At the beginning of every year I set myself some goals for the year ahead, as I’m sure do many others. Things I’d like to achieve, cut out of my life, change etc. This year wasn’t any different but instead I focused on what I, or shall I say we, want the next 5 years of our lives together to look like.
I definitely look at life a lot differently since having M and with another on the way I can’t help but think what I want their childhood to look like, as well as our lives as a family.
We’ve always discussed moving to Thailand one day but it was kind of one of those things we’d say on our way back home from spending 4 weeks there, wishing we weren’t flying back to the rain and cold. We knew we wanted it to happen one day but didn’t really look in to how we could make it work or when we could make it work. You could say it was a pipe dream, something we both never really thought would happen but still hoped the chance would arise.
This winter has dragged, more so than others. I think I’ve felt this more so with having M and not being able to get out and about doing things with her, unless it involves soft play or expensive day experiences. I want to see her running barefoot on the beaches, playing in the sea, eating fresh delicious food that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I want her to experience a different culture to western culture. I want her memories of her childhood to be care free and I want the two of us to be the best versions of ourselves for her and her sibling, relaxed and relatively worry free.
We live in one of the wettest parts of the UK and I honestly don’t think a day hasn’t passed since November where it hasn’t rained. I know I’m exaggerating a little there, so let’s say 2 days max where it hasn’t rained. It’s left us feeling just pretty damn drained, fed up, wondering what the hell we’re doing here when there are so many other places we believe we could be happier, living outside, spending time by the sea.
For years I’ve said that the dream would be to live the Spring/Summer months in the UK and the winter months in Thailand, over their summer months.. and now, all of a sudden, I feel a real urge to make that dream a reality. Maybe it’s because I follow @carlyrowena on Instagram and seeing her living the life out in Costa Rica with her family has made me believe that it might not be so out of reach as we thought.
Who knows, we might get there one day and not be so in love with living normal every day life over there. We’re only used to being ‘tourists’ for a couple weeks of the year so it’s hard to imagine what living like a Thai would be like, with routine and structure, as well as having to work, which of course is another hurdle we have to look at. Then there’s our house and what we would do with it for 6 months and how would we cover the mortgage and Erik, our dog, who we wouldn’t be able to take to and from Thailand every year, due to the cost and more importantly the stress it would have on him. We’d need to find someone we know he and ourselves both trust to take care of him for half the year, if that is even something anyone would be able to commit to. There are so many things we need to thoroughly look into now that we are grown up and have all these commitments and dependencies but I know it’s not impossible and I feel like within 5 years from now, we’ll be there.
If you know of any blogs or people on Instagram who are currently living half the year in the UK and half the year elsewhere, please let me know as I’d love to have a little peek in to their lives! Or if you have any experience or knowledge on this, drop me an email – [email protected].