What a year it was, spanning 7 countries over 2 continents. Let's dive into where I lived and explored, some of my most memorable moments, and of course, the numbers.
Where was I in 2023?
I spent most of the year in Asia enjoying parts of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. And the end of the year I was off to the Oceania region of the world for the first time, enjoying a touch of New Zealand and then celebrating Christmas and the New Year in Australia. For specific places within each country, check out The Itinerary, section of this site.
Did I need any visas?
Yes, this was the first year I needed several visas. Keep in mind, I have a US passport so my experiences could differ from those with other citizenships. I stayed in Thailand the longest and although they offer a visa application prior to entering the country, I chose the visa exempt option. At the time I entered the country, I received 45-days for free with a 30-day paid extension (about $53 for each 30-day extension). The 45-day visa exemption changed during my stay to 30-days, which goes to show, you must always keep up to date with the ever changing immigration laws of a country you want to visit. More details about how I stayed in Thailand for a total of 6 months can be found here: Border Runs - 6 Months in Thailand.
Malaysia and Singapore were two countries that I could also enter without applying for a visa in advance. They both offer US passport holders 90-days upon entry. I didn't stay that long in either country but it sure does make it easy to enter as a tourist and enjoy life.
I went to Vietnam on two different occasions, June and August, and had to apply for their 30-day visa in advance (about $25 for each visa). And of course, in mid-August Vietnam changed their visa lengths from 30-days to 90-days. So next time I go back, I can stay longer than a month; unless the government makes changes again. It sure does get exhausting staying on top of each countries rules!
Indonesia was another country in Asia where I had two options, enter on the visa exemption good for 30-days or apply for the 60-day visa in advance. I opted for the second option since I was planning to stay about 1.5 months and it cost about $100.
Australia and New Zealand are my first to countries to visit in the Oceania continental region. Both countries required an Electronic Transit Authority (ETA) which is the equivalent of a visa. The ETA for Australia was about $13 and New Zealand, $30.
Memorable Highlights
Where do I start? I did so many cool things and met amazing people along the way!
One of my top memories will be the amazing snorkel adventures with the last minute 12-night sailing expedition around Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Every aspect of that trip was just WOW! My second favorite snorkel spot was Amed, Bali. Not only was there tons to see, it was immediately accessible from shore which is my favorite; just walk into the water and start snorkeling, it's the best.
And I surprised myself by attending my first personal-development retreat, The Financial Independent Retreat, in Ubud, Bali. I love all the FI communities I belong to online, but I had reservations attending an in-person event. To my surprise, there was no judgement, and all open-arms. Everyone was interested in learning from each other's FI journeys and willing to offer advise or tips. It was really special.
Learning the Thai language was pretty fantastic. I took 7 or 8 private lessons when I swung back through Thailand in October/November. I am really proud of myself with how well I did, and how much I wanted to do it. I find learning languages very difficult but it helped that I had a teacher who listened to what I wanted to focus on: abilities to communicate at restaurants, massage parlors, and everyday pleasantries.
Of course, spending 6 weeks traveling with my mom at the end of the year will hold the most longterm memories. I took her to her first hawker stand in Singapore, we made silver jewelry in Bali, and pretty much covered all modes of transport together: boats, old time train ride, sky rail, metros, light rails, and public buses. We got to celebrate Thanksgiving & Christmas together, and we ate our hearts out even though we had agreed to order less and just share.
Maybe not a highlight, but a moment I won't forget will be my emergency hand surgery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In short, I missed some stairs and fell flat on my face, busting open my left index finger somehow. It was fractured, needed bone fragments removed, and then sewn back together. After a few followups with the surgeon over 2-weeks, and $1540 later, I was as set as I could be for my nomad travels. I did have pivot a bit with my plans. I was headed to Vietnam to snorkel around Nha Trang. Well, I enjoyed Nha Trang by land as swimming and snorkeling was out of reach until I fully healed.
Expenses
And to the nitty-gritty...how much did I spend during this fabulous year?
With a bit of rounding to make reporting simple, I spent about $50,000. That was about $8,000 less than 2022, my "year of yes." To see an overview of my spending from 2019 to 2022, read my post: 4 Year Financial Review.
Category | Amount | Percent of Spending |
Accommodations | $10,560 | 21% |
Groceries & Restaurant’s | $8,500 | 17% |
Entertainment | $8,450 | 17% |
Shopping | $2,090 | 4% |
Flights | $1,640 | 3% |
Other Transport | $1,150 | 2% |
Miscellaneous | $1,870 | 4% |
Health & Medical | $1,800 | 4% |
Cruises & Retreats | $14,070 | 28% |
TOTAL | $50,130 |
My largest spend category this year was Cruises & Retreats. The sailing expedition in Indonesia was almost 2 weeks long, the FI Freedom Retreat was about 1 week, and my mom and I cruised for 4 weeks. That chalks up to about 7 weeks of vacations at about $2,000 per week.
Credit Card Points & Reward Programs
I take advantage of many types of rewards programs. This first table shows how much cash I received from each program throughout the year.
Chase Credit Card | $744 |
Bank of America Rewards | $300 |
$244 | |
Facebook Stars | $95 |
$31 | |
$5 | |
TOTAL | $1,419 |
Although I spent $50,130 for the year, I received $1,419 back in cash. That makes my end of year expenses $48,711.
Additionally, I belong to point redemption programs, and I received onboard credit for both sailings which you will see in the table below.
10-night hotel stay in Amed, Bali | 33,256 points redeemed in the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal | $420 cash value |
7-night hotel stay in KL, Malaysia | 38,000 Chase UR points transferred to IHG program | $400 cash value |
$475 Onboard Credit with Celebrity Cruise Line | $475 cash value used towards excursions and specialty dining | |
$100 Onboard Credit with SeaTreck (sailing expedition) | $100 cash value used towards onboard bar purchases. | |
Airalo eSIM data plans | 21 referrals ($3 ea) and other cash back percentages from purchases | $66 cash value used towards covering my data plans |
TOTAL |
I'm personally not a fan of the hotel point redemptions anymore. I do not like living in hotels, as it feels like I am on a vacation when I don't necessarily want to be. I used these redemptions this year because I wanted to use the points to reduce my cost of living for those days I booked. However, they were not good deals and this is why: The hotel in Bali often rents for $28 per night. Had I paid cash instead of points, I would have only paid $280 which is less than the $420 cash value of the points I used. That is a poor use of points. A good use of points is when the cash value of points is lower than what you have to pay in cash to book. The 7-night stay I had in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was at a Holiday Inn. I believe that hotel charges about $125 per night at that time, so a 7-night stay would have been $875 out of pocket. However, I used points which had a cash value of $400, so this was a better redemption.
I much prefer to rent fully furnished houses, apartments, or condos. They make me feel like I am living in whatever town I'm in at the time. More about how I choose rentals, how I actually rent them, and how I choose destinations can be found below:
What was my budget?
Did you notice that I haven't mentioned a budget at all? That is because I am spending within a comfortable threshold based on my long term financial planning goals. I do try to set a general target goal for the year but I have realized it is unnecessary and actually meaningless for me. However, I do find myself more intrigued with comparing my spending with my nomadic friends. But they are all over the board, with some spending as low as $12,000 to $18,000 per year, and other nomad friends who spend well over $100,000 per year. Regardless of what any of us are spending, we are all living our best lives how we like to live, and no one is going with out or being deprived.
What about 2024?
I am enjoying some calm, relaxing time in Australia for the beginning of the year. Then I'll pass back through Bali for more of that great snorkeling before I make my way back to Thailand for a stint. I want to practice my Thai language skills before I jet off to Greece for the summer. I'm also eyeballing Albania and Cypress this year, and I think I'd like to do a hot air balloon ride in Capadocia, Turkey for my birthday. Near the end of the year, I'll head to Portugual where I'll jump on another cruise ship and sail to South America where I'll spend Christmas and New Years somewhere fabulous. If you would like a copy of my Travel Planning GoogleSheet, you can access it here. Make sure to save a copy, and then you can edit your own version. And that's a wrap on 2023!
Hi Christina...I always look forward to your communications, especially your year's end one. You did a great job this year without having a set budget. Only $50,000, that's excellent. I took an 11 day cruise on the Mediterranean last October It was my first cruise ever and I absolutely loved it. 11 days are baby steps but I look forward to longer adventures this year. Thank you so much for sharing your life and lifestyle. Have a wonderful year.