Monday, December 19, 2016

Off to Asia

Off to Asia
This Saturday is Christmas Eve, and our gift to ourselves this year is a trip to Asia. We're visiting Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Siem Reap, doing our normal thing of visiting each city for about four days or so, and with our usual partners in crime: our good couple friends who've leaned into travel hacking as much as we have.

This trip is bittersweet, since my mother's recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She just started chemo this month, and I've been driving back to Southern California to visit her. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a lot of stress, but I'm choosing to trust her doctors' recommendations, and to be optimistic. The last few days have been especially hard. She's been in the ER and hospital on separate issues, which is the last thing she needs while she's trying to beat cancer.

I've been kicking around the idea of just cancelling the trip, and using my vacation time to be with my mom. That's what a good son would do, right? And it's Christmas. I really should be with family anyway. 

But my mom gave her blessing and said it's fine to stick with our plans. There's no point in putting life on hold because of fear, because there's always something to be scared about if you look hard enough. 

And I've been able to see her in person and let her know I love her and help in little ways, like getting her will in order. [Now that we've gone through the process and seen that it really is not as complicated as we thought, Mrs. Done by Forty and I will be setting our own up. More on that in a future post.]

We'll have photos and stories to share when we get back. But for now we can outline the basics of the trip and the modest travel hacking we did to keep costs down. I have a couple posts scheduled for while we're away, and I'll try to stop by your blogs and read when we have some downtime and wifi. But if I drop off the face of the digital world, it's nothing personal and we'll be back soon.

The Flights
As usual, we leaned heavily on the expertise of Brad at Richmond Savers. I really cannot recommend him enough: if you want to travel more and spend less money doing it, Brad's your guy. He helped us focus on the best card for traveling to Asia this time of year, and even got us some inter-country flight deals, too.
  • Roundtrip flight from Phoenix to Tokyo & back: 80,000 American Airlines miles and $102 for two tickets.
  • One way flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong: 20,000 British Airways Avios and $71.
  • One way flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok: 15,000 British Airways Avios and $33.
  • Roundtrip from Bangkok to Siem Reap: $320
  • One way flight from Bangkok to Tokyo: 25,000 British Airways Avios and $48
  • Total dollars spent: $574
Accommodations
Since there are four of us, we're mostly staying in AirBnBs that have a couple beds, rather than each of us using points at hotels. I prefer AirBnBs to hotels most of the time. I like already being in a real, living neighborhood when we step outside, and prefer the quirky apartment with peccadillos to the nice-but-predictable decor of a chain hotel. Still, both are great and, you know, we'll take the latter when it's free.
We'll obviously spend more on restaurants, gifts, subway tickets, cab rides, and all the random adventures we can squeeze in our too-short trip. I usually don't document all this sort of stuff in a budget but, if that's the thing you'd like to see, I can keep track as best I can.

So that's what we'll be doing for the holidays. Whatever your plans are, I hope you get a chance to see the people you love, and to exchange gifts, and to drink too much eggnog, and to do it all in Santa hats because everything is more fun in Santa hats. Remember to hug your friends and kiss your loved ones, and have a Merry Christmas, dear readers. We'll see you next year.


*Photo is from Manish Prabhune at Flickr Creative Commons.

15 comments:

  1. "There's no point in putting life on hold because of fear, because there's always something to be scared about if you look hard enough."

    Wise words.

    If I were your mom, I wouldn't want you to cancel or enjoy your trip any less on account of my health. Wishing her the best possible care and outcome! Have a great time!

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    1. Thanks, Em! We're going to be in the same part of the world for nearly the same dates. Looks like we'll miss each other, but next time.

      Really appreciate the well wishes.

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    2. That part really hit me, too. I'm cheering for your mom to beat it. Truly. I'm sorry to hear the news.

      Our Japan trip ended up getting postponed. I'll live vicariously through you in the meantime.

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  2. Best wishes to your mom. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. It is always tough to see a loved one have to deal with health issues. It's great that you've been able to go help out your mom and that she wants you to take the trip. And so true that you can't put life on hold because of fear...otherwise, you'll just never get to live. Have a great trip! Sounds exciting...I've only been on Hong Kong. What's on the agenda?

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    1. I didn't realize that about your mom, Andrew. One more thing we have in common.

      For our agenda, we have the normal touristy sight seeing things, lots of food and drink. We use VisitACity to make itineraries for each day, which is kind of fun to plan out.

      I'm most looking forward to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I had no idea what it was before planning the trip.

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. :( I'm sending her and your family my good thoughts! I think if it were my mom she would tell me the same thing. I I hope you enjoy your trip. I'm fed up with the credit card thing because I keep getting denied new credit cards even though I have excellent credit. grrrr!

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    1. Thank you for the kind words, Tonya. I know what you mean about the cards -- Chase denied me this year for one card and I couldn't believe it. I can't remember the last time they denied me, but I think they know what's up when they see all the cards I've applied for.

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  4. Sending lots of prayer your way for your mom, DB40. Stand strong in faith, my friend. You got a rockin' good deal on that trip - way to go!! Take lots of pics for us, and have fun!!

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    1. Thanks, Laurie. I've found I'm praying more (or rather, again) and that is the biggest help. Knowing that God has control over all of this.

      Will definitely be back with lots of photos and a post (or three) on the trip.

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  5. I'm really sorry to hear about your mom's diagnosis...cancer just sucks:( It's good to hear that you're being optimistic in spite of and continuing with your plans. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday in Asia!

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    1. Thanks so much for the well wishes, Latoya. We are at the airport on the way out now. Have a happy holiday!

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  6. I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, but am happy you decided to go ahead with the trip with her blessing! We had a great time on our recent trip to Japan (flights paid for by points/travel hacking). The friends we visited while there had recently traveled to Bangkok and had a good trip but warned that the cities have a lot of scammers on the streets! Tokyo (and all of Japan) felt incredibly safe everywhere we went though. Can't wait to read more about your travels and I hope you have a great time!

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    1. Thanks for the tips! We will be on the lookout in Bangkok.If you have bar or restaurant recommendations, let us know.

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  7. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom's diagnosis :( Praying that she gets better soon. I have a friend who survived breast cancer and went on to run marathons, become a mother, and accomplish her dream of writing several bestselling novels! So with modern medicine, there is more hope than ever that cancer survivors will continue living amazing lives!

    Have fun on your trip to Asia! I see on twitter that you guys went to Ichiran and it makes me want to go back to Japan so badly! Can't wait to see your pictures when you get back! Safe travels!



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  8. So sorry to hear about your mom. It is so hard to watch our strong parents deal with health issues. I'm glad you were able to take this trip. That airfare is amazing. I have a coworker who pays thousands for airfare to Japan a few times a year. He has family there so his accommodations are free but still. I hope it was a great trip!

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