I am aware and fully appreciative of the fact that we have set off on this journey with more room in our budget than the typical backpacker. This means we can stay in nicer apartment rentals instead of shared hostels. We don’t need to constantly cook at home (getting groceries is a lot of work!) and miss out on local eats. And we can splurge on fancy cups of drinking chocolate (my current weakness).
But still, no matter how roomy your budget is, in the world of travel, there is nothing as precious as free accommodation.
In Warsaw, we were lucky enough to be able to bum at one of D’s Polish relative’s house. Staying with family/friends is possibly the best way to travel. Not only do you get a free bed, you get the warmth of a home, the best insider guides, and (hopefully) a lot of home cooked food!
We arrived in Warsaw tired and hungry. Within minutes of setting foot inside the front door, a plate of pierogis appeared in front of us, the first of the many home-cooked meals we would eat over the next several days. Our room was cozy and comfortable, and in between bonding & exploring with D’s faraway family, we spent many long afternoons curled up indoors.
It was just what we wanted, as we came with no real plans except to see family, eat good food, and rest at home.
But here’s the twist – this relative owns a mansion. A legit mansion.
As in… a gigantic house with endless rooms, secret chambers, en-suite bathrooms with bidets, manicured front and back gardens, gazebos, and house staff who live in an on-site guesthouse that’s bigger than the house D and I had back home.
just a portion of the front gardens
Much like the city of Warsaw, the house is also steeped in history. We learn that it functioned as the guesthouse for the neighboring former King’s palace for a while, after which it became a hospital in the mid 1800’s before being left abandoned. When purchased by D’s relative 10 years ago, it was in a sad, dilapidated state. Photos of the original house as purchased line the long corridors, showing crumbling brick, shattered windows, and holes in the roof – a victim of the violent war years. I’m glad it’s been given a new life.
And for nearly a week, we enjoy the life of luxury.
Three times a day, the house staff serves us home-cooked food on pretty white platters. We eat under the all glass ceiling, with sunlight streaming in and a fluffy white dog at our feet. For the first time, we don’t worry about grocery shopping, doing dishes, or cleaning house. In fact, our only responsibility is getting ourselves to the table at the appointed meal hours.
During the day, we’re left to our own devices. Some days, we’re picked up by D’s family and they take us to see the best of Warsaw. Some days, we spend hours curled up in our room and simply enjoy the comforts. And some days, we explore the grounds.
The house borders the palace (I’m not gonna say which one) of a former king from centuries ago. By agreement with the palace, the house possesses a key to palace grounds. The key unlocks a gate right off to the side of the front lawn, straight to the royal gardens. One day, we slip through the gate and wander among the beautifully manicured gardens. A little bit further down, we find a long stretch of river and little ponds where ducks call home. And yet further still, we discover an old abandoned castle.
Seriously, who has a freaking palace and castles in their backyard?!
All I can say is that life is truly like a dream here.
We don’t want to leave. We start to fall under its spell and say things like “this is the life!” and “what does it take to become successful and rich?” (Answer: many decades of hard work and 80+ hour work weeks.)
But then we remind ourselves that we ARE rich.
And that we gave up that kind of life in order to pursue a different kind of wealth.
There are two kinds of wealth. Not too long ago, we had material wealth (okay obviously not that wealthy… how much do you think a young engineer makes?! :P). We lived in a lovely house that had way more space than two people would ever need. I had a closet full of clothes and shoes. We could eat out multiple times a week and barely bat an eye at the bills. We had a heck a lot of disposable income for two people with no real responsibilities.
But it didn’t buy us happiness. So we traded it for freedom.
Now, we live simply. We learned to wash our clothes in a sink. We trim our own hair. We don’t own more than a few outfits each and we don’t have more than a couple of backpacks’ worth of possessions. We often argue over whether we really need that $3 ice cream cone, and whether we can afford a particular restaurant.
But we’re richer than we’ve ever been.
We’re free and healthy. We’ve rid ourselves of everything that tied us down. We can be anyone we want to be and do anything we want to do.
And that, perhaps, is the greatest wealth of all. And perhaps, we have already succeeded. :)
Finally, enjoy these pictures of the palace grounds, aka. the extended backyard!
What was the most luxurious place you’ve stayed at on your travels? What are you feeling rich in these days?
Staying with relatives is always the best, it give you the opportunity to divert your attention (and money) to seeing the place you’re visiting…
… but damn that mansion is ridiculous! Take more pics!! You should do some of the before and after, it would be fun to see some of the improvements they made!
The mansion was ridiculous! We already left, and I didn’t get too many pictures. But i’m also hesitant to post any pics of the house itself because I don’t know if they would want pics of their house on the internet lol!
Here’s the only pic I managed to find! Huge difference!
Wow looks like it was really abandoned. They must have gotten a really good deal!
Yeah, like totally abandoned and destroyed during the war!
Love this & the message behind it. I feel like this often: trading material wealth and success for freedom and happiness. I felt like it just yesterday, having brunch on our balcony in the beautiful warm weather and having the time to spend together. I said, “I feel rich… in happiness.” I have learned that I would be happy to make this trade any day.
You guys really lucked out with this one– I can’t even imagine to stay in a luxurious Polish mansion near a palace. It does really get you thinking! As far as luxurious accommodations: on my very first workstay in Scotland (near Fort William) I was overjoyed to see that there was an entire two-story garden cottage set aside for our stay with full kitchen, living room, bedroom, lovely nature views of the estate… it was more than I could’ve imagined :)
Yes! I love those little moments of the day when you feel so happy all of a sudden! I get those too… sometimes it’s when I’m walking down a new street surrounded by people and new sights, and sometimes it’s just during a quiet moment like what you described. :)
Wow! Your place in Scotland sounds sooo cute. I’m DYING to go to Scotland someday. I think I really need to check into this workstay thing (free accommodation? yes!).
Hi Anna
Absolutely loved this post. First off, that sounds like a really nice set-up you have going over there. Like you, I am not on a super-tight budget. My fiance and I do freelance writing and other ventures and we are able to earn money as we go. Though, we do live fairly simply because we like to pad our savings, investment accounts,etc… We could probably up things a couple of levels but we don’t feel it is something we must do absolutely. With only suitcases as space that is truly ours, buying a bunch of stuff is not an option, and I really have no desire to do so anyway. Traveling long-term like this has served as some sort of ‘detox’ as far as acquiring things has been concerned, though I was never much for that anyway.
We have been housesitting in Fiji for two months and will be here for two more so we have been staying here for free. Got some good flight deals to here from Asia that made it a sound choice financially speaking. Cost of living is pretty low , and there is not much going on around here so not much to spend money on besides food.
You make a great point about wealth–there is relative and absolute. Freedom was the thing I identified as being most important to me, and I decided to pursue a life that would give it to me. Like you, I feel very rich indeed. I wouldn’t trade my life now for any high-paying job that would leave me bound to an office, with a couple of paltry vacation days thrown in.
I am all for financial abundance and I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to have money. But I suspect many people’s strong desire for it stems from not being happy with their life now in one aspect or another and thinking more money would largely ‘fix’ things. I don’t think a lot of people realize you can be happy without having a lot of money so long as you are doing something that makes you happy. You can have the money too if you want, but that is just more of a ‘bonus.’
Great post
Thanks so much Kelli, and for sharing your story! We are very lucky that D has an online business that brings in income (he had the foresight 10 years ago that he didn’t want to work for anyone else!). Recently, he did make a business decision to take a major pay cut, so we’re dealing with having a tighter budget, but we still feel richer than ever. :) We live simply too because like you, we like to have padding and continue to build up savings. The freedom part is key to feeling like we have a rich life. I wouldn’t trade this either for any high paying job!
I keep on hearing about this housesitting thing, and I must look into that. I would love to be staying somewhere for free and blogging from paradise like you two! :D
My god, so when people ask him: “Does your house have a pool?”, he can answer: “No, there’s no pool, there’s only a lake” :D
I’ve never lived in such luxurious place before, the best I’ve ever done is Residence Inn’s suite when I was in the States..
Hehe the pictures may be misleading because it’s really the areas behind the palace, but it’s still practically in the backyard! I think that’s really the coolest thing about it! Haha, don’t worry, I’m not in the habit of staying in nice places. Sometimes, our rentals are nice, and sometimes, they’ re tiny studios or have a toilet that stinks like sewage. :P
You are totally right. There are different kinds of wealth. There is the wealth of money, the wealth of experience, the wealth of love, etc. I think it is great that you’ve made the decision to pursue the type of wealth you want to accumulate early in life. But staying in a mansion has to be pretty sweet, right?
Yes!! It was for sure the best place we have ever stayed at (made better by the fact that we got to bond with D’s family)! I like the sentiment of accumulating this kind of wealth of experience early in life. :) Thanks for the comment, Greg! I hope you’re feeling wealthy these day too! :D
Holy crap, that is awesome!!! I would love to stay there like you guys did, but I couldn’t actually live in something like that, I like things mush more simple and less upkeep – haha. So gorgeous though!! I love that line about how you traded it for freedom, gave me chills :)
I agree that simple is best! But I totally wouldn’t mind staying in nice houses with house staff :D. But still, nothing beats freedom. :)
Seriously – that is someone’s actual day to day home?!!! You’ve got some good contacts there woman! It looks so beautiful – what a lovely treat and a nice bit of pampering amongst your travels :)
I know, right?! It’s always amazing to me to think that some people live like that! I’m so super grateful for the chance to experience it even if it’s just for a few days :D.
I love this post and what a beautiful home! We have never stayed in a mansion with that much history (I would be a bit scared of ghosts seeing as it was an old hospital!) but we did luck out and stay in a multi-million dollar villa in Bali which was amazing. Just like you we didn’t want to leave! I also love how you guys are like us and realized that the common definition of wealth doesn’t paint a broader enough picture and that you guys, although not as “well off” as when you were working, are now much wealthier. Cheers!
A multi-million dollar villa in Bali sounds amazing! How did you manage to swing that (asking because I want too!)?! But I even though I’d kill to stay in places like that once in a while, I definitely agree that, for us, the definition of wealth is no longer having a ton of money. :)
It’s my first time here and I agree with you in this post. It’s best to stay with relatives because they can give you the legit point of view of a local/expat. Mention the free accommodation and food too hehe :D It’s the reason why I am now plotting which places I should visit by determining where some of my relatives are living at the moment.
I may not be wealthy in the standards of most people, but I’m wealthy in terms of experience :D
It would be lovely to stay in a mansion. I guess I’d be able to take a minimum of 1,000 photos a day LOL
Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to leave a comment! Staying with relatives is the best! It’s so true that they can give you the best info about a place, which is why I actually really liked Warsaw! Hehe it’s a good idea to travel based on where family is! And yes, I love that! – wealthy in experience!! Cheers to many, many more to add to that “wealth”!
Wow, what an amazing family stay! I wish my family owned such a cool place in another country. Ethan and I are actually lucky to live in a very exclusive area and rent a place over the garage of a multi-million dollar home – we live simply, drive old cars, and are probably by far the poorest residents in the neighborhood (several neighbors are on the 100 Richest People lists….) but it is such an interesting experience to see people who own so much while we have decided to pursue such a different path and are not working towards gaining material wealth (although I have to say some of the mansions along our street are pretty amazing to see every day!).
Wow!! I didn’t know you guys lived in such an exclusive community with mansions!! I wonder how your rented space looks like. I bet it’s pretty amazing still!! It’s so funny how your lives are so different from that of all your neighbors.