Boots on the Loose

It took perhaps two days of navigating the streets of Shanghai. And I now have a far greater understanding of where the Chinese back in Canada are coming from. Chinese people really just don’t give much of a fuck.

…And I kinda like it. 

But more on that in a bit!

Eddie at YVR

Letting Go of Life at Home

In the weeks leading up to this round-the-world trip that we are on, I have had a heck of a time letting go of life at home.

Will the guests that rent our cabins be unhappy that they didn’t get a chance to meet us? Will our cabins be cleaned and setup how I like? Will they receive all the information I like to pass on to them when they arrive? How many fun things will we miss out on while we are away? Will our cats be sad while we are gone? And on and on.

The answer to all these questions (and more) can most likely be summed up as follows: I’m probably right to be concerned about all the things I’m concerned about because they will probably all be true to some degree. But the real truth is…… none of it matters. At all.

The cats will be fine. The cabins won’t be setup the same way I do it. But they will be setup adequately. Guests will get the information they need without us. And they will be perfectly happy meeting our substitute instead of us. Possibly happier. Our businesses will not be ruined because we aren’t there babysitting our cabins for a couple of months. They will do just great.

This feeling is actually a fairly new thing for me – I used to have no problem packing everything up and walking away for whatever amount of time. I am a minimalist at heart and the ability to do this is a major benefit of a minimalist life.

But we have much more on the line now than our old minimalist ways. Perhaps we can get back to that one day but for now, running multiple property rentals and businesses is what is working for us.

For now, we just need to learn how to trust, and let go when need be.

Two Types of Freedoms when we Let Go of Life at Home

All this is to say there are two types of freedoms that come to us with the ability to let go of the life we have setup at home.

• The freedom to live in the moment while we are away from home.
  • We let go. We trust that life will go on without us. And it will do just fine. We trust the person staying in our house. This time it is a friend but next time it may not be. And we will just have to trust them too! We are free to live in the moment. Take in all that surrounds us.
• The freedom to leave home more often. And potentially longer.
  • We are working hard to build something that functions while we aren’t there. But it requires someone to be there to make it function. And if we trust someone to do that for us, we will actually be earning money while we aren’t there! Which means we don’t have to spend so much time saving up before we go away. So we can go away more often. And longer. If circumstances don’t get in the way.

Currently we are likely at a point where with a great deal of frugality and a little bit of effort, we could find places to travel to, and come home with the same amount of savings as when we left.

For example after the banks, utility companies, cleaners, government and everyone else has been paid after renting our cabins out for a month, we are usually left with around $1500 – $2000 in our pockets. And I do believe we could go live on an island in Thailand for that kind of money. Or perhaps a small beach town in Mexico. Or maybe we go housesitting in Spain where we don’t pay for lodging, and be thrifty enough that $2000 a month is all we need.

I have secretly challenged us to do exactly that for a couple months next winter, in fact. We will see how that plays out 🙂

Of course the ongoing task is to find ways of bringing in more money at home that doesn’t involve the things we prefer not to do. Like slingin’ beers or writing computer code. Ultimately what we are after, is the ability to travel anytime, anywhere. Without worrying about the cost. And as long as we can learn to let go of life at home, it will eventually happen!

Trip Update: Shanghai

Is Shanghai what I expected? Yes and no. It is definitely far less chaotic than I ever would have imagined. And a little less dirty too. Of a city with the population of roughly the same as Canada.

I will say that again because it nearly blew my mind when I read it: Shanghai has about the same population as Canada.

Wow.

It is the biggest city in the world if you ignore suburban population at 24 million people. It loses the battle if you include suburban areas at a mere 34 million people.

But somehow the streets aren’t completely crammed with idling cars at all times of the day. The streets are actually relatively clean, orderly and flowing.

Vegas style

Shanghai towers

There is SO much wealth here, I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. The main shopping street literally looks like the strip in Vegas. The towers downtown are some of the tallest in the world. Due to the communist regime, there is a hefty luxury tax on things like sports cars, and alcohol, and many other things. I was told a Ferrari here costs three times what it would in Canada. And I’ve seen a number of them.

I paid $20 the other night for a pint of beer. Oy.

A condo here is also around three times what they go for back in Vancouver – one of the most expensive places to live in N. America. And the vast majority of middle-class tech workers make a quarter or less of what we do at home. Is there a wonder the Chinese are coming to Canada in droves?

I’ve done a great deal of travelling throughout SE Asia. But it was a big mistake for me to be assuming Shanghai is anything remotely like anywhere there.

But back to the point.

Coy fish pond

Coming from a world where it might now be illegal to fart while driving your car, it is awesome to watch how the Chinese go about their business.

I’ve never been so jostled while walking around a city. They aren’t being rude or anything. They just simply don’t give a fuck.

Trying to get on the subway? (And I might add Shanghai easily has the best subway system in the entire world). There’s no waiting for people to get off before you get on. Unless you want someone to climb over you from behind to get on.

Maglev

Maglev

While I’m talking about train travel – we took the Maglev train from the airport into town. It is the fastest train in the world, maxing out at 431kph(!!??). The Germans wouldn’t build it because they said it was too dangerous. The Chinese? We don’t fucking care. We are building it anyway!

I’m sorry, were you thinking it was your turn next to buy a train ticket? WRONG! My turn. Zero fucks given.

Did you want to turn left here? Go for it! After I do my u-turn right in front of your car.

The Chinese smoke like its 1982. Anytime, and anywhere. Once in a while someone tries to put up a no-smoking sign, but that’s a laughable suggestion.

As we were preparing to land on the flight over, the Chinese man beside me decided to unbuckle his seatbelt and bring this bird in cowboy-style. I suppose if we crash we are all dead anyway…

And of course, the piece de la resistance: I went into the bustling bathroom at the airport for a quick pee only to find a dude sitting there. Taking a dump. Door wide open.

I couldn’t resist – I had to slow down to check if the door was broken. It had to have been. But it wasn’t.

He just simply didn’t fucking care.

Awesome.

Temple statue