Never Retire - The Ultimate Month-Long European Vacation
How I make it cheaper than two weeks In San Francisco
The following story appeared on Medium earlier this week.
There’s a good chance you didn’t see it. So I’m sending it to paid and free subscribers today. It pertains to our ongoing discussions for several reasons, particularly because:
It’s one iteration of a soft life. This Gen Z and millennial-driven social media trend that—at least in my world—is the same as living a semi-retired life. I’ll have more to say about the soft life meets semi-retirement thing in a few days.
It previews the next installment of the Never Retire newsletter, which will focus on pots of money strategies.
About a month ago, I published the first installment in a series that will track how much it will cost my girlfriend and I to spend one month in Spain and Italy.
I’m tracking all of the pre-booked elements of the trip — flights, trains, Airbnbs. Then, during and after the trip, we’ll tally the other costs incurred while traveling. And we’ll compare them to what it would have run us to spend two weeks in San Francisco.
I dropped New York from the analysis just because it’s too repetitive. Basically the same story as San Francsico.
If you’d like to receive a notification each time I publish a Medium article (and so you can keep up with the series between now and next year!), go here.
I love all of this talk lately about Gen Z and millennials leading “soft lives.” This is a life without the physical, emotional, and financial stress of working too hard. An escape from the rat race. Letting go of the runaway American dream. I’m Gen X and I embraced at least some version of this lifestyle a few years ago.
A ‘soft life’ doesn’t have to be across the board frugal.
If you keep your cost of living low in some areas and make smart choices in others, you can go big and go often. As evidenced by this little exercise we’re conducting.
I love San Francisco. Used to live there. I visit frequently.
But I’m taking one month in Spain and Italy over The City every single time, especially when it actually costs less to travel better and longer in Southern Europe.
Before we summarize what we’ve booked so far — and compare how much we’ve spent to how much it would cost to do likewise in San Francisco— you can see where we left off here.
In February, we’ll hit the following cities, in this order —
Barcelona-Valencia-Madrid-Rome-Naples-Barcelona
We have booked all of the Airbnbs, except for the last few nights in Barcelona. We have decided to book that segment during our initial stay in Barcelona, as we get accustomed to the city.
Our ground rules:
We want to stay in the coolest, most urban, most vibrant, most bustling neighborhoods where people live and where everything — bars, restaurants, shops, services — are within walking distance.
We want nice and clean accommodations.
Size doesn’t matter.
We want the per night cost to come in (well) under $100. As you’ll see, more than feasible in the above-mentioned cities. Not so possible in the domestic equivalents.
When we come back from the trip, I’ll post the actual places we stayed in. For now, a summary of how much each Airbnb cost (including fees) and an estimate of what the last few nights in Barcelona will cost.
4 nights in Barcelona’s Gracia neighborhood: $468.67 / $117 per night
4 nights in Valencia’s Russafa neighborhood: $337.83 / $84 per night
6 nights in Madrid’s Malasana neighborhood: $454.79 / $76 per night
4 nights in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood: $291.68 / $73 per night
5 nights in Naples’ Spanish Quarter neighborhood: $282.28 / $56 per night
So far we have 23 nights for a total of $1,835 or $80 per night.
We’ll estimate the final 4 nights in Barcelona at $100 per night, as it is the most expensive city we’re visiting, bringing the total to $2,235 or $83 per night.
$2,235 or $83 per night to spend 27 nights in five of Spain and Italy’s top cities in the most vibrant neighorhoods.
In San Francisco, which I know relatively well, I’d call Hayes Valley the equivalent to the European neighborhoods we’re staying in, both in terms of the cool factor, urban feel, and proximity to everything else.
Here’s a look at an Airbnb search for 27 nights in February in Hayes Valley — two people with the entire place to yourself.
The search results speak for themselves.
It would cost anywhere from $5,000 to upwards of $20,000 to stay in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley for 27 nights.
Up it to a month to take advantage of the extended stay discount and it still doesn’t get anywhere near what we’re paying in Spain and Italy —
Drop your time down to two weeks in Hayes Valley and you’re still in $2,500 to $6,000 territory. To get to that $2,500 — or slightly lower — you have to settle for neighborhoods far away from and not as “cool” or convenient as Hayes Valley. And that’s for two weeks! Not 27 nights.
Even more stunning, a month in one of Portland’s best urban neighborhoods — NW 23rd Avenue, Nob Hill — will run you north of $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, even $6,000.
The total on that $83 per night option actually comes to $2,606. So we’re talking $97 a night for 27 nights.
I’m not rich. Far, far, far from it.
I just have the key components in place of my version of a soft life:
A low cost of living
A flexible job I enjoy doing
A love for dense urban places, which includes small apartments
An amazing, likeminded partner to share it all with
I wanted to book an apartment close to my parents in the UK in a touristy but not that great area. I was being quoted £3000 / €3600 a month on Airbnb. Yet I stayed in the middle of Barcelona last year for €1700 - and that was in the middle of the Summer. I know which one I'd rather pay (and stay in).
I’m old enough to remember when NW Portland was anything but fashionable. If anything, it was just sketchy enough to make it interesting.