Get fit, get wealthy, and travel. Yes… I am bat shit crazy.
So those of you that haven’t already heard, towards the end of March, I am embarking on an epic journey. I am leaving my sunny home of 33 years in Perth Western Australia to live in South-East Asia, more specifically, Thailand.
Why I hear you ask? Here are my top 5 reasons:
1. Cost of living
I’ve always wanted to start my own business; in fact my first legitimate foray into the entrepreneurial world was when I started my computer business Mijtech in 1999. As a startup back then, it was ok, I registered my business name, created a logo, registered with a couple of wholesalers, and started to advertise my services of building custom PC’s. At the time I had minimal capital to start, so I would take money up-front for the work, and I had the added benefit of living at home with mum and dad while I was studying, so if I had a bad month, it was no big deal.
Fast-forward to today, and I feel I’m in much the same position I was when I was in my early 20’s, I quit my full-time management job and went back to Uni a couple of years ago to finish my degree. Living at home with the parentals for free really helped too. But here’s the thing, being in my 30’s now, I don’t just want my own space, I NEED my own space! And sure I could stay home another couple of years while building my business, but in reality I would need to keep working some job I have no love for just so I can pay the bills.
So this is how I happened on the idea of living in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northernmost city. I can live a comfortable lifestyle in Chiang Mai for a fraction of the cost. How much? Well to be super rough comparatively, living cheap in Australia, in a crappy little apartment, or a share house with others, will most likely cost around $1000 to $2000 AUD a month, add on top of the Internet (which is slow as shit and extremely expensive), Electricity, Gas, Water, Gym memberships, and the high cost we pay for organic foods, just my living expenses (with a couple of nights out for good measure) will cost around $2000 + a month, and that’s living cheaply! On the flip side, a cheap yet nice apartment in Chiang Mai is around $250 USD a month, but wait for it, includes internet and electricity! Add on food costs of about $2 a meal ($6 a day), laundry for $2, shared office space for $100, cross fit gym membership for $80. You’re looking at around $1000 AUD a month to live comfortably. What’s more is that on about $13-15k of savings for the year, I can go 12months without working a single day or making any money. Pretty Crazy huh?
Here is the video that showed me just how far my dollar could go. Also Check out Johnny’s Blog here.
2. Time
This follows on to time. For me to be able to pay for those living costs in Australia, I would have to work at least 40hrs per week in some mindless job just to pay the bills. And yes I said mindless, because if I was to work a high level corporate job, it would be worse, more than likely I would be on a salary, meaning I could realistically be working 60+ hours per week for somebody else (getting paid for 40), have a high level of stress, and be in a an environment that more than likely will stifle creativity rather than feed it. Meaning I would get home after a long day and just want to relax, or come the weekends, will want to something fun rather than work on my own business.
With my savings behind me, and my entire week free, means I can schedule those 40 hours or so per week, to spend 100% on my own business, meaning in 3 weeks I could achieve more than I ever could in 3 months back home. The best part is, when I’m done for the day, I’m in chill out mode, or if some amazing opportunity comes up, on the spot, I can take it. Not to mention the time saved by not having to cook your own meals, clean your own house, or do your own laundry, do I hear somebody say leverage?
3. Community
There is a massive Entrepreneurial community in Chiang Mai, all from various fields of expertise, and from all my research and reports of other people who are doing exactly what I am, its a positive, helpful vibe. How’s that for growing your business! Compare that to being surrounded by coworkers that are more interested in spending money on material things, and spend the day hanging out at the water cooler bitching about what Tara did on the weekend, and how Jimmy is a jerk.
The famous quote by Jim Rohn, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” really rings true here. I don’t want to hang around with other people who are only interested in themselves and pulling other people down around them, I want to surround myself with people who lift me up and motivate me to be better than I am.
4. Health
As mentioned before, working a corporate job, sitting behind the desk all day is hardly good for you psychologically, but physically it takes a toll. Once I went into management, after a number of years, I just kept putting on weight. Bit by bit, it was a slow process; I was drinking way too much coffee (about eight double shots a day) and was just eating shit. I was also drinking a lot, catching up with workmates at the end of the week, going hard on the weekends blowing hundreds of dollars on binge drinking and partying, only to feel like crap Monday morning for it to all start again. I didn’t feel motivated to exercise, nor did I have the time. When I attempted to schedule time, I had no energy due to my terrible excuse for a diet. Organic foods are very expensive at home, if it’s labeled organic, it’s basically double the price.
Accessibility to fresh food is very good in Thailand, and its is cheap, even when you eat out, you can be a bit more selective with the type of food you eat, and you are still ahead. Joining a gym such as cross fit is also considerably cheaper in Chiang Mai, where they start around $80 a month compared to costing upwards of $250 back home. Also the flexibility of working for myself online, means I can train whenever I have a spare minute.
5. Travel
Finally the big one, TRAVEL! I love travelling, I love experiencing different cultures and seeing what they have to offer, and seeing things from a different perspective. I could never seem to find the time or have the money to travel as much as I wanted to. Being tied to working for somebody else, means THEY dictate when where I have to be week in and week out. I only get 4 weeks off a year, and many times it has to be suitable to the business. Many businesses also have mandatory shut downs for a week or two of Christmas and New Years, and most of the time its not an additional two weeks on top of your annual leave, but included, which really limits where you can go and for how long.
Being based in the centre of SE Asia, means I’m a stones throw away from many amazing and exotic destinations, flights are cheap, and my living costs are low meaning I can save more and travel more often. Working for myself over the internet also means that, even while I’m travelling, so long as I have internet, I can work wherever I am, so even if I cut back my workload and relax more, I can still generate enough income to pay the cost of my travels. Now THAT is awesome.
To sum up!
Well hopefully now you have a clearer understanding of why I’m travelling to Asia to start my business rather than staying home in Perth. Have you had a similar idea but haven’t followed through? Have you done it before and how was it? Do you think I am just bat shit crazy? Let me know what you think in the comments below, and hopefully I will see some of you on my travels.
Peace
B