Day 34: The BIG Plan: We’re Moving to Asia

My beloved husband and I grew up in nomadic families. He has moved house 26 times spanning over two countries, including three Australian states. My record is not far off, 12 different houses over 27 years in two countries, including three Indonesian provinces. In fact, our 2-year dwelling is the longest we ever live in the same house for the past 10 years. Another thing I realised last year is that I had never lived in the same city/town for more than six consecutive years… until Melbourne. This epiphany explains the anxiety (amongst other things) I’d been experiencing since last year, which happened to be my seventh year in Melbourne.

I wanted to move out sooooo badly, anywhere would do. It was as if my lease had expired and I had no choice but to move out of town or life would be hell. Lucky for me, my husband felt the same way. So the around the world trip idea was born.

Most people would agree that if you have the financial means to do it (without resorting to debt), world travelling will be one of the most rewarding experiences anyone could ever have. Scuba diving in Thailand, conservation volunteer work in Canary Islands, learning Spanish in Madrid, visiting The Met in New York, learning Tango in Buenos Aires; they’re just some of awesome things I put in the to-do list.

I bought and borrowed travel guide books, read a bunch of travel-based blogs, websites and learned a few travel hacks. The excitement of research fuelled our desire even more.

And then something hit us!

What will happen after the trip?

Most likely I will lose my job and my husband will get burnt out at work. Financially we will be worse off than before. One year of zero income will be aggravated by the likelihood that I will get a lower paying job. Our plan to be financially free will suffer setbacks that cost us a few years.

On a positive note, hopefully we will gain new insights about life, world and universe. Hopefully we will be more grateful. Hopefully we will gain valuable friendships. For sure, it will be a trip of a lifetime. But still it begs the question:

Is it worth it?

Without a deep and thorough search into the cause of our anxiety, the world travel will serve as a band-aid solution. At the end of the trip, we will return to real life… maybe will even face the same issue.

In April, during my business trip in Asia, I thought about how cheap it is to live there then seriously thought about doing my work from there. At the same moment, my husband sent me text message about a job in Jakarta that he was interested in (I’m serious). Before then, we hardly talked about moving to Asia, especially to Indonesia, mostly because of … my relatives. I mean, I love my parents and they are great in moderation. However, daily dosage of them plus my “butt-er in-ner” relatives who keep asking about my non-pregnant state (and my “unnatural” lack of desire to be pregnant) is just way too much.

This time however, by some weird forces, I felt and thought that moving to Jakarta is the right thing to do in terms of improving business, finances and relationships.

Immediately after I returned to Melbourne, I presented my case to my boss and explained how I could make more money by relocating to Asia. He was not convinced at first. Fair enough. So I did my research, talked to local business people, spoke to lawyers and eventually drafted a business plan (thus explains my June hiatus).

Yesterday, my business plan was approved.

Photo Credit: Engine People

So here we are now. Our around the world trip plan is scrapped. Instead, we will improve our finances and travel more at the same time. Two birds with one stone, tickled (I don’t want to kill the birds, ok). Here’s how we make it happen:

1. I will still earn my Australian salary while living in Jakarta. If you read my previous post, it is possible to live well with very low cost there. As of today’s exchange rate, our proposed monthly budget there stands at AUD 1700. We will live in a two-bedroom apartment in city area, no car, close to shopping centres, office buildings and sports centre.
2. Eating out only costs around $2/person for mid-level restaurants.
3. Cheap airfares to other South East Asia countries. Jakarta – Phuket return airfare costs around AUD 160. Tickets to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur are much cheaper.
4. I love Melbourne, but it’s located at the bum-end of the world. It takes about 6 hours to fly out of the continent. Don’t even talk to me about airfares. Since the arrival of budget airlines, such as Air Asia, the condition has improved. Still, it is a lot faster and cheaper to see the world from Asia.
5. Even though my husband will earn substantially less (let’s just say that his employment situation is “flexible”), our expenses will be reduced by 60 per cent and the tax rate is lower. We estimate that we will be able to maintain our current saving rate. Any extra income from my husband will go towards savings and travel fund.
6. In order to make this arrangement sustainable, I will have to bring enough new business as planned. This part will be a big career challenge. I’m both excited and nervous about the expansion plan. The financial and non-financial rewards will definitely take me to the next level. More about this will be discussed on my career goal update.

So people, this is a major life change I didn’t expect when I started this blog. I am extremely grateful that life has been kind to me. Somehow I also feel that by sharing the journey, I become more deliberate in shaping my destiny.

What about you? What major life change have you experienced since you started blogging?

Tags: asia, Indonesia, life plan, Travel