I just completed the Landmark Forum this past weekend, and I can honestly say that choosing to participate in it was the best decision that I have ever made. Not only has it assisted me in repairing broken relationships, but it has provided me with a completely new perspective on life.

Throughout my life, all of my relationships and actions have been defined by a negative decision that I made as a young child about my father. This decision became a mantra for me, and it clouded my mind to think that my father was a horrible person, that he was unworthy, and so on. I was never able to realize how much this decision had affected me until I completed this course.

Part of the work in the course is to identify what these decisions, known as “rackets”, are in our lives, and to make ourselves aware that they exist in our minds. Now that I have cleared things up with my father, I have been able to successfully eliminate, or at least weaken, the rackets associated with him. What this creates for me is a new possibility for a fulfilling, loving relationship between my father and I, and the power to decide how I want to proceed with my life without the weight of the past on my shoulders.

I can honestly say now that I am free to do whatever it is that I want to do with my life. As I repair more and more of the broken relationships from my past, I feel more and more confident, rejuvenated, and authentic than I did previously. The work that is done in the Landmark Forum is truly remarkable, and I highly suggest that anyone interested in getting what they want out of life to sign up immediately.

With my flight back home only three days away, I can’t help but to reminisce everything I’ve experienced.

In real-time, it feels like each day flies by, but whenever I think about the trip from day one, it feels as if I’ve been in Thailand for a year, not just three months. Before I left, I had so many preconceptions about what the whole trip would be like, picturing scenes from “The Beach”, and so on.

Although the first week definitely felt like something out of a movie, it was only a matter of time until I was able to adapt to my new situation, and everything that, at first, was so interesting and unique, eventually lost its luster. Keep in mind, this does not mean that Thailand is a boring place to visit; it is totally the opposite. But, just like anything else in life, it can get old after a while, especially if you’re not a very worldly person with much interest in exploring other cultures.

Regardless, I can still picture snapshots of all the different things I’ve experienced: scuba diving, teaching English in Thai schools, having moonlit dinners on the beach, meeting people from other countries, taking Thai language lessons, playing basketball with random Thai teenagers, experiencing the Full Moon Party, dating a Thai girl, going to Thai bars and clubs, eating real Thai food, riding in taxis and tuk-tuks, shopping in Thai markets, swimming on tropical beaches, visiting Chiang Mai University, and more.

I’m glad I have plenty of pictures from my time here, because it’s definitely something I never want to forget. My next post will talk about the transition of coming back home. Stay tuned!

Hey everyone, as it turns out, I will be heading home much earlier than I originally intended.

I will be officially returning home on May 21st, around 10PM. What?! May 21st?! Yeah, I know. My initial plans were much more extensive, but due in part to several variables of the trip turning out differently than I expected, I have decided to cut my trip short. Now, there is a catch. I am not just returning home due to my finances running low, although that is a factor. A close friend of mine is transferring to a new college in North Carolina at the start of the next school year, which starts in like late August/early September, and he offered that I room with him there. For those who don’t know, I currently reside in Baltimore, MD, and I’ve actually been wanting to move down South for a while now, so I gladly accepted the offer.

So let’s run down the different factors to my decision:

1. Thailand’s visa laws state that aliens are only allowed to stay in the country for 90 days before they have to cross the border to get an extension. My 90 days will be used up on May 21st, so I would have to take a bus to Laos (like 3 hours away) to renew my visa. That is a hassle I’d rather not deal with.

2. My finances are running low, and I would have to get a teaching job (which was my original intention) to make ends meet. Well, after my experiences with teaching, I have decided that it is not something I want to do right now. Now, don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy teaching, but it’s just not something I’d want to do as a full-time job. If I was making money via another source, and I had an opportunity to do some volunteer teaching, I would definitely do it. There is a certain kind of satisfaction that you get from teaching that is totally unique from anything else. Seeing the students having fun and actually learning what you’re teaching is extremely gratifying, and that is what makes the work worthwhile. Unfortunately, there are other aspects to teaching, such as lesson planning and “disciplining” the students, that are less fun and can really take a toll on you. Also, if I could teach a different subject besides English, such as basketball or digital arts, I’d be much more willing to take the dive and get a job.

3. As I stated above, my friend is moving to North Carolina and has offered that I room with him. Before I even thought of traveling overseas, I was wanting to move down South. It’s cheaper down there, and this same friend and I have been down there before, and really liked it. So, with these things in mind, I jumped at his offer when he presented it to me. This decision automatically affected the rest of my plans, since it wouldn’t make sense for me to try to get a teaching job for only 3 months or so.

So, with all of these factors combined, it creates a tough argument for me to continue living in Thailand past May 21st. If I had the money, would I continue traveling abroad until I move to North Carolina in August? Yes, of course I would, no doubt about it. But if I had that kind of money, I doubt I would have came to Thailand in the first place. My original choices for travel destinations were Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, but those countries don’t exactly need EFL teachers anytime soon, I’d imagine.

If you’re returning home in August, what will happen to this site? Will you stop updating it?

Definitely not! I will keep writing regularly until, well, I decide not to anymore, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

But if you’re not traveling, what subject(s) will you write about?

I’ll write about everything else. Movies, video games, food, people… you know, whatever I’m interested in. I’ll keep the photos page active and probably create some new categories to keep things organized.

Ok, well… bye!

Cya!

April 13th was the official day of Songkran, and, apparently unlike the New Year’s celebration in the West, the traditions in Thailand continue for a period longer than one day.

Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way today. Yesterday was bearable since I was prepared (at least mentally) for what I was about to endure. If you saw the video in my last post, you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about: the water fights. It’s one thing to go out for lunch, knowing that you are definitely going to come back drenched, but it’s another thing to go out thinking that the festival is over, and that the water battle madness has ceased. Boy, was I wrong.

All I wanted to do was make a quick stop at 711 for a loaf of bread, and I couldn’t even make it (5 minutes away!) without being in range of getting attacked. I understand it’s all in good fun for the New Year, but come on people, give me a damn break! It’s not like I’m walking around with a giant super soaker, I’m unarmed! Once I got to the the main road (I was coming from a back alley), I peaked around the corner and spotted “armed and dangerous” pedestrians on both sides of the sidewalk. So, what did I do? Join in the fun? Let them spray the hell out of me? Maybe someone more friendly would have, but I’ve had my fair share of  so-called “fun”, so I just cut my losses and went back to my place. And, of course, just to spite me, as I was making my way back, I passed by a trigger-happy farang who was more than happy to shout, “Happy New Year!” while lighting me up with his giant super soaker.

At least I still had some Ramen left over.

Hey everyone, once again my apologies for the lack of updates. I received a couple more photos from my TEFL training days, so make sure to check them out on the Photos page.

As I mentioned in my last post, some of my teacher friends are now in Chiang Mai. We’ve been hanging out a little bit, but nothing like during our training. I am currently living in Central Chiang Mai, while everyone else is either on the West side or East side. We’re only about 10-15 minutes away by taxi, but considering we all have different schedules, we only really get together for special occasions. I would definitely have more pictures if my camera was working!

[Edited: The events described below actually took place on April 12, the day before Songkran, but they're still accurate.]

Songkran (the Thai New Year) was an interesting experience, but unfortunately nothing too out of the ordinary happened, so there isn’t too much for me to say. Apparently it is the year 2552 now, I’m living in the future! Sorry, no flying cars or robots, though. Anyway, if you’ve done any reading on Songkran, it is also known as the Water Festival, and that’s because people have water fights all day. There were super soakers, buckets, water bottles… basically any means of hitting people with water was used.

It wasn’t this intense in my area, but you get the picture (links to YouTube video):

Songkran Water Fight

Later on, I went out with Jacques (South Africa) and introduced him to a cute friend of mine, Tong. Along with the girl I’m seeing, Bee, we all went out drinking and dancing, and had a fun time. The only interesting thing that really happened was a mid-30’s British guy, Colin, a total drunkard and druggie, stopped by the bar we were at, and, after spotting a Thai girl that he had previous relations with hanging out with another man, he immediately called her a whore, and started cursing at and challenging the other man to a fight. Luckily, the girls were able to convince Colin to back off and leave, but for a good 10 minutes or so, it looked like there was about to be some action. Other than that, it was a pretty standard night of partying.

I know the other teachers have been doing things like treks and such, but money is tight right now for me, so I’m trying to stay as frugal as possible. I would definitely be doing more interesting things if I was here on vacation, but I’m not really here for that. This whole thing is more for transitional purposes, rather than just taking a break from the rat race.

That’s all for now, I’ll check in again soon (and sooner than next week, I promise!).