The Dangers Of Staying Here To Long

[samuibeachcomber]

Thread is three years old but I'd be interested to hear how he turned out too. Living a relaxed and easy lifestyle does make one lazy, I think.

It sure spares you the physical costs of stress, though! Something serious to consider if you're over 50.

I came here in my early 50's (60 now), and arrived just in time to avoid serious stress-related illnesses which have befallen almost all my friends back in the home-country rat race. I feel semi-retired (with a full-time job), but really believe the more relaxed life-style will extend my life span more than had I stayed back in the old job/old environment. And actually, I feel MORE productive here, able to focus on priorities rather than getting eaten up by the minutia which can so plague high-stress jobs and life-styles.

i too think thailand is a great place to retire to.Not so easy if you are young and still have to make a living here.

[snowflake]

Still here... It is just too difficult to make the move back home...

I have started running as a hobby and I try to keep myself active as much as possible...

I will have to leave one day, I know that, but in the mean time... I will try to have some fun...

Next year (school year) it will be very different for me... I will no longer teach English, I will teach computer to M1-M4... so that will be fun...

Other than that... Still here... Thailand is like quicksand, easy to get into, but hard to get out off...

[tomartoh]

Yes, Thailand is like a quicksand that draws you in. I have thought to myself from time to time 'what am I doing here". during the nearly 8 years I have lived here.

I am old, 70, but not finished, I have traveled to many places and done many things. I have had a full and what could be called a successful life.

But here I am, a stranger in a strange land which is not mine and where i don't belong, drifting along as if in a dream. Sometimes i ask myself if I am indeed in a dream or is this reality. It is reality, although sometimes it's like being Alice on her journey through the looking glass.

I dont feel uneasy now about not achieving or succeeding, or about being poor, as i managed to lose most of my assets. I know who I am am and where I am and I just make the most of it.

Life is for living and for us foreigners if we have the where with all or the desire, there is always something for us in Thailand. We are privileged to be here. Take every day as it comes, make what you will of it, its a bonus.

I look forward to being back in the South again soon.

[Lammbock]

@snowflake

i guess its just your little salary witch don't give you much freedom and joy. Am i right???

Edited February 21, 2010 by Lammbock

[songhklasid]

I plan to "jobshare" in my professional position, which means effectively working 3 nonths a year for half my current salary in about 3 years, when my son is 18 & hopefully has a carreer path. What I propose is up to 6 weeks-2 months in thai, then back to aus roughly same period, I have a house in my wife's village east of C.Mai,enjoy the village life & travelling the region, whilst regaining reality checks back to work in aus. Only my son's age & bank debts are holding me back now ( i'll be 55 years of age when my plan hopefully fulfills) Any comments /help info welcomed,

regards songhklasid.

[sarahsbloke]

My retirement plan is to have many look-krung daughters.

They can all go to work in Bangkok/Pattaya/Phuket and give me a nice future.

Or maybe I just charge a large sin-sot.

But seriously snowflake you sound depressed, if after 3 years it's still the same feeling you need to move elsewhere, maybe the new job will fix you up, give it a few months before deciding.

Edited May 1, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[gisele]

Snowflake, good guy that he is (I know your good deeds), likes to talk, but really, I think, he enjoys his life in NST quite alot

his self-deprecating humour hides the truth

[kevozman1]

It is a tragedy that no society in the World is perfect.

Thailand is fun, I think most people will agree with that.

When it comes to developing ones life or raising a

family is Thailand really the place to do this???

[burgdawg]

SnowFlake...good post subject to initiate.

One does get that "pit in the stomach feeling" from time to time.

Is it homesickness? Or just a general malaise? Is the world just passing one by?

I know I am aware of it and have been engaged in my own self-structured

6/6 Staged Retirement Plan: 6 months in Prathet Thai learning Thai and enjoying myself.

Traveling about amazing Thailand via plane, bus, motorbike and bicycle.

I see somthing new everytime.

Having a flight back to my bolthole in the USA means that the hour glass is ticking......

one day I know I will have to fly out from Suvarnambhumi and re-enter the West.

The transition is never easy.

After 2 weeks in Farangland, I lit my jets and get active with many things, knowing that

in less than 6 months, I get to return to LOS and pick up where I left off. Yep, rebooking a return

flight tends to make one pick up their pace.

You could try that as well:

Trick yourself by actually booking a flight out and witness how your disposition changes.

I agree with the other posters to state "...I live in SE Asia." If others mention "Thailand," I reply

"...no, Laos." The west is just filled up with its Victorian values. You get the sex/HIV/pedophilia label stuck

very quick. Sucks. I try and counter that in Farangland, all is black and white, left OR right.

I love Thailand because of the 567 shades of grey. Things are not always as they seem and I enjoy the ambiguity.

Know what a Mobius Strip is? You can Wiki or Google it...in short, the figure 8 on its side representing Infinity.

The two opposing spheres of the "8" could represent having a foot in both worlds.

Neither is perfect.

If the world goes to <deleted> and I have to choose, I sure hope I am in Prathet Thai when the jumbo jets stop flying....

[NongMeaow]

SnowFlake...good post subject to initiate.

One does get that "pit in the stomach feeling" from time to time.

Is it homesickness? Or just a general malaise? Is the world just passing one by?

I know I am aware of it and have been engaged in my own self-structured

6/6 Staged Retirement Plan: 6 months in Prathet Thai learning Thai and enjoying myself.

Traveling about amazing Thailand via plane, bus, motorbike and bicycle.

I see somthing new everytime.

Having a flight back to my bolthole in the USA means that the hour glass is ticking......

one day I know I will have to fly out from Suvarnambhumi and re-enter the West.

The transition is never easy.

After 2 weeks in Farangland, I lit my jets and get active with many things, knowing that

in less than 6 months, I get to return to LOS and pick up where I left off. Yep, rebooking a return

flight tends to make one pick up their pace.

You could try that as well:

Trick yourself by actually booking a flight out and witness how your disposition changes.

I agree with the other posters to state "...I live in SE Asia." If others mention "Thailand," I reply

"...no, Laos." The west is just filled up with its Victorian values. You get the sex/HIV/pedophilia label stuck

very quick. Sucks. I try and counter that in Farangland, all is black and white, left OR right.

I love Thailand because of the 567 shades of grey. Things are not always as they seem and I enjoy the ambiguity.

Know what a Mobius Strip is? You can Wiki or Google it...in short, the figure 8 on its side representing Infinity.

The two opposing spheres of the "8" could represent having a foot in both worlds.

Neither is perfect.

If the world goes to <deleted> and I have to choose, I sure hope I am in Prathet Thai when the jumbo jets stop flying....

Why did the chicken cross the Mobius Strip?

To get to the other...