I look up into the star-riddled sky, reclining betwixt two pinnate palm trees in my hammock on the coast of Sint Maartin. The soft murmur of the waves lazily lapping on the shoreline as an iguana scurries someplace beneath me. I close my eyes and soak it all in, as I open them, I realize that I had only been daydreaming, for the umpteenth time, of my upcoming cruise to the East Caribbean. Only 53 more days… 53 days until bliss surrounds me.

‘Til then, though – it’s business as usual. I briefly check for any changes to my itinerary then continue my search for a good travel camcorder. I have one already, (it actually belongs to my wife, strictly speaking) but unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a USB connection, so pretty useless as a tool to upload videos online. Still, I’m not in a hurry… 53 days is a long time — right?

As I fight off the feeling that I am going to be posting an emergency request asking readers (which currently do not exist, my wife reminds me) what camera I should get 50 days from now, I am reminded of the big picture, the grand plan: the trip around the world. The reason I decided to create this blog (or did I decide to go on the trip because I started this blog?) – So other world travelers can experience the places around the world as can normally only be experienced by being there. I intend to take detailed travel (b)logs, video and pictures of my travels. I will document what the quality of life is in many areas around the world, as well as how the cost of living compares to what I have been paying to just live in the U.S. of A.

Enough about the stuff you want to hear, let’s talk about me. I’m a 20-something male blessed with a beautiful wife of equitable age and a son of 4.5, or as he would tell you if you asked how old he was, “this many.” My vocation has been somewhat varied, but currently I am a front-end web engineer working for a company in San Francisco. I am privileged enough to be able to work from home (or anywhere there is an internet connection), which is what makes this trip possible. Pretty hard to relax in a luxury spa in Reykjavik, Iceland ($25) if you have to be back in your office halfway across the globe by 8am. Pretty hard, indeed.

Blue Lagoon in Iceland The water’s temperature is 37-39°C / 98-102°F. The lagoon holds six million liters of geothermal seawater, which is renewed every 40 hours.

When I tell people about my plans, the most common reaction is, “I sure wish I had enough money to do that!” If you think the same thing, then listen close — I’m about to tell you a secret. Ready? FACT: It is generally more expensive to stay living in the U.S. (or the U.K. or Canada, etc.) than it is to travel the world, living in a remote place for a (relatively) short amount of time. Put into different terms: You are potentially losing money by not traveling the world. How does this work? Let’s do the math:

A good friend of mine recently returned from a year-long stay in Beijing, China. While there, he rented a 3-bedroom, 2-bath apartment in a gated community with a security guard posted 24/7. He ate out every day, and took a taxi anywhere beyond a walking distance. While there, he saved a very considerable amount over what he would pay for the same accommodations in the US. The house was USD$960 per month – I don’t even want to guess at how much something like that would cost in the states. Breakfast generally consisted of baozi which are basically dumplings, and cost about 37 cents for a filling share. Lunch was Kung Pao Chicken, which is about as ubiquitous as the cheeseburger is here in the states, and costs $1.00 for a large helping, and comes with an equal-sized helping of rice. Dinner could be as low at $2.00 for a delicious, filling meal – but let’s live a little. If you really went all-out and splurged for dinner, you could pay around $7. $8.37 per day for real Chinese food sure isn’t bad – When I order take-out here it is scarcely less than $25.

Now let’s take what I pay (averaged out for 6 months.) The rent on my 3-bedroom, 2-bath house is a very reasonable $1100. However, you have to add in the utilities, such as water ($32.08), trash service ($30), natural gas ($181.20), and electric ($60.78). Utilities being a total of $304 (which was all included with the apartment in China) brings our total up to $1,404. I just got back from my weekly grocery run, I miraculously found the last few receipts from grocery shopping and the average over 4 of them is $187. That is approximately $809 per month for groceries. I could stop there, as China’s cost of living is already looking quite rewarding, but that wouldn’t be accurate. If I was taking taxi’s, that would mean I wouldn’t need my truck, which costs me $363 per month and an additional $110 per month to insure it. I’m sure there are other expenses that I would no longer have to pay, but let’s go ahead and stop there and see where we’re at.

My friend paid $960 for the apartment, $254 for food and the monthly taxi fare amounted to around $42. I pay $1100 for my house (plus $304 for utilities), $809 for food and $363 for transportation (plus $110 for insurance.)

Total for China: $1,256 per month

Total for United States: $2,686 per month

That is a difference of $1,430 every month. Thus, if you stayed in China for 6 months, you would have saved $8,580 over living in the United States.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress as we get closer to the sailing date for our cruise. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions!