We deliberately spent 21% more on accommodation in February. Not by accident — as an experiment. Here’s what we’re testing and what we’ve learned so far.
Hello from Ipoh, Malaysia.
February cost more. Compared to February 2025, our accommodation spend was 21% higher. That wasn’t drift — it was deliberate.
This year we’re concentrating stays in hotels — no Airbnb in February — to test what elite status actually does to our retirement lifestyle. We’re actively pursuing Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Platinum, and Accor Platinum. Not for prestige. For clarity.
When hotel perks become part of the plan
Occasional hotel perks feel like bonuses. Concentrated nights turn them into something more useful.
Lounge access changes food decisions. Breakfast reduces friction. Late checkout reshapes travel days. Upgrades change livability.
We want to know whether elite status materially improves our lifestyle. If it does, the 21% increase is an investment in clarity. If not, we adjust next year.
One year. Measured. Intentional.
Short-term cost increases are acceptable when they produce long-term structural clarity.
How we’re tracking it
We’re modeling this inside our Slow Travel Budget Spreadsheet so we can compare a hotel-concentration year against a mixed accommodation year before costs compound.
It’s the same tool we use to plan every leg of our travels — simple, flexible, and designed to help you see the real numbers without overcomplicating things.
👉 Download the Slow Travel Budget Spreadsheet
We share deeper projections and how status concentration affects long-term retirement runway inside the membership — including the full monthly breakdown of what this experiment is actually costing us.
👉 Join the membership community
Retirement isn’t optimized in a single month. It’s shaped by the decisions we test and the systems we refine along the way.