AT 46 years old I decided it was time to design my future instead of it designing me. I had taken a job overseas in Taiwan as a purchaser for a large computer distributor with a plan of saving for two years then moving to Thailand. As things worked out some financial obligations came up and I stayed for four. I wanted to be able to buy a condo free and clear and have enough money to al ow me to live unemployed for several years.
January 6th, I flew to Bangkok and started my new life. I had so many ambitions and dreams. It was a Wednesday so I felt like I should be working so I was a little distracted but began doing things around the house. I’m saying al this because I feel al of us that retire, semi-retire, or plan on being bums go through a type of depression and feeling of uselessness.
So I had to start thinking simple and not over thinking everything and relax. Waking up at 4AM and thinking about what if
’s j ust doesn’t achieve anything, just makes things worse. Until you get up and it’s not so bad anymore. It’s a daylight thing I think; night time is always worse but in the morning as you look out over Bangkok from your porch. .
In the bright daylight everything is gone.
The Present Moment, the ‘Now’, is a crucial time for longevity. If you don’t keep yourself busy and making goals the days wil drag on, and as boredom raises its ugly head you wil eventual y abandon your dreams and head back for the land you know best. Back into the life that was molding you into what it wanted you to be and worst of al , back to a job of forty hours a week doing something you didn’t want to do, clogged in that 5 o’clock rush hour on the way home.
But boredom isn’t real y so bad.
Ideas come and go but I had been thinking of one for a long time. Back in 2001 I rode the Thai railway for my first time. I had boarded at Hua Lumphong station in Bangkok to travel east towards Burma on this ancient train that was over one hundred years old. Something about being on that old rustic train was exciting to me. What could beat the bouncing, jostling, and the creaking of 100-year-old rol ing stock? As it clacked through the countryside, up over hil s, and along the river far below, I somehow found peacefulness.
The scenery along the way, the special spots with spectacular views, the best places to stay and to visit, and especial y the dialogue of the people I meet along the way…