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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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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