Wednesday, August 21, 2013

I'm Going to Bangkok

I've never really given much thought to travel.  Sure it's something I want to do, but not so much that I was willing to make the financial commitment.  Then about a year ago, I started thinking about where I might want to retire, and Thailand came to mind.  The more I thought about it, the better it sounded.  Of course I'd want to visit the place first, and that's been on my mind ever since.  Now I've decided to go for it.

This is a big deal for me, so I'm planning it well in advance for early 2015.  I'm going for two full months because I can, since being there costs less than getting there.  My cousin is a flight attendant, and he'll be coming too.  We'll have a lot of fun together, but he'll only be going for a couple of weeks.

As for the money,

Missing Pay
If a penny not earned is a penny lost, then this is by far my biggest expense.  I don't have anywhere near that much vacation time.  However, every minute I'm not being paid for is a minute I didn't have to work, so it's hard to deny that it's worth it.  I haven't had more than a week off at a time since I became an adult, so this will be a new experience for me.

Airfare
This will be the second biggest expense for sure, even if my cousin the flight attendant can get me a deal.  If he can't, I'm confident I won't be paying more than $1,500.

Lodging
I will still be paying my rent here at home, but I was going to do that anyways.  I've really only started my search, but I've already found some reputable extended stay hotels in the neighborhood of $250 a month.  I might end up paying a little more to be within walking distance of public transportation and attractions.

Fun Times
The conversation rate there is amazing.  I could live like a tourist on my normal disposable income here.  That having been said, I'm planning to spend a couple of hundred extra a week living it up.


In total I will be spending about 30% of my yearly take home pay on 16.5% of the year.  I think I can live with that, but if anyone asks, I'm there planning my retirement.

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