Reflections on a year in Thailand – and six years in Asia

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The day this post went live (27 March 2014), I said goodbye to Chiang Mai and hello to Khon Kaen. Less than a week ago, I celebrated six years in Asia. Whether you’re a believer in anniversaries or not, this is an opportunity to reflect and be thankful.

Quite possibly the dorkiest photo of me taken in awhile. Taken with my GoPro.

When we moved to Thailand from Korea, I figured we’d be here for a year, then be off on our next adventure. That’s what I said about Korea as well, of course,  but moving to Thailand meant breaking away from teaching English. It also meant thinking about where life would take us, and why we were heading there. Even now, a year in Thailand, I’m still not sure exactly where things are taking us. My wife is busier than ever with her translation work, while I have a new self-publishing venture I’ll be working on. I can’t say much more than that right now, though…

So what have you learned from a year in Thailand?

There’s a lot to see, plenty to do – and an astonishing number of ripoffs and overpriced tourist traps. Bangkok has the most, of course, since the most tourists come through the capital city. Chiang Mai, however, has had plenty as well – and they mostly come out when there’s a backpack on our backs. Around most smaller or less-traveled towns, we’ve had mostly fair dealings, gracious hosts, and pretty good food. I would say I’ve been shocked by the lack of competent restaurants around Thailand – speaking English isn’t exactly required for a waiter position, but when I point to the Thai in the menu and they bring out something else…? Yeah, there’s some question marks there. Worse is when multiple people need to get involved to ‘confirm’ an order – or worse, act insulant simply to save face because they screwed something up.

What about Thai friends? For one thing, not working a Thai job means less contact with locals. We’ll see them on the street or as workers wherever we go, and I’ve met a few excellent folks in Chiang Mai that are in the world of digital nomads. In Khon Kaen, I’m hoping to make some more local friends – not acquaintances or business types at a networking event… Friends.

I’ll say this about Thailand, though – it certainly has a way of turning on the writers. This last year has probably produced more destination posts than any other. I’ve written three itineraries (3 Days in Chiang Mai, 7 Days in Northern Thailand, and 3 Days in Bangkok) in the past couple of months, and work on an upcoming book about Thailand’s weird destinations is ongoing…

Oh yes, and Chiang Mai is an AWESOME city for you digital nomads out there. I’m working on a post about the places to check out to connect and otherwise get your start-up on, so stay tuned for that.

What about your six years in Asia?

Wow. It’s kind of tough to even remember life before Asia. Simply saying ‘I’ve grown and learned so much’ sounds cliche, but it’s true. For perspective, I’ve spent more time as an adult in Asia than the US (if you count an ‘adult’ as post-college, living on one’s own means), and going back to the US was a reminder of how… different… life is as an expat…

Seriously now. Asia is opportunity, wrapped in culture with a side of open-mindedness. As mentioned previously, there’s plenty to see and do – perhaps it should start being called the Asian Dream instead of the American dream…

I may come back to this post in due time, but for now, I’ll simply say thanks for reading, and stay tuned for plenty more destinations and posts about life as an expat!

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This post first appeared at Reflections on a year in Thailand – and six years in Asia on One Weird Globe.

Source: Chris Backe - AKA Chris in South Korea