Its now 3 months since taking this giant leap, head first into a new world – so maybe time for a quick blog 😎
Here is a backpackers paradise offering just about everything you could ever need or wish for, all of us that have passed through Thailand know this. The particular place that I chose to make home is however- very special. True it has palm trees, white beaches, sunshine almost all year, and the cost of living here is almost the same for a year as it would be for one month in the UK. Almost.
But hidden in the east coast of this little Island, is a community filled with the most beautiful souls I have ever encountered. To live your life in such peace, and surrounded by love and kindness in abundance is.. to be free, and this is why I decided to come. Almost everyday you can make a new best friend, if you want to. And I do want. Almost everyone you meet with subtext- a knowing smile, an irrepressible spirit, familiar dreams and the sense that you kinda know each other already. Beauty is redefined. All those super-stunning amazingly fit people out there in magazines and movies – they are all here. And i’m not even joking. But unlike our western world, so full of superficiality and consumer culture – here the beauty comes from inside (its a cliche i know). But you can feel that. Its in the air. Its almost inescapable.
Of course you will say that such peace, love and beauty is everywhere. It is true. If we look, we will find it. Right? Well, for my part at least, i tried. Every time i went home after backpacking through the East, I tried to share my inspiring adventures and integrate what i had learned into UK life. But it was impossible to avoid all the distractions facing me through every day in the UK. I tried to live a conscious life in Exeter but kept being pulled into a super-demanding lifestyle of work-eat-sleep.. rinse and repeat. And even close friends, people i love dearly – they are just not into that. Westerners are preoccupied with routine, bills, hobbies, gadgets, social media, TV, you know- stuff.
Things had to change for me, so here I am.
It takes a while to settle into a new country and this is an ongoing process. In Thailand we are just visitors- guests – not residents, not really. I can’t sell up and move my whole life here, it doesn’t really work that way. Visa runs every 2 or 3 months are a permanent fixture in all of our daIly lives, and to make a business or a home here is really just a temporary solution to maintain the lifestyle, rather than a solid investment into your future. So for me – i’m a visitor. So how is my visit so far?
Found my home in the sand – its not quite the space and comfort i would prefer but its on the beach. So thats good. I have a scooter and a bicycle, didn’t yet get a car but working on that. This I need purely for music – I have already all the necessary equipment for live music so at some point I will take the show on the road – at the moment its just local places and the One Love Bar jam night (twice weekly) and still looking for the exact right people for my funk/ r&b/ pop/ rock super-band. (Apply here!) Koh Phangan is unsurprisingly full of bars and restaurants – and they are all crying out for a super hot rock & roll band. So i’m working on that. Thanks to Thomas, Artem, Igor, Niko, Robert and Stephen I have been pretty busy with music – sometimes all day and all of the night, and even every day and every night. That was awesome! But I gotta run the UK business too so still trying to find the perfect balance – its very easy to be distracted in paradise.
Business is ticking over, but demands a commitment here which is at least equal to when I was in the UK, so i’m working full time to support this beach life, which is as it should be I guess. I didn’t quite find my flow yet, the UK time difference means that late nights are needed here (5pm UK is 11pm Asia) and the clocks will change soon. Its low season so the island is now fairly quiet (if thats possible), temperature is milder – 32° today and evenings are starting to seem a bit nippy – but thats mostly because i’m on a scooter in shorts and a t-shirt. If i’m with friends the beach is often exclusively ours and the sunset is always (at least) spectacular. High Season comes Nov/Dec so then the island is much busier. But don’t forget the crazy tourists are mostly down south for the full moon experience; Sri Thanu can get busy but still- it always seems that this town is just for us, and everybody knows your name, mostly.
I miss my beautiful family, thankfully we are experienced in extended travel and very supportive of each other. My amazing sister is in Torquay (but i think she is planning to escape), My nuts dad lives in about 3 towns (and 2 countries) already and my mum and granny are up north. So we are all proactive in building our own perfect communities. Granny has an accident before i left- which was my first and biggest fear before moving away, but thankfully she has made an excellent recovery for which I am so thankful. It is her 85th birthday in just over a week!
The universe has been so very kind this last 3 months. I am healthy, slim, happy and my life is full of love. I work every day to find peace and balance from inside this crazy brain – as you all know – i’m a bit sideways – the best choices don’t always come easily but i thank my close friends for their support and guidance (you know who you are!) and all things considered, its a good start to a new life. Totes emosh. Love love love xxx