One of a Kind Interview

 Today I will be interviewing my first guest. I am delighted he could find the time with his hectic schedule. He needs no introduction. Enjoy.

What’s been the biggest surprise since moving away?

I think the biggest surprise is that other people and places are much more similar than they are different. The weather, food, religion and customs vary from region to region, but deep down, we are all just trying to get by.

What’s been the biggest disappointment?

Great question Bert. I like your questioning style and eyelashes. Keep up the great work. To answer your question, the biggest disappointment might be the totality of time I have spent alone. I think starting over in so many different cities has made it hard to settle into a community and really dig in. Meeting good friends or girlfriends involves time and a bit of luck. Sometimes I got lucky (Thailand, Poland, Shanghai) and sometimes I didn’t (see current life).

What day or moment would you like to relive?

Am I allowed to change what happens during that day or does it have to happen the exact same way?

Just answer the question.

I would like to relive my first trip to Haad Yuan after first moving to Nakhon Si Thammarat. Going back and not necessarily changing anything but looking at those friends from my current lens of some of my favourite people in the world would bring joy to my heart. Staying up all night in the jungle, watching the sunrise, listening to dubstep knowing deep down that it’s all going to be just fine would be an excellent night to relive. 

Do you recommend people teach abroad?

Leaving Covid out of this, I think as long as you don’t hate kids and don’t get a job where you teach too much, then yeah people should try it out. It’s still a job and you might not like the city or country but time moves quickly and even if you don’t like it, as long as you have your passport, you can always just bounce if you feel like things aren’t safe. Important to always keep realistic/low expectations.

What are you most proud of?

I think 10 years is a long time. I moved away in 2011 with a plan to be away for a month and see what happens. Well, some have you had read what has happened. Ups and downs but I’m proud that I stuck with it and accomplished my goal of “seeing what’s out there.”

 

Any travel hacks for my readers?

Can I give advice I don’t follow? Buy one of these.

Also buy these:

Bring pens so that you can fill out your arrival card on the flight and give an extra pen to the poorly organized person sitting beside you. After so many trips, you might assume that I am good at travelling; untrue. 

Any funny anecdotes you’d like to share?
I’ve learned that most travel stories are sort of ‘you had to be there’ type of things. I will say that some of the funniest moments have just been being around kids who say hilarious things. If you have kids, you can skip the whole travel thing and just talk to your children. I bet they are just an absolute riot.

Are there people from a certain country than intrigue you?

People from Iran. If you have anyone in your life who is from Iran, they are probably super friendly and attractive. Be friends with an Iranian. Hence the display picture.

What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

Buy Tesla stock.

What is with your obsession of older Asian gentleman shaving you?

I think it’s because I’m lazy, it’s cheap, supports small businesses and it is taking part of their culture. For example, this morning while waiting for my monthly shave to begin, (where I had this brilliant blog post idea) the older Korean man was yelling at his wife to come help him. She did not come out so he yelled again. Then she yelled. Then one of the customers started laughing. I loved it. For good reason, men aren’t really yelling at their wives in barbershops in Canada. It’s moments like that that I am going to miss. Also, my first Thai barber is how I ended up dating my laundry lady so things got off to a great start so it’s a tradition I’ve tried to follow when either moving or travelling to somewhere new.

Is travelling overrated?

Pfffffffff I don’t know Bert. I think things are going to be very different now with Covid being with us for the foreseeable future. I’m glad I went as hard as I did the past 9 years because I will not be messing around with quarantines and mask wearing while exploring new countries. I’m less optimistic than most about when we will return to ‘normal’ but it seems like my travelling abroad days are essentially over. Time to start exploring Canada by rail and by Jeep!

Why is it that the majority of your friends at home and abroad have wives/husbands and children and all you have is a bicycle with a flat front tire?

Anything else you would like to share with everyone?

I’m thankful to anyone who has read this post or the 208ish others we have posted here since May 2011. I don’t follow any blogs consistently so I appreciate you taking time out of your life to check in on me. I know my storytelling is poor, my spelling and grammar can be questionable especially since I’m an English teacher but I am sincerely grateful for the 4-6 people who read most of my posts. Much love.

 

This was the first picture I took with other people when I first flew to Thailand. This was the bus trip from Bangkok to Koh Tao. The good definitely outweighed the bad but that guy was certainly about to start a new chapter. 

“A ship in harbour is safe but that’s not what ships were built for.” John Shedd