 2 pax, 6 nights stay, flight, transport, food, gifts.
Bintan, Indonesia, Club Med, SGD1200 for 2 pax, 4 nights stay, boat, transport, food. (Club Med promotion)
Beijing, China, SGD500 for 2 pax, 4 nights stay, flight, transport, food. (Groupon promotion)
Pattaya, Thailand, forgot the price.
Bangkok, Thailand, forgot the price.
Malacca, Malaysica, haven't been but pricing should be similar to Penang. 

What do you think of this idea? Going for more short trips rather than 1 long one. Some of my friends go on 1 long trip to Europe costing SGD15k +. I tell them. Your 1 trip covers 2 years of my trips and I can go for 8 trips. They stay at posh hotels and come back with new bags and wallets from the usual LV and Prada. 

Would you rather go for 4 trips a year to simple places or 1 long trip to a good place? Can you wait a whole year? What would make you happier? 

(Yes no trips per year would probably allow me to retire even earlier. But as I've said in other posts, this blog isn't about scrimping and saving all the time but to allow leeway for enjoyment and living a fair enough life on the path to early retirement.)



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    This is the link to my first post... how it all started...
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    Mindset changes
    throughout the years


    How I make use of my wife

    An Interesting Email

    Author

    Male, born in 1982. 
    INTP
    Graduated with a degree majoring in Banking & Finance, Financial Adviser for a period of time resulting in in-depth knowledge of insurance products and marketing techniques of the industry.

    Inspired by MMM and ERE.

    Decided to embark on a mission to retire early in Singapore, a place where such an idea is considered impossible. As I believe that life has a lot more to offer instead of just a working career. I've decided to start a blog to note down my journey to achieve this mission and help others along the way who are willing to listen and try doing things differently from everyone else.

    I have decided to remain anonymous until I finally am able to actually retire, reason being that this idea might not gel well with the company which I am working for currently and also to avoid real life flaming from people who say that such ideas are impossible and that an individual is lazy for choosing early retirement instead of contributing to society in the form of labour.

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