What are we doing with our lives?

Whether we're sitting on a crowded bus being pushed and shoved, or relaxing on a beautiful beach drinking $0.50 beers, we always think to ourselves... What are we doing with our lives? We do realize how ridiculous it sounds to quit your job and travel for a year, but for us the timing was right. Aaran was about to finish his graduate program, and we thought it would be nice to take a break and go to Asia for 3 months. As we were planning the trip, 3 months became 7 months, and then somehow it turned into a whole year. The more we researched the more we realised that there was so much we wanted to see. Our goal is not to see everything, just to sample as much as we can. We have no kids and no mortgage, so for us it was now or never. Saving money was key, we moved to a town where we didn't know anyone, and for over a year we saved every spare penny. 

When you're travelling for a long time you can't afford to do expensive tourist activities. We often have to content ourselves by wandering in the streets and finding things to do that won't kill our budget. So far, in Asia, we are able to live comfortably with less than $40 US per day.  That includes our accommodation, all meals, afternoon coffee, museum entrance and the occasional bus ride. In Myanmar, we spent a hot afternoon riding the local train around the city of Yangon. The tickets were about $1 each and we got to watch local life go by for about 3 hours. 

To save money we avoid taking taxis at all costs. Usually it's easy enough to find a local bus when you get off the plane or train. Last week when we arrived in the province of Goa, India, we took 3 different local buses to get to our beach hostel. It took 2 hours and cost less than $5. A taxi would have taken 45 minutes but would have cost us $18. One of the downsides of taking public transportation is that it's often incredibly crowded and with our big backpacks it's a bit of a pain. Our bags weigh about 25 lbs each and take up a lot of room in a small bus. People usually roll their eyes when they see us pushing through our big bags.

 If it looks like we're always wearing the same clothes, it's because we are! We have 5 t-shirts and a few pairs of shorts/pants. Laundry can cost as little as $2 per load, or $14 when they impose western standards, and decide to charge per item.  We have a few toiletries and some basic medications. The other day I bought a small bottle of conditioner for $1, a total luxury! We also carry around a notebook to record all of our costs. 

An alternative to public transportation is taking the popular tuk-tuk. They look cool, but are very uncomfortable on bumpy roads. The plus side is that they are much cheaper than a taxi, and will take you right to your destination, not like a bus. When we find a driver that we like we usually get his number and arrange for him to bring us somewhere the next day. 

We spend a lot of our time waiting around. Every 3-4 days we go to a new city so we have to take a bus/train/plane quite often. We don't like leaving things up to chance, so we are always much earlier than we need to be. This gives us a chance to look through our notes and decide what to do when we arrive. We also spend a lot of time reading. Thanks to hostels that have free book exchanges, I always have a new book to read.

A major challenge with travelling to a new city every few days is learning to navigate your new surroundings. If Aaran wasn't here I would probably still be in Indonesia, lost in a rice field somewhere. It takes me a good 2 days to remember where everything is and how to get there. Usually we look at a map and find a few reference points near our accommodation. Somehow Aaran is then able to find every museum and market without looking at the map a second time.

I think the biggest thing that we take for granted at home is having access to clean water out of the tap. Every sip of water that have taken in 11 weeks we have had to purchase. Not only that but we have to use bottled water to brush our teeth. I was use to this in Korea, but it's very different when you don't have your own apartment to store bottles. Also, I'm not quite sure why there is a picture of me drinking water, Aaran takes very random photos.. 

There is nothing luxurious about travelling on a budget. We rarely get given any towels, and sometimes have to buy our own toilet paper. For the past 11 weeks I can't remember seeing a bathroom that had a separate shower and toilet. This picture is actually one of the nicer toilets we've had. Usually all you have is a hose that you have to hold over yourself (almost always with cold water). The annoying thing is that once you've taken a shower, the entire bathroom is soaking wet for hours. 

It's not all bad. Because we're always on the move we never have time to get bored. Our favourite thing to do is find out the local dishes and eat as many as we can. I don't think we've been disappointed with any local food yet. 

At least once a week I'm approached by a group of giggling girls who want to hold my hand and take a picture with me. Aaran is no help during these situations and, if anything, he gives the girls tips on where to stand for the best lighting. Finally, last week, Aaran was asked by an Indian man to sit on a rock and take a picture with him. 

One thing that we do a lot of is walking. There's no better way to get to know a city than to just walk around. We play a game where we start at a particular point of interest and then turn left and right at alternating corners. Most of the time it takes you to places you wouldn't have otherwise seen if you were just following a map. A few times we ended up on streets that we would rather have avoided. 

It's incredible how easy it has been to get use to this lifestyle. It's a lot of hard work, sometimes just trying to find a pharmacy or an ATM that works takes us half a day.  Most of the time though it's very easygoing. We have the freedom to do what we want and try new things on a daily basis. Every day we meet knew people, locals and other travellers and we hear about their lives. We are constantly reminded how similar all humans are.