Comments on: Feeling Rich by Going Away

By: download music

download music — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:49:05 +0000

There are so many opportunities to take a wonderful vacation on a much smaller budget, and you can do something positive for the people of that region with the money you save!

By: Ares Vista

Ares Vista — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:46:26 +0000

Travel is one of the most rewarding advantages of having money. We should be careful to take advantage of opportunities, but taking a vacation is a great way to celebrate all your hard work and successes.

By: Carlson

Carlson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:27:04 +0000

Harold, tourism is, by most estimates, the #1 industry in Thailand, employing a huge percentage of its workers. How many Thai people wish we would all stay home and stop taking advantage of the “fixed inequalities/bargains”? Their tourism board touts the value proposition for a reason: it’s one of their key selling points.

By: Harold

Harold — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:18:09 +0000

Tim,
I think there is a difference between checking which pasta is on sale at the supermarket and researching which country is a bargain. Natural price fluctuations across the Canadian/American border are one thing – but the relatively fixed inequalities/bargains that let us live luxuriously in Thailand, for instance, keep most Thais from ever dreaming of visiting our respective countries. Is that ok?

I didn’t mean to suggest any of the other arguments interpreted by other commenters. Again, keep up the wonderful travel evangelism.

By: Carlson

Carlson — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:44:12 +0000

“More appropriate” or “taking advantage of that inequality”? I think any person running a hotel or store in a cheap currency country would have a real problem with anyone telling them tourists should go elsewhere for moral reasons. Is spending lots of money in Italy and being all mature about it better than spending 1/4 that amount in Honduras and helping to feed and clothe an extended family? They need your money far more in the places this blogger writes about than in mature, first-world nations with more stability. (That includes the bar owners too.)

By: tim

tim — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:48:04 +0000

1) Ignoring the massive budget impact of currency fluctuations is like ignoring what’s on sale at the supermarket, which bank is offering the best interest rate, or which mutual fund is best at picking long-term winners. It’s got no more to do with morals than does shopping at Big Lots or Family Dollar. I didn’t blame anyone for flying to the U.S. for a shopping spree when our currency took a dive. That’s just taking advantage of a great opportunity—and the merchants were thrilled.

2) As I’ve stated on here repeatedly, I’m not a long-term backpacker anymore. But I don’t hesitate to take my family to cheap places or go there myself on writing trips. The Economist uses the Big Mac to discuss relative prices; I use hotels and beer. (And yes, I do still drink beer. I didn’t know that stopped when you left college…)

3) I would argue that it’s not all that expensive at the moment to fly overseas: the price of the average monthly car payment for many destinations. Less than the cheapest HDTV. So it’s a matter of priorities up front, but then a matter of being far better off financially after arrival.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:13:43 +0000

My apologies, Tim, if I have somehow offended you and your blog. I sometimes forget why I usually don’t post to blogs; there’s always someone who can misinterpret anything said and use it for their own purposes. Yet another example of why I should actively pursue self-restraint early in the a.m.

By: Donald

Donald — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:08:48 +0000

I disagree with both the posters before me.

Harold – price is relative and there are many possible reasons. For instance, goods are expensive in Iceland because they can’t grow much anything, don’t have the population or raw materials for a manufacturing base, and therefore have to import everything (which adds costs). It’s an expensive country (usually). Does that mean that I feel more moral for paying up for things? No. Nor do I feel less moral or immoral paying down in countries where things are cheap. In fact, if I was charged more than the “going rate” it would be the other party in the transaction being immoral.

Joe – while there may be things in this blog that seem “backpacky” to you, this post wasn’t one of them so why choose this one to make that point. Tim gives examples of restaurants and many classes of lodging here. Backpackers tend to not eat out much and use hostels and campgrounds rather than nice hotels. Therefore, I don’t see your point at least pertaining to this post.

Tim – Keep it up. Airfare is expensive to get nearly anywhere overseas. Keep reminding us that once you land, you make that cost up and more by saving on everything else. We all could use the encouragement to get out there.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:41:37 +0000

Tim,
While I agree with parts of the substance of Harold’s remark of Mar 18, 2009, I disagree with it’s tone. Yes, maybe it is time to stop measuring the worth of country and its economic climate in beer – albeit I understand your everyman common denominator approach. Having lived in four countries in the last twenty years, (one asian, three european) I, like you, have personally witnessed some giants of tourism fall from grace due to economic policies of not only the USA but of their own countries. Regardless, like Harold, maybe it is time to reconsider the tone of your wonderful articles, and more accurately gauge the average age of your readership. You’re a married man with children of a certain age yourself: at what point does one decide its more appropriate to take in to account all the positives and negatives of a country’s economy, rather than just give us the college backpacker’s POV?

By: Harold

Harold — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:21:28 +0000

Hi Tim,
I’m a big fan of your blog and writing, as much as I am a fan and evangelist of long term travel in countries whose currencies make that the most possible. I’m living in Japan partly to take advantage of the yen vs Asia. Yet I have a question for your moral side – your college philosophical, beers on a late night, experience recovering, travel enlightened side: Is there anything wrong about the inequality of currencies and, because they’re related, taking advantage of that inequality? I’m sure you’ve thought about it, and while I wish I could travel like a king among men without sacrificing my time to earn/scam the money, and not think about it, I suspect something needs to change and you’re one of the ones who could best inform the conversation.