Balqis, my 28 years old daughter wants too much too soon and now she is feeling terrible. She had been spending money on gyms and sewing classes while trying to save for old age and see the world at the same time. On top of that she gives 15% of what she earns to my wife and 5% to me monthly.
Like I said she is stretching her earning. She has to decide on her priority. Because of the stretch, she is eating a RM5 (USD1.70) a day lunches.
The money pit is the overseas vacations. This year alone she is saving RM10 k to go to Sri Lanka and Australia. Her goal is to see the world. What a luxury. When I was a boy, my view to the world was through books. Then I saw the world through movies. As I grew older, I got a chance to see a few countries and those are sufficient for me to be satisfied with my travels.
She on the other hand wants to see the whole wide world. There are about 200 countries in the world. If each costs RM5 k on the average we are talking about RM1 million of spending in a lifetime. That money can buy a lot of comfort; a nice cozy house for example.
I had seen the modern world like USA, Canada, England and France. I had seen developing countries like UAE, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico and China. I had been to the less developed countries like Sri Lanka, Syria and Lebanon. I had seen Japan though I was on transit. To me I had seen enough.
My idea of happiness maybe different from my daughter. What I need to experience as a traveler I had sampled much. The most extensive travelling was touring Texas during winter, crossing the Mid West USA and the trip all the way from Texas to Maine. I had done it. I had ridden my motorbike from the North Texas to the Panhandle alone; I had driven on Highway 1, California and I had covered all the states in Malaysia. The point is now with the pay tv, there is no more mystery in traveling. What I need to see I had seen. On top of that I read 2 of Jim Rogers books on his around the world adventures and watched Ewan McGregor's 2 world trips on a BMW motorcycle. Pretty satisfying indeed.
I don't want to be gullible about it. What I particularly like about traveling was the cold weather. Then I realized, besides the beauty of spring and fall, summer is really the time to have fun. What is more fun than a year long tropical summer? Where I am staying it is 12 hours daylight more or less.
I am living right at where the action is. Within 10 km radius from where I live; Bandar Utama, we have 8 shopping malls. One of them is the 4th largest in the world; 5 minutes walking distance from my house.
Then to enjoy the weather we have the 600 meters tarmac loop within the housing area, an 800 meters lake garden is only 7 minutes walk away and if that is not enough we have Lembah Kiara, which is another lake garden, a forest reserve and Bukit Kiara, which is a hill loop about 15 minutes drive.
I swim at a club within 10 minutes drive and another 10 minutes to the opposite direction are the tennis courts, which is an alternate Sunday affair.
The MRT is only 15 minutes walking distance for the house and with a single 30 minutes ride (or only 1 exchange) I will be taken to the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.
I got it all right here in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia and yet Balqis doesn't appreciate the strategic positioning of our location. And so she decided to venture into the wide world and waste time and money just so she can scratch and reveal those countries she visits on a wall map until the whole map is fully exposed.
Whatever...
This house is my dream and this life is my ideal life. I will make sure I fully enjoy the facilities because nowhere else can I get this combination of lifestyle. The surrounding aside, my CCC is already my heaven within a heaven. Most of the time I am happy just being inside this room because this is where my world revolves.
I don't need to see the world anymore, I can do so at my finger tips if I want to. What I want really is to live my life to the fullest and that is making the best of what I have.
After all my goals and my daughter's are different. Our values are different too. To me travel is a low utility over cost ratio. I rather spend my money on things that is low in cost but high in utility. Travelling is not one of them.
Things like clothes, perfumes, sport shoes, supplements and watches are my maximum utilities. I want to look good, smell good and feel good. In the end, buying is about the feeling that you get out of it. Tell me which is more satisfying, a RM2,000 watch or a trip to Cambodia? I say the limited edition Seiko SNE 451 is more pleasurable. I can enjoy it everyday for the next 10 year or more while the trip is only 2 weeks max.
The killer in travelling is the airfare and yet that is the most uncomfortable part of the traveling. I am a sucker for watches. Imagine the varieties of watches I can collect for the amount I pay to the airline companies if I chose to see the world.
My world is here. There is no better place like home. Here I am no stranger to the surrounding. I had my fair share of globe trotting and I can tell off the cuff, I had landed on the sweet spot of good living right where I am.
You too will find joy in living if you fully explore the possibilities of what your home base has to offer. My advice is, save your money and once in a while just go out and enjoy a real sinful meal of salmon, lobster and shrimp with Cajun rice instead of spending that money on a cab that only takes you to and from the airport.
I cannot make Balqis see my point of view but I hope it makes sense to you... Take care now Digital Nomads.
