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Posts Tagged: Ujire

An Inner Earthquake: My First Three Months Living as a Nomad

This past week marks three months since I left the place I called home for the first twenty-eight years of my life. I spent the past three months in India, a world away from my familiar home in the Northeast United States and I’m currently staying in Vietnam for two weeks before going to Nepal for two months.

Part of the reason for leaving home, changing my lifestyle, becoming a nomad was to rediscover myself; to strip my life of everything that might distract me from the process of inner discovery.

I was beginning to feel as though my life had gone down the wrong road; as if I had accidentally walked down the wrong path and I was watching the correct path disappear through a thick forest. I had to cut across. Whatever it took, I had to get to the other side. I felt an uncontrollable urge to follow my inner compass.

So I quit my job, sold all my stuff, and planned to live abroad for six months on a tiny budget of $3,000. What happened after that wasn’t important to me. With the entire world knocking at my door and absolutely no experience traveling abroad, my new lifestyle started in India. I had no idea what to expect of the following six months — I only knew that my life would never be the same again. Continue reading →

Video: My First Night in a Cheap Indian Hotel (Sleeping with Unwelcome Visitors)

[Note to email and RSS readers: You may need to click through to the website to view the video.]

My first night in a cheap Indian hotel was not without its surprises. As this was my first experience, I somewhat overreacted to the visitors. In hindsight, the unexpected visitors are to be expected in these places. Continue reading →

Frugal Travel Report for April 2010

This is the second in a series of reports detailing my travel expenses during a six-month sustainable travel trip through India, Vietnam, and Nepal, as outlined in The Plan: 6 Months, 3 Countries, and $3,000.

Frugal Travel Reports
March 2010 (includes Pre-Travel expenses)
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010

While its only been a few days since I released the March 2010 report, I want to get on schedule and release a new report at the start of each month.

During the month of April I spent more time in hotels and ate at restaurants more frequently than cooking for myself. The increased lodging and food expenses reflect this trend.

The entire month was spent living in Ujire, making new friends, working on my laptop at the office in town, and exploring nearby places like Jamalabad and Moodabidri. Continue reading →

Frugal Travel Report for March 2010

Frugal Travel Reports
March 2010 (includes Pre-Travel expenses)
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010

***

As promised in my previous post, The Plan: 6 Months, 3 Countries, and $3,000, I will begin doing monthly travel reports that detail how I spend my budget each month as I travel through Asia. This monthly report may become a regular long-term thing, but for now I’m committing to doing them for at least the next six months.

My initial six-month journey has a very tight budget: $250 USD per month. I already outlined some of my first-month expenses in a previous post, but this report is a more formalized overview and explains how I actually lived on such a budget.

Frugal travel involves more than simply setting a budget and then looking for the cheapest places to stay. It also means traveling more slowly, always accepting invitations and offers to stay with friends, and choosing to have a more authentic experience by living like the locals.

Without the generosity of friends in India, I’m not sure I would have made the first month’s budget. However, I don’t have friends everywhere (at least not yet!), so once I move on from my current location in Ujire, meeting this budget will become a lot more challenging.

This first month was an opportunity to see just how realistic my $250/mo budget was and I’m happy to report that it’s absolutely realistic! Continue reading →

My First $100 in India and a Message of Thanks

It’s been almost one month since I arrived in India (26 days to be exact) and I have finally spent my first $100 USD (that’s approximately 4,500 Rupees).

In fact, it was less than $100 because I got ripped off twice: The first time was with a $28 currency exchange fee when I changed a $100 bill for rupees during my layover at the Heathrow Airport in London.

The second time was when I stopped in a small town near Mangalore to refill my local Airtel SIM card: I gave the agent Rs.300, but when I was finally able to check the balance, it only showed Rs.1 (as I later learned, my unlocked iPhone didn’t work with the local SIM, so I couldn’t check the balance until I purchased a basic Nokia phone a few days later).

So, where exactly did those 2,940 Rupees go? Continue reading →

Posts Tagged: Ujire

An Inner Earthquake: My First Three Months Living as a Nomad

Video: My First Night in a Cheap Indian Hotel (Sleeping with Unwelcome Visitors)

Frugal Travel Report for April 2010

Frugal Travel Report for March 2010

My First $100 in India and a Message of Thanks

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