2023 Was Pretty Great
The year 2023 is about to end as I write this blog post from Koh Samet, Thailand. It’s fair to say that it has been a reasonably good one for me. Starting this blog in February (and not giving up yet) has been one of the highlights. A decent amount of travel, some more exploring of my new home city, Bangkok and a good year of teaching also contributed to being able to hail the year 2023 as a success.
It was a year of mostly local travel within Thailand. But compared to the previous Covid-affected years it wasn’t bad at all.
Where I Managed To Travel To In 2023:
January – Sydney, Australia
February – Phuket
March – Chiang Rai
April – Krabi & Chiang Mai
July – Chiang Mai & Laos
December – Pattaya & Koh Samet
Australia
The year began in Australia. I travelled back for Christmas to see my parents and a few friends. It was the first ‘normal’ visit in a few years.
I spent Christmas struggling to adapt once again to being in my home town of Taree. The small country town on the mid-north coast of New South Wales where I was born, doesn’t really excite me these days. I get bored easily as I don’t really have friends there anymore and I find it hard to pass the time.
When I was young and studying at University in Newcastle, a two-hour drive south, I relished coming back for weekends of partying with friends. Things have changed as my world has grown. My world has changed from being dominated by a small 400 km stretch of Australia’s East Coast to basically being anywhere in East Asia. I now experience this kind of reverse culture shock whenever I’m back in Australia. This feeling is most noticeable when I’m in Taree.
But seeing family when you can is important when you’re living overseas. I was going to say when you’re living so far from home. But Australia isn’t really home anymore. These family occasions have become quite rare. But this is obviously a consequence of life choices that have to be accepted.
Between Christmas and New Year, I headed south (on a train) to visit one of my best friends, Derryn, and to catch what has become a traditional New Year’s Eve football match in Gosford, one hour north of Sydney. Some minor revelling was had in seeing in 2023 and a couple of days later I was in Sydney, again visiting friends, but this time attending a cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
As usual, holiday time passes quickly and before I knew it I was back in Bangkok.
Work, Life And Making Progress
I started this blog in February. But the few months prior had signalled some changes that I was making to my life. I made a conscious effort to watch less TV, read more books and become more productive. The reading led me to create some pretty powerful habits, including a morning routine and beginning to write. This in turn led to this blog. Before I knew it I had already started a second blog as well.
The second half of my first year of teaching in Bangkok went smoothly. I had settled well and was enjoying my work life. The school has been great and I consolidated relationships with colleagues and students.
Being an international school teacher is attractive largely because it places a person in a situation whereby travel on school holidays is more accessible. This could be international travel as well as travel within the country of residence.
In 2003 I was grateful to be able to travel to Phuket, Krabi and Chiang Mai on my mid-year breaks. I also took a trip to Laos with a visiting friend on my long break in July.
School Trips
Travelling as a part of a teacher’s job can also be a highlight. In previous teaching jobs, I have travelled with students from Singapore to Indonesia, China to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to China and Cambodia and from Singapore to Thailand and Vietnam. Although these trips are quite hard work and extremely tiring they are also great fun.
This March I was able to travel with Grade 10 students to the beautiful northern Thai region of Chiang Rai. We hiked, kayaked, rafted, visited cultural sites and participated in cultural activities. We also engaged in numerous team-building activities and took a Thai cooking class.
These trips are amazing for getting to know the students better. It’s noticeable how relationships improve and how teaching is enhanced by knowing students better and from having shared experiences outside of the classroom. Year 2 in a new job and a new country is all about improvement, consolidation and doing things better than in Year 1. It’s also about seeing more of your new ‘home’.
Life’s A Beach
You can’t live in Thailand without exploring beaches and islands. In 2023, my wife and I went back to both Phuket and Krabi. We had been to both in 2022, but visiting friends from Australia and the UK as well as our daughter making a visit saw us again in these amazing places.
I doubt I will get to all of the popular beach locations in Thailand. There are too many. But who knows how long we will stay here? Let’s wait and see.
Northern Thailand
As well as beaches, Thailand is known for its rugged and cooler north. Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai were both on my list for 2023. The school trip to Chiang Rai was great. But even better, was Chiang Mai for Songkran in April. Being there for arguably the world’s biggest water fight and celebrating the Thai New Year and water festival is something that every visitor to Thailand should experience.
Chiang Mai’s local food culture, its markets, temples, the walled ‘Old Town’ district and its hiking make this a very different travel experience compared to the usual beach locations. And I was lucky enough to get there twice in 2023.
Laos
One of my best mates from Australia also made a visit in 2023. Another great thing about living in Thailand is that friends are either passing through or just waiting for an invitation to visit. When Al came in July, we took the overnight train to Chiang Mai and then spent a week in one of my favourite places in SE Asia – the beautiful historic town of Luang Prabang in Laos. Taking the two-day slow boat trip from the Thai border to Luang Prabang is something that every visitor to Laos should do once. Twice? Maybe once is enough. But do it.
Back To The Beach
My wife and I decided to end the year at a new beach location. We decided to check out Koh Samet. On the way there we also spent a couple of days in Pattaya, just a 2-hour bus ride from Bangkok. Pattaya is known for its rather sleazy nightlife. But I must admit that I was able to find a nice side of this place. The beaches are better than I thought, there is a great restaurant scene and it’s easy to find a live band. That’s three pretty great boxes ticked.
I’m now in Kho Samet as I write this as I mentioned in my intro. Wow, this place is a blissful relaxed paradise. We are staying in Tubtim Resort and absolutely love it. What a great place to end the year at. Beautiful clear water, white sand constant blue skies.
Blogging Stuff
I kept going with this blogging project throughout the year. I’m learning more every day and continually trying to improve my writing and to add value to my ‘Footloose Teacher’ blog as well as my ‘Finance Teacher’ blog which I started in June.
I don’t know where this will take me. But it’s a nice journey to be on. I know that I’m not really a writer. I am someone who writes. And I have never ever written before. It is nice to move outside of my comfort zone, to do something different and to add some skills to my repertoire.
I am happy with my year. There are always things that can be better. But that is what 2024 is for.
If you stumbled upon this post, then thanks for reading. I hope that I can add something to your future visits to my blog. But even if this is your one and only time of reading something that I have written. That’s fine too.
But keep reading the many other blog posts from great bloggers who do an amazing job of putting stuff out there and helping to improve our lives.
Happy New Year. I hope your 2024 is as great as mine will be.
Relate articles:
I love following along on your journey.