Silver Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan (photo credit)
It has only been 4.5 months since GCCjr entered the world, but he is already excited to embark on his first International adventure. He does have two passports after all.
For the past few weeks, he has been practicing his exploration skills as we walk around Taipei. He has become increasingly comfortable sleeping in his stroller in strange and noisy places, and is equally happy with a picnic in the park or lunch from a street cart. Formal dining is still a bit pretentious and boring, however.
He is becoming quite the socialite, and loves flirting with the staff at coffee shops and restaurants. He is content to sit and people watch for long periods as long as he is being held, whether it be by Mom or Dad or a total stranger. Dogs, fire alarms, honking cars, and big crowds don’t faze him in the least. (See Winnie’s Instagram which features a GCCjr photo a day.)
GCCjr thinks he is ready for a travel trial run. For a first passport stamp, we are headed to Kyoto, Japan in 2 weeks for 8 days .
Kyoto, Japan
Japan is a great first destination. I’ve been to Japan at least 25 times (Winnie has never been!) and every time I’m impressed by how everything is incredibly organized and efficient. The streets are clean, trains operate like clock work, and everything seems to function exactly as advertised.
People are also exceptionally polite and friendly. Once upon a time I was pseudo-lost in the Tokyo subway system, and a nice old man took me by the elbow and guided me to my connection. Arigato gozaimasu!
The flights are a quick 2.5 hour direct hop, with easy airport transportation on both ends. Peach is an upstart regional airline, and round-trip flights are only ~$200/person. Lap infants fly for free, and a stroller and safety seat also get free transport.
We will be in Kyoto before the peak tourist season begins, while it is still considered hot yet still cooler than Taipei. We plan to explore the various temples, savor the seafood and ramen and okonomiyaki, and see how our little guy adapts to the experience.
It should be a fun travel trial.
Travel Trial of a Different Sort
Back in March of this year, we had reserved a house in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a full 6 months starting in October. I have a nice confirmation email from the property manager to that effect.
Since we love San Miguel so much and have great friends there, we thought it would be a perfect place for Winnie and GCCjr to be while I attend the Chautauqua in Ecuador. And of course, a great place to spend the whole winter.
Unlike Japan, things in Mexico aren’t always delivered as advertised. That house is no longer available, and our plans are now in flux.
After our Kyoto trip, we will decide our next destination. It will mostly likely be in Asia. Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Bali, Indonesia are two (cliché) possibilities. Suggestions welcome.
One door closes and another one opens.
San Jose, CA Meetup
Flying to Ecuador for this year’s Chautauqua is a little more challenging from Taipei than from Mexico, about 30 hours of travel in each direction.
To make the trip a little easier, I’ll be overnighting in San Jose, California on Friday, October 23rd.
If you are in the San Jose area and are interested in meeting up, please let me know.
Meetup Update – the meetup is at a private residence in San Jose. We are doing a potluck style dinner with an attendance limit of about 25 people. If you haven’t received an email and are interested in attending, send me an email at [email protected]
We loved Kyoto! Fushimi Inari was my favorite, and monkey park was fun too. I never thought much about traveling Asia, but for the past 2.5 years we’ve lived in Japan and I’m so thankful for all of our adventures! (Sadly Peach airlines expanded their routes after we had already gone to many of the cities so we had to pay a bit more, but it was still worth it!)
Just in the past year or so the number of discount airlines in Asia has exploded. The number of direct flights for ~$100 each way is incredible
Chautauqua sounds interesting. If you can, extend your stay and go to the Galapagos Islands, it’s amazing. We did that a few years ago, here is a blog posts I created for that:
https://webetripping.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/cruising-the-galapagos-islands/
Let us know how it turns out!
No Galapagos this time. We didn’t want to do a long trip with GCCjr yet, and Winnie will already be a single Mom for 10 days so I want to get back home
A friend of mine loves Kigali, Rwanda and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as places to escape.
Another place to consider, which is also closer to Ecuador than Taiwan or the other two places I mentioned, is Costa Rica.
You’re not crowdsourcing the “where should the GCC team go” question? Where’s your faith? :-)
And shame on me for not congratulating you on the PLUTUS nomination!
Thanks! And congrats to you on the launch of your new service. (much better than the RS breakup rumor)
We are mainly trying to avoid long flights… so someplace near Taiwan is ideal. And then maybe some train travel
While in Taiwan, I can fervently recommend visiting Chung Tai Monastery in the center of Taiwan, an incredible structure and place built by the architect of Taipei 101 who practices there. This is a family friendly place who welcome guests, have their own extensive gardens and serve heavenly organic vegetarian Taiwanese meals to all guests. Their network is extensive with centers throughout the country. Worth a visit.
Oh, Chung Tai is in Puli.
Wow, that sucks about the house in Mexico. I’m sure you could find something else pretty decent in San Miguel or around there. Guanajuato looked very promising from our 1 day visit, but it seemed a little more “touristy” than SMA.
We really loved Mexico City with kids. Subway makes it super easy to get around everywhere. Chapultepec park was a big favorite (maybe once GCCjr gets a year or two older! :) ). Weather is of course perfect if you like temps in the 60’s and 70’s. I can forward you the place we rented for 2 weeks if interested. Pretty nice set up for the 3 of you (small 2 BR apartment, very modern, great location near subway and MEGA grocery store in a non-touristy area). Great landlords.
Otherwise, I’m not sure where else I might recommend. During the summer-ish months (maybe April/May to September??) I think Montreal would be a cool place to stay and the rental rates on Airbnb seem very reasonable (= longer term stays even cheaper) and forex would make you wealthy. Weather is awesome in July (again, if you like 70-75ish degrees). No offence montrealers, but I wasn’t super impressed with the food. Decent variety in some different ethnic enclaves and they have a foodie scene all their own. We found a great super mega asian store there too. Decent transit options, bike rental all over, etc. I wouldn’t mind spending another summer there to avoid the NC summers.
Wherever you end up, there you are. I’m sure you’ll keep rolling with the punches just like you always have!
Mexico City is great, we spent about a month there.
The kid doesn’t like to sit still for very long so we are trying to avoid the long flights back to the Western Hemisphere. So winter in Asia, and then maybe train travel towards Europe
Our 3 year old doesn’t handle sitting still very well either. 4 hours on a plane or bus is about all he can handle at one time. The 6 hour ride between Oaxaca and Mexico City was a little rough by hour 5. Fortunately they still sleep a lot at age.
Train travel toward Europe sounds awesome! Trans-Siberian or Trans-Mongolian perhaps?
Awwww that sucks. Why are you ditching Mexico for somewhere in Asia? I change my mind all the time to, so I can’t blame ya :)
We’ve never planned so many months in advance, and this is one example of why.
We were planning on staying in Asia before I was invited to the Chautauqua, and only decided on Mexico as a convenient location that was somewhat familiar. All of these decisions were made while GCCjr was still in utero (also a great Nirvana album.) We could look for another place in Mexico but took this as more of a mixed blessing to return to the original plan.
We’re heading to Japan in 2 weeks too. Hit me up via email. ;)
If you guys can, get the seats that allow you to use bassinet so you can put GCCjr in there so you can rest a bit. We did this on two different trips to Denmark already. It made life a lot easier.
Got your message!
As an aspiring FIRE who is getting started thinking about pulling the trigger; it would be great to meet up in San Jose, CA. Hit me up via email.
Thank you
FWIW I really enjoyed nara – it was way back in 1997. Kyoto was fine but I happened to be there during the ‘kyoto protocol’ meetings and the huge crowds of belching limos and expensive hotels turned me off. Plus they closed a lot of stuff for the better class.
I couldn’t fit through the hole in Todaiji though :(
http://regex.info/blog/2013-01-17/2186
We’ll do a day trip to Nara. I probably spent 2-3 months total there in 2008 as part of work travel and remember the deer were quite aggressive
I couldn’t make it through the hole either :(
The Colombian peso is on its lowest price in all history so you won’t believe how cheap is to travel down there now. Considering you loved San Miguel de Allende you could look something around the coffee area like Santa fe de Antioquia. It’s a very small town but close to a big city. I have been all over Latin America and Colombia is my second favorite country after México. I could assist with any details. It would be a long flight for GCCjr though .
Btw .. I recently started to follow you guys and I really enjoy all your posts, I don’t want to ‘retire’ any time soon as I love my job and I still can travel enough but I’m planning to be financially independent in about 10 years and I have taken several advices from you. Thank you :)
We’ve heard great things about Columbia. It is just the long flights we are trying to avoid.
10 years will go by in a flash!
You might try Colima, Mexico!
I put it on our Master List. Thanks!
Might I ask where you found accommodations on the cheap? Did you just get a hotel? Thanks in advance!
Neil
In which location?
In San Jose I’m staying with a friend
In Kyoto we just booked hotels (some with Starwood points) and also looked for stuff on Airbnb. For longer stays we would look for a local apartment
I’m in San Jose! Would love to meet up! Let us all know if you feel like a beer or need recommendations based on where you’re staying!
Sweet! I have a plan in the works with friends and will share details when I get it all worked out
Great. We are in San Jose and would love to meet up. That weekend might be one we are out of town, but if not, looking forward to hearing the plans.
Should be around on the 23rd. Let me know. Also, for less cliche places in Asia, we really liked Hanoi.
We talked about Ho Chi Minh. I’ll add Hanoi to the list
It would be great to hang out with you!
I lived in S. Korea for 24 years of my life and never visited neighbouring country, Japan. I live in Canada now and it is just too far and expensive for me to fly :( Glad you had a good time!
Let me know how the experience with Peach is! We’ll be visiting friends in Naha, Okinawa in December and they have a sweet 1.5 hour flight to Taipei that we are looking at. Bummer about the SMA house, but we are nothing if not flexible.
We fly out tomorrow morning on Peach, I’ll let you know how it goes
Just discovered your blog through the Forbes interview. I love what you guys are doing – I’m such a big fan of living alternatively from the trajectory society has imposed on us. Thank you for being transparent about your finances, your spending, and your lifestyles! We need to encourage people investing in their health in real ways (not just financially through health care).
Great to “meet” you.
Thank you Laura, and welcome
I’m definitely up for a meet up as I’m also in San Jose! It would be awesome to meet other people from this community!
Wow… what a coincidence,I just got back from Ecuador this past Sunday. I highly recommend visiting Mitdad del Mundo (the equator monument) and the “museum” next to it (Inti Nan… if you go down a dirt road and see what looks like people’s houses, you’ve found the right place)… they do the water swirling in opposite directions on each side of the “equator” trick, and it’s a hoot. You should be somewhere near there if you’re 2 hours north of Quito.
Anyway, if you’re having a meetup on San Jose, CA, I’d be interested. I would love to swap travel and early retirement stories.
We will be staying at a resort on the equator, should be fun. The schedule is jam packed.
I’ll share more details on a SJ meetup in a few weeks
Drop by SIngapore if you get the chance!
We would love to
I just saw some photos of the Marina Bay Sands and could definitely spend a day swimming in that pool
I always want to travel and retire early so I’m religiously reading your blog. I live in San Jose. If you have a group already you’re meeting, my friend and I would love to meet you. My friend is also a fan of yours.
I loved Kyoto! I hope to make it back there with my husband some day. Enjoy your time there!
A Bay Area meetup would be great! I just came back from a visit back to China and would love to catch up with you in October. Got rid of my car a few months ago, but Caltrain is pretty good between SF and South Bay.
Congrats again on GCCjr! See you soon.
I’m up for a meetup in San Jose. Would be great to meet you and the others from this forum. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Just got back from 4.5 years in Kyoto and Osaka. If you like gardens, Nanzen-ji is not to be missed. Would love to meet up with you and the local GCC community in San Jose. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Has there been any update on the time and place for a San Jose meet up on Friday? Let me know.
Meetup update for people subscribed to comments
The meetup will be a potluck style dinner at 7pm on 10/23 at a private residence in San Jose. Attendance is limited to ~25 people. If you are interested in attending and haven’t heard from me, please email at gocurrycracker@gmailcom