After almost four months in Chiang Mai, it’s time to move on. When I arrived, I thought I would just keep my head down, get some apps developed and then head on to the next place. I only had a modicum of success as I made a few missteps along the way.
- I isolated myself too much. I assumed that if I sequestered myself, I’d be more productive and for the first few weeks I was right. In hindsight, I simply needed a break from the whirlwind of travel brought on by the previous 14 months. The cure was a brief respite to detox and decompress, not locking myself away from the world. That said, I do appreciate that this city was accommodating to that end if I desired. While it’s easy to jump into the touristy bar scene, it felt good knowing that it wasn’t expected.
- I miss training. Getting hurt and not being able to train was probably the biggest blow to my plans. While I wasn’t planning on spending my nights doing extensive bar hopping, I did plan to spend my days training Muay Thai. Only problem was that my shoulder wasn’t getting any better. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago, that it dawned on me that the culprit had been my sleeping habits (sleeping on my side is murder on my shoulders).
- I wasted an opportunity to learn Thai. My original plan was to stay in Vietnam for the remainder of 2017. I started learning Vietnamese via DuoLingo, but when my living plans changed, my language plans didn’t. Since I was a hermit anyway, I wasn’t focused on finding opportunities to learn the language beyond basic encounters. Living in the touristy part of town (Nimman) didn’t help either, as most people spoke enough English that I wasn’t forced out of my comfort zone.
- I’m more of a social tourist. I don’t really have any bucket list places, so I often find myself just walking around and skipping the popular attractions. It doesn’t take much prodding to coax me out to a local landmark it usually takes an interested companion. I’ve just reached a point where I’m more interested in the daily life of a place. And one thing is for certain: I am all templed/churched out. I really don’t care if I never see another one anywhere on Earth, regardless of architecture.
- I didn’t eat enough mango with sticky rice.
I will miss the simple life, the street food (especially at night), the freedom of anonymity and most of all the smiling people.
Khob khan krap
The Cocoa Nomad 