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!