Going Down Under

 

Koalas here I come! 

When I started this blog in 2017 it was to chronicle how I could retire at 50 and travel the world, without having millions of dollars. I have written on many subjects and have told hundreds of travel tales. Readers have come around the world with me and have shared in my experiences - both good and bad.

When I share personal stories - I am writing for me. Writing is a form of therapy. But when I write about travel, and how I manage luxury travel for less (sounds like a brand), I am writing for you. I genuinly want people to be learn how to travel - even if they do not have a lot of money. It can be done - I am living proof.

For more than a decade I have been travelling the world - close to 50 countries now. I have learned about myself and my world, and have truly been transformed by my experiences. Seeing how most of the world lives is humbling.

Travel however, takes time to research, plan, and organize, and yes, it costs money, but over time I have learned better ways of travelling, and  for less money, and it is this learning that I like to share with others.

In the past, I have always flown in economy. Yuck. I had no choice. Spending thousands on tickets was just not an option I cared to take. Thanks to my brother, the Biz Class Bum, I am learning how to travel business class without paying business class prices. I mentioned this in my blog in January when I booked my ticket to Bali, but it is worth mentioning again as following the steps in my brothers blog has not only saved me thousands of dollars, but I am now, for the first time in my life, flying business class.

Although I have not yet gone to Bali, I just booked a ticket to Brisbaine, Australia for next November! I am excited to head down under for four months to hang out with koalas, kangaroos, and to do some snorkling at the great barrier reef. You should think abut joining me. Seriously. My total cost for the ticket there was just over a hundred bucks plus 100K Aeroplan points. (I have not yet booked my ticket home.) I will be flying on the new 787 Dreamliner - the most energy efficient aircraft in existance. Flying has a sizable carbon footprint (something that does not elude me and which I struggle with internally quite a bit), so being able to fly on the Boeing 787 helps eleviate my guilt.

Collecting travel points is a game you only win by getting certain sign-up bonuses available on particular cards, at particular times. It is NOT about spending a lot of money. I retired early and without a pension...so I don't have a lot of money. The 3 biz class tickets I have bought since starting this game less than a year ago, cost a total of about $300 and 260K aeropplan points - and I certainly did not spend $260K dollars to get those points. Not even close. 

 If you want to learn how to do the points thing, just check out my brother's blog and if you have any questions, I will be happy to help you. I have two friends who I have helped so far, and one of them has managed to purchase two biz class tickets since starting in May without spending a dime more than he would have otherwise.

In just over a month, I will leave on my very first business class trip. I am flying to Bali on Eva Air - considered one of the swankiest airlines for biz class. Swanky means I get pajamas for sleeping in that are designed by New York luxury fashion designer Jason Wu, and Dom Perignon champagne, and a three course dinner complete with aged wines from around the world. 

At 61 years of age, and after a year of super hard work building my permacuture demonstration garden,  where I personally moved by wheel barrel 5 cubic yards of mulch, 8 cubic yards of compost, 5 cubic yards of gravel and 3 cubic yards of crush, I am going to really enjoy this trip.

Best of all though, I get to lay flat and get a decent night's sleep on the 20+ hour flight which stops in Taipei. My three bulging discs are going to thank me for taking the time to learn to play the points game. In fact, my damaged back is the reason I started collecting points. It was that - or give up long haul travel.

Until I leave for Bali, I am enjoying driving down the west coast of the U.S. by myself, foraging for mushrooms in the amazing forests of Washington state and walking the  breathtaking beaches on the coast of Oregon. 

Today I am in Cannon Beach, Oregon and after a quick forest foray am headed to Newport where I will spend the next five weeks. Once settled there I hope to get my Global Village Permaculture website built, start my taxes, record and publish my book as an audio book, play some pickleball, and of course, take a daily forage into the forest for both edible and medicinal mushrooms.

Last summer I began living my dharma - teaching courses on edible and medicinal flowers, permaculture basics, and on how to build a food forest. Next fall I hope to add a mushroom foraging class - taking participants into the forest with me.

Teaching these skills is something I am passionate about, and as the world wakes up to the truth of how indespensible fungi are, and the important role their mycelium network plays in keeping our planet alive, I hope to small part in facilitating that knowledge - not just for the sake of food security, something else I am passionate about, but for the sake of our planet's very survival.