Tokyo
Kon'nichiwa from Tokyo!
Tokyo was our first stop on our round-the-world adventure! Just over a year ago, I found a "mistake" fare from Los Angeles to Tokyo for $100.00 per person. Without thinking too much, I booked the one-way tickets, and figured that if we couldn't make it, we would just need to forfeit the money and move on. We thought more and more about the opportunity, and began to contemplate what we were working so hard in Los Angeles for if we couldn't even take time off to go on a trip together. Work had only started to get more demanding of our time, and knowing that we could potentially continue on this path for another 30-40 years, we decided to start working toward creating a business that would allow us to be more flexible with our time, without sacrificing our income. We, of course, knew that there would be less "stability," but we always knew that I would make the move to having my own practice at some point in the future. Thus, we saved every spare penny we made from January to October, and created a nest-egg that could sustain us for a full year of being outside of the United States.
Our expenses decreased dramatically once we left Los Angeles. We were paying for rent ($2,255 per month), electricity ($150-$300 per month--depending on the season), internet ($70 per month), fuel ($400 per month), and a whole host of random insurance costs (cars, renters, earthquake, ect., totaling about $450 per month), and health insurance ($550.00). This amount totaled almost $4,000.00 per month. We knew if we could keep expenses down on the rent in foreign countries, and make sure electricity and internet was included in the rent (and sometimes even transportation--more on that in Thailand), that we could potentially save a ton of money on this trip, especially if we stuck to some cheaper countries, and traveled wisely (more on this later as well).
On top of all of this, we started following people who spent a lot of time traveling, and learned about a tax credit for people residing outside of the United States. Very simply stated (it is a bit of a complicated tax provision--and yes, we have tax professionals helping us with this ;) ), if you reside outside of the United States for a full 330 days, you can exclude the first $105,900.00 your income, meaning that you don't pay Federal Income Tax on those funds. Because Cole and I are married, and because Cole works for our business, we can double this amount if we were blessed with that kind of income (we aren't yet ;) )! This could potentially save us up to $39,000.00 in Federal Income Tax. We are projecting that it will save us around $20,000.00 this year, and have used this amount as our living expense budget for 2019 (a cool $24,000 less than we were paying in Los Angeles). Because we are not incurring any expenses back home in the U.S. (no rent, insurance (we have a health insurance policy, but it is specifically underwritten for expats, so it is incredibly cheap), or other expenses), we stand to save a lot of money this year to put toward the eventual purchase of a home of our very own! :)
So, when asked "why" are we doing this, it is two-fold:
1. This gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel the world, experience different cultures, and make new friends and family; and
2. This gives us an opportunity to nurse our business to health without having the massive burden of taxes, and to save some money for our future!
We feel incredibly grateful that you all have shown your support, despite some fears! We wanted to thank all of you by sharing our adventures in the form of this blog! Enjoy! :)
FYI: you can click on the photos to make them larger, and can scroll through them like a slideshow! ;)
Beautiful Tokyo:
Starting from day one, this is our apartment in L.A. the day we left to Japan. It was rainy while we were there (super rare for Los Angeles), so we were excited to leave!:
Tokyo was our first stop on our round-the-world adventure! Just over a year ago, I found a "mistake" fare from Los Angeles to Tokyo for $100.00 per person. Without thinking too much, I booked the one-way tickets, and figured that if we couldn't make it, we would just need to forfeit the money and move on. We thought more and more about the opportunity, and began to contemplate what we were working so hard in Los Angeles for if we couldn't even take time off to go on a trip together. Work had only started to get more demanding of our time, and knowing that we could potentially continue on this path for another 30-40 years, we decided to start working toward creating a business that would allow us to be more flexible with our time, without sacrificing our income. We, of course, knew that there would be less "stability," but we always knew that I would make the move to having my own practice at some point in the future. Thus, we saved every spare penny we made from January to October, and created a nest-egg that could sustain us for a full year of being outside of the United States.
Our expenses decreased dramatically once we left Los Angeles. We were paying for rent ($2,255 per month), electricity ($150-$300 per month--depending on the season), internet ($70 per month), fuel ($400 per month), and a whole host of random insurance costs (cars, renters, earthquake, ect., totaling about $450 per month), and health insurance ($550.00). This amount totaled almost $4,000.00 per month. We knew if we could keep expenses down on the rent in foreign countries, and make sure electricity and internet was included in the rent (and sometimes even transportation--more on that in Thailand), that we could potentially save a ton of money on this trip, especially if we stuck to some cheaper countries, and traveled wisely (more on this later as well).
On top of all of this, we started following people who spent a lot of time traveling, and learned about a tax credit for people residing outside of the United States. Very simply stated (it is a bit of a complicated tax provision--and yes, we have tax professionals helping us with this ;) ), if you reside outside of the United States for a full 330 days, you can exclude the first $105,900.00 your income, meaning that you don't pay Federal Income Tax on those funds. Because Cole and I are married, and because Cole works for our business, we can double this amount if we were blessed with that kind of income (we aren't yet ;) )! This could potentially save us up to $39,000.00 in Federal Income Tax. We are projecting that it will save us around $20,000.00 this year, and have used this amount as our living expense budget for 2019 (a cool $24,000 less than we were paying in Los Angeles). Because we are not incurring any expenses back home in the U.S. (no rent, insurance (we have a health insurance policy, but it is specifically underwritten for expats, so it is incredibly cheap), or other expenses), we stand to save a lot of money this year to put toward the eventual purchase of a home of our very own! :)
So, when asked "why" are we doing this, it is two-fold:
1. This gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel the world, experience different cultures, and make new friends and family; and
2. This gives us an opportunity to nurse our business to health without having the massive burden of taxes, and to save some money for our future!
We feel incredibly grateful that you all have shown your support, despite some fears! We wanted to thank all of you by sharing our adventures in the form of this blog! Enjoy! :)
FYI: you can click on the photos to make them larger, and can scroll through them like a slideshow! ;)
Beautiful Tokyo:
Starting from day one, this is our apartment in L.A. the day we left to Japan. It was rainy while we were there (super rare for Los Angeles), so we were excited to leave!:
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| This is our apartment in L.A. the day we left to Japan! |
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| Airplane menu |
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| Silly caption on our washcloths provided by our apartment in Tokyo! |
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| Nervous neighbors! Lol! It was actually super quiet in Tokyo, despite the crazy number of people living in our area! |
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| Akihabara--Tokyo's Electronics District |
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| Cole is too large for Tokyo! |
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| We spend a day at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace! We learned that the Imperial Palace is the active and primary residence of the Emperor of Japan. |
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| Cole admired the handiwork of this gate! |
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| Doing some laundry! Laundry services are very easy to access in Tokyo, but we purchased quick drying clothes for a reason, right? |
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| Breakfast from 7-Eleven! Fun fact: 7-Elevens in most of Asia are fully stocked convenience stores, which super fresh options. Unlike in the U.S., where you can get a 2-day old hot dog, these convenience stores are very well enjoyed by the locals! We purchased breakfast here almost every morning, and it was always under 1,000 Yen, or $10.00 for everything (see picture)! |
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| View from our balcony! |
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| On this day, we ventured into Ueno Park for the day! The pictures below are from our adventure through Ueno! |
It is so exciting to see everything by jus pushing a button. Keep on top of thing. Be carefull and keep in touch. Love Grandma
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