4 ms·

It calls for making unorthodox decisions, and trying something different. I live in the rice fields of East Java on about $3 per day with my 1.5 year old baby g

by eggy 10y ago

It calls for making unorthodox decisions, and trying something different. I live in the rice fields of East Java on about $3 per day with my 1.5 year old baby girl and wife. I grew up in Brooklyn, NYC and spent most of my time in urban areas. I also have two older children whom I raised during their youth with my ex-wife in rural NJ when we decided to leave Manhattan. They grew up with a fresh water lake, no motorboats, with bears, deer and raccoons among other wildlife. My new baby girl is growing up with fresh bananas, mangoes, papaya, and of course, rice right outside our door, and beautiful sunsets and sunrises over the rice fields. There are chickens, goats, geckos, cobras, beetles that look like gold, and colorful birds, and we live in the shadow of a dormant volcano. We live very minimal. Most of the floors in the village are just packed dirt with a bamboo mat pulled out to use. My home is tiled - had to have that! Funny thing is my internet is spotty at times, but much cheaper, and it goes with me and my phone wherever I am. I get 500 KB/s at times, with an average of 175 KB/s. This allows me to Skype my Dad and older children several times a week with video and share my world. I love my freedom, health and the world of wonder I am learning about. I have been in SE Asia for over 7 years, and in the village for almost a full year now. I might grow tired of it, and move on, but it will be to the next different thing, like a sail boat with short jaunts to other islands. Am I rich? No! You'd be amazed at how much you can accomplish if you set your mind to it, and have some passion about it. People live in fear. Not the terrifying type of fear you might experience in an immediate life or death situation, but in a sort of self-imposed fear of change or anything different. I like to imagine our world takes place in an imaginery little bubble around us, and if we don't kick and push its walls, stretch them, exercise them, they close in, and we become imprisoned in this gnawing, subtle fear. It goes hand in hand with the quote attributed to Einstein. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. People know why they're unhappy; they just don't listen well to themselves, or are paralyzed by this subtle fear that drives their whole life.

sntran 10y ago
This. My wife and I are also planning for the life like this. We haven't had children yet, but we want them to live in nature, value life as it is. We don't know when and how we will start, but once day, we will have the van like the OP's, and just go. Thank you for sharing.
kaybe 10y ago
How do you get money? Savings or do you have income?
- eggy 10y ago
  Bit of both. I saved a bit from working elsewhere in SE Asia, however, most of it went to support my family that lives back in the US. We live off of a fifth of that here. And remember, I said minimalism. Where I live you get by on $3 per day per person. That's for food you don't grow yourself and other luxuries like internet, razors, soap or toothpaste. I use my phone's 3G service tethered via WiFi to my computer when I need it or want it. It's my biggest luxury item. I could even cut it in half. I currently spend about $25 dollars a month for it, or 1/3 my daily expenses! As I wrote above, most people have dirt floors here, and refrigeration and electricity came not too long ago to this village. Each home has just under 900 Watts of power available, usually on a single 4 Amp/220 Volt (880 Watts) breaker. That's the deluxe plan. You can opt for 450 Watt service! You pre-pay for your electricity. I am just starting on the ground work for a house similar to this: http://www.domegaia.com/ http://www.domegaia.com/ All in all, it should cost me less than $15K for the land and the house. Less than two years of property taxes for my house back in the US. I am vegetarian, and it is great to be able to eat local produce. I have bananas, mangoes, papayas, jackfruit, peanuts, rice, and chilis right outside my home, and potatoes, carrots, corn, and other leafy greens from the vendor who comes down the road each morning at 6:00am. There are plenty of chickens and goats around if that's your thing. Roosters start up around 4:30am! There are also mongoose and king cobras, and I am buying an antivenom kit (finally after a year!), since there's no way to save someone from a positive bite other than antivenom. King cobra bites are very rare, but the nearest facility with antivenom is over 3 hours drive from here mainly due to the road conditions and the distance. You only have 30 minutes tops after a good envenomation by one. I am no doctor, but I have done some reading on extreme medicine over the years, but luckily I have not had to test most of that knowledge! Bottom line is that I always wanted to travel and experience life throughout my life, not only when I was over 60 like most people plan to do. Funny, but when most people have saved and not traveled or lived differently, they tend to stay put and never do it. At least from those I grew up with or knew. I think there are a lot more 30-something millionaires now than ever before, but I ain't one of them; I wish I were 30-something again, and a millionaire ;)

by eggy 10y ago

sntran 10y ago

This. My wife and I are also planning for the life like this. We haven't had children yet, but we want them to live in nature, value life as it is. We don't know when and how we will start, but once day, we will have the van like the OP's, and just go. Thank you for sharing.

kaybe 10y ago

How do you get money? Savings or do you have income?

eggy 10y ago
Bit of both. I saved a bit from working elsewhere in SE Asia, however, most of it went to support my family that lives back in the US. We live off of a fifth of that here. And remember, I said minimalism. Where I live you get by on $3 per day per person. That's for food you don't grow yourself and other luxuries like internet, razors, soap or toothpaste. I use my phone's 3G service tethered via WiFi to my computer when I need it or want it. It's my biggest luxury item. I could even cut it in half. I currently spend about $25 dollars a month for it, or 1/3 my daily expenses! As I wrote above, most people have dirt floors here, and refrigeration and electricity came not too long ago to this village. Each home has just under 900 Watts of power available, usually on a single 4 Amp/220 Volt (880 Watts) breaker. That's the deluxe plan. You can opt for 450 Watt service! You pre-pay for your electricity. I am just starting on the ground work for a house similar to this: http://www.domegaia.com/ http://www.domegaia.com/ All in all, it should cost me less than $15K for the land and the house. Less than two years of property taxes for my house back in the US. I am vegetarian, and it is great to be able to eat local produce. I have bananas, mangoes, papayas, jackfruit, peanuts, rice, and chilis right outside my home, and potatoes, carrots, corn, and other leafy greens from the vendor who comes down the road each morning at 6:00am. There are plenty of chickens and goats around if that's your thing. Roosters start up around 4:30am! There are also mongoose and king cobras, and I am buying an antivenom kit (finally after a year!), since there's no way to save someone from a positive bite other than antivenom. King cobra bites are very rare, but the nearest facility with antivenom is over 3 hours drive from here mainly due to the road conditions and the distance. You only have 30 minutes tops after a good envenomation by one. I am no doctor, but I have done some reading on extreme medicine over the years, but luckily I have not had to test most of that knowledge! Bottom line is that I always wanted to travel and experience life throughout my life, not only when I was over 60 like most people plan to do. Funny, but when most people have saved and not traveled or lived differently, they tend to stay put and never do it. At least from those I grew up with or knew. I think there are a lot more 30-something millionaires now than ever before, but I ain't one of them; I wish I were 30-something again, and a millionaire ;)