Xin chào từ Hội An
Or Hello from Hoi An for those of us (myself included) who don't speak Vietnamese.
I'm looking at this as a period of exploration and learning. Exploring the external world, especially one that fascinates me but until now didn't have the time or resources to experience firsthand....but even more importantly exploring internally. Travel grounds me, as much of an oxymoron that may sound like. There's something about being in the moment and experiencing the world intensely that comes back full circle to a sense of knowing self.
Sure, right now we're traveling in a consumptive manner, paying for accommodation, having other people cook for us, even splurging on a weekly massage! Geographical arbitrage makes this possible on unfathomable sums of money. I see nothing wrong with this. It's not going to stay this way, and we'll be back to our usual style of house/pet sitting, bartering vs. paying for things, and other creative ways of accomplishing what we want.
I guess there comes a point where money is a largely solved problem and one becomes more lax with how they spend it. We're somewhat in this camp right now.......but it's by design that we find ourselves in parts of the world were our relatively lean budget goes a loooooong way by western standards.
DW and I enjoy roughing it, which is why come July, we'll be living out of a van/tent, learning new skills, and getting more comfortable being uncomfortable. Balance is key IMHO, you appreciate sleeping in a tent a little more after spending some time in a 5* hotel, and visa versa.
Back to Vietnam......what a place! The central coast where we're staying is one of my favorite beach destinations we've been to. The water is warm, the sand is fine, relatively clean and with one of the best food/coffee cultures anywhere in the world.
Icing on the cake has been getting to spend the better part of the past week hanging out with WRC and even getting to meet up with our very own C40. We've made the decision to stay in this area through the end of the month. Would love to explore inland, likely by motorcycle.....which we'll have to rent since I'm not renaissance enough to build my own
PS: enjoying the philosophical discussion on leanFIRE vs. ERE........I think our happy medium is somewhere in the middle.