Guam is the one destination on our year of travel that was truly a vacation-like destination. The plan to go to Guam started brewing way back around 2018 and was the idea that eventually grew into the full gap year plan. The Guam vacation and the gap year were opposing forces however. Our international gap year is built on sustainable FIRE spending levels, and Guam is completely outside of our FIRE budget. It did however make for a great change of pace in the middle of gap year.

Rather than my typical breakdown of the good, the bad, and the noteworthy, I’ll be taking a meandering path through my reflections of Guam. Part of that is to mix things up, but it’s also due to not having many negative observations of Guam.

Affordability

The most obvious negative observation I have from our time in Guam is the affordability. Particularly the cost of living as a multiple of the average wage on the island which is very suppressed. The median household income is about $58K/year. As I have shown in our November budget as well as the expat cost of living in Guam breakdown, it would be a struggle to get by on that median household income. I don’t know what’s behind the low wages. It could be lack of other options for the workers on the island, cheap labor from the Philippines, etc.

People

This is becoming a common theme for the year, but the people of Guam were great. I mean all of the people too. Not just the Chamorro natives, but the largely Korean tourists, and anyone else we encountered. We did find the Chamorro natives to be especially friendly.

The one thing I found surprising is the extent of the large Asian population. Particularly in the Tumon Bay area, where Asian residents plus Asian tourists make it appear to be 70% Asian at any given time. I liked this aspect of Guam. It makes an American place feel very multicultural and fitting with the area of the world that it is located.

Another group of people are the homeless and beachcombers. On average this group was quiet and kept to themselves, and would be my homeless people of choice over those we experience on the mainland US. We did have a couple of them that were clearly up to no good, peeking in our bags rather brazenly.

Language

It seems like everywhere we go this year, we are oversold on the population’s ability to speak English. To my disbelief this was true on Guam as well. Part of this was due to the high Asian population where they have critical mass in certain areas. It makes English less important than Korean or Japanese. We encountered multiple shopkeepers who can get by with English, but you aren’t going to get deep into conversation with them.

The more surprising aspect of this was the language limitations talking with the Chamorro people. They do absolutely speak english, but there are enough conversational semantics that are different where both of us end up speaking in the common simple middle of the english language. There are certain things that I could say and that they could say which would sail over each-other’s heads. This is true even within different regions of the mainland US so I guess it shouldn’t be surprising.

Accommodations

While expensive, the accommodation options we found were spacious and relatively nice. It’s also great you can drink the tap water, which I am missing a lot now that we are in Manila. Here are some pics of our place which ran about $5k/month and was 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, and very spacious.

Transportation

Whether you’ll like the transportation options on Guam depends on what you’re into. Are you an American who is used to driving everywhere? You will like Guam’s car-dependent nature then. The island has no public transportation to speak of, and ride share apps are completely unaffordable. Setting aside the cost of rental cars, I really enjoyed driving a car around. Any destination I had in mind at any time was possible, and that’s what I’m used to back in CO. The roads on Guam are quite good, there is no traffic to speak of, and parking is ample.

If you’ve been to Japan and used their rail system you will most likely look unfavorably at Guam’s transportation situation. While I enjoyed driving again, I ultimately was disappointed at that being my only realistic option. If you live on the island full time though, you can make driving affordable with a smart and intentional car purchase.

The other aspect of transportation, the airport, rules because whether you are departing or arriving, you are going to breeze through that place in under ten minutes. On my flight back to CO I made it from the front door of the airport, through security, and to my gate in under five minutes.

Entertainment

Beaches/Snorkeling

Personally I have never been to beaches like those in Guam. The water in Tumon Bay is crystal clear and calm, with white sand beaches. We spent a lot of time just in our most direct area of Tumon Beach, and then went snorkeling in Ypao beach as well. The variety of fish and ease of access was incredible. This would be an endless source of free entertainment and exercise as a full time resident, but it seems most residents rarely go to the beach.

Night Markets

The night markets were a hit for our family, and there are several to choose from. They are entertaining just to walk around and people watch, but they also offer food, activities, and shopping. If we lived in Guam the Tumon Night Market and the Wednesday Night Chamorro Village Market would be on our recurring list of activities.

Natural Attractions

There are many great and free natural attractions on the island away from the shore, adding to Guam’s long list of free or near free entertainment activities. While the island is expensive overall, great outdoor fun does not add to that cost. It was the one budget line that stood out as a savings over CO and even every other place we’ll visit this year.

We visited the Inajaran Natural Pools, which is a natural tide pool that has some nice finishing touches built around it. This includes a diving board, covered picnic areas, walkways, and an ocean overlook platform. We had a great time swimming around in this and pretending to be dead bodies floating in the stream.

For me, the top outdoor attraction we visited was Tarzan Falls. Getting there was a muddy hike of 1.5 miles, and you are rewarded with a very picturesque waterfall. It’s a natural beauty that most people will not put the effort into seeing.

Mall and Mall Events

We went to a couple different malls on Guam and both were pretty nice. The one we went to most frequently, and I think the most popular mall, is the Micronesia Mall. It’s pretty much like malls we’re used to back in CO with a food court, variety of stores, and a movie theater. While we were in Guam they had trick or treating at the Micronesia Mall. The turnout was incredible, and the kids went around to all the stores getting candy. It’s a little sanitized for how we and our kids grew up going house to house in the dark, but still a nice option for those looking for something sanitized.

Cleanliness

Before going to Guam I heard a lot of horror stories about how trashed the island is. I mean this in terms of people dumping trash and large items along the roadside. I didn’t observe this almost at all, and we drove around the whole island. We did see a couple abandoned cars tucked back on lesser used roads going to beaches or trails, but this was not widespread. I think the issue of trash is overblown, or maybe the Guam government has since addressed the problem.

Favorite Village

Tumon Bay is where we stayed, and it was great. I wouldn’t mind living out of Tumon Bay, however it’s not my favorite village.

We drove to the southeast part of the island a couple times going to the natural pools and to Talo’fo’fo’ Falls. Both times I was blown away by how pretty the area around Inalahan was. The road edges were manicured, there was zero trash, and it felt like driving through utopia. Just based on looking at the area as we drove through, it’s the spot I would look at first if buying a house on the island.

Summary

We loved our time on Guam and felt so at home there that we extended our stay for nine additional days. I would be very content living there full time, and I think the memories of it will grow in our mind and give us the itch to eventually go back. It doesn’t hurt that Japan is also so near Guam, making a good two-for-one opportunity.