Summer Vacation 2026 – Retire by 40

Hey Everyone! I’m back from my summer vacation. My brothers and I went to visit my dad in Thailand. He had radiation treatment for prostate cancer earlier this year. He seemed much weaker physically after the treatment and we wanted to check on him. Fortunately, the treatment was highly successful and his PSA is much lower now. The doctor said he should be fine for a long time.

We also took this chance to visit my aunt in Australia. The flight from Thailand was super cheap on VietJet Airlines. I paid $212 for a one-way ticket from Bangkok to Sydney, with a stopover in Ho Chi Minh City. Maybe it was low season because it was winter in Australia when we visited. The flight was not enjoyable, though. VietJet gave the passengers absolutely nothing for free. No pillow, blanket, drinks, or food service. You have to pay for anything extra. The plane was a “classic” Boeing and had no entertainment screen or charger plugs. They allowed 15 pounds of carryon luggage. You could pay for more additional carryon and/or check in luggage. It was a long no-frill flight. Fortunately, I was able to sleep most of the way and listened to NPR podcasts the rest of the time. I probably shouldn’t be cheap on these long flights. The flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney took 8 and a half hour.

Mrs. RB40 and RB40Jr flew from Portland to meet us in Sydney. They flew Air Canada and had a comfortable experience. Air Canada is a good carrier with newer planes, but they recently got rid of their free luggage check in policy for international flights. Now, they charge $75 to check a bag. The segment from Vancouver, BC to Sydney took 15 hours. That was a very long flight. Mrs. RB40 said she doesn’t want to do that again. Next time, we’ll stop in Fiji for a few days or something like that. These long haul flights are getting tougher as we get older.

*Blogging update

I did not log on to Retire by 40 at all during my vacation. It was awesome to get away completely. I also neglected my business email and missed the renewal notice from Siteground. I had the site set on auto renewal and it renewed for 2 years. Haha… I guess I’ll keep blogging for at least 2 more years. Although, I feel better about blogging after 6 weeks off. It feels good to write again. Thank you for your encouragement in my previous blog post – The FIRE is Gone. I really appreciate it.

Thailand 2026

I plan to spend half the year in Thailand after RB40Jr goes off to college. The cost of living there is much lower than in Portland and I’d like to be closer to my dad. He is pretty healthy now, but he is 81 years old. He probably would need more help in a few years.

On this trip, we spent most of our time in Bangkok. Things are cheaper, but inflation did its magic. Bangkok isn’t as cheap as it used to be. Here are some examples.

Food in Bangkok

A meal at a midrange restaurant cost around $10. I had a BBQ pork plate, fish maw and crab soup, and a lime ice tea. It was a good amount of food for $10. This would cost $40+ in Portland. However, I feel like food was cheaper in Bangkok 5 years ago. You could still eat street food or grab a boxed lunch for around $2. My dad complained the whole time we were in Bangkok. He said everything was much cheaper in Chiangmai.

A pork katsu sando, a drink, and a very nice view for about $10. This was at MAMAFU, a small rooftop food station at the new Dusit Central Park.

This was at a chain restaurant called Have a Zeed. I had basil fried rice topped with grilled picanha and an egg. The drink was a lemongrass and pandan leaves concoction. This meal cost around $10 as well.

Thai desert for about $1. This was at the Terminal 21 mall’s food court.

Clothes

I picked up a few shorts, pants, and t-shirts in Bangkok. Most clothes at Uniqlo and Muji (Japanese chain stores) cost about half the price of the U.S. stores. A good t-shirt cost about $7-$10 each from a local store.

Prescription glasses

I decided to splurge a bit on this trip and purchased this progressive glasses from OWNDAY, a Japanese Chain. It cost about $400. This was about half of what Mrs. RB40 paid for her last progressive glasses. My dad said you could get much cheaper glasses, but I’m pretty happy with it.

Entertainment

I paid $30 to for a general admission ticket to see the ONE Championship fight at Lumphini Boxing Stadium. It was so much fun. I had to get there about an hour early to secure a nice spot, but it was worth the wait. The general admission got me a seat at the concrete bleacher. You can see the general seating behind the stage in the picture above. I was in the 7^th row and I could see all the action clearly. The concrete bleacher was fine because I was alone. If Mrs. RB40 was with me, I’d pay more (2x-3x) for assigned and more comfortable seating. The live bouts were so much more fun than watching on TV. The audience really got into it and my adrenalin was pumping. My dad said I was crazy to pay that much to see Muay Thai, but it was great because I knew many of these fighters. I would go again if I’m in town for a match.  

This picture is an official photo from ONE FC. They didn’t want the audience to take photo or video. The security guards kept scolding people, but they didn’t kick anyone out.

Transportation

Public transportation was pretty cheap. A ride on the public boats, buses, and light rails cost about $1 to $2 each trip. Taxi from the airport to the city center cost about $10-$20, depending on the traffic.

Haircut

I got a haircut for $7 at Easy Cut, an affordable chain salon. Generally, men’s hair cut cost around $5 to $10.

All in all, Bangkok is cheaper than the US, but it isn’t a bargain that it used to be. Chiangmai should be cheaper, though. That’s where I plan to live anyway. Bangkok is way too hectic for me.

Australia

We visited Sydney, Cairns, and Melbourne. It was great. Australia cities seem much better managed than U.S. cities. They are cleaner and seem chaotic than here. Public transportation is much better too. We really enjoyed visiting and we will encourage RB40Jr to apply to some universities in Melbourne. My aunt invited us to stay with her for as long as we want to. Mrs. RB40 and I plan to go back for a long visit in a few years.

The cost of living in Australia seems to be on par with the U.S. Although, eating out was a bit cheaper because they didn’t have to worry about tipping.

Alright, that’s it for today. I had a nice long vacation and will need to adjust to being back home in Portland. Thanks for reading! I hope you had a great summer as well.

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Joe started Retire by 40 in 2010 to figure out how to retire early. After 16 years of investing and saving, he achieved financial independence and retired at 38.

Joe recommends Empower for DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.