MIDDLE EAST ADVENTURE – From Plymouth To Thailand

10.4.2013 – Cruise Ship Speaker.

Heard the one about the Plymouth taxi driver who sold his house and moved to Thailand to live on £400 a month? No Joke!

Stewart was a real interesting chap, and I never cease to be amazed by those on-board who are either ‘out there doing it’, or just about to join those who’ve already made the break. Travelling rapidly brings about a realisation that there is more to life than the golden handcuffs of traditional ‘work’.

Stewart had been a cabbie in Plymouth for 25 years and, one day, decided to fulfil a dream. He sold one of his two houses and set off for Bangkok, renting his remaining property for £750 a month. With his other bits of income he figured he’d have around £1000 a month to live on.

Finally settling in a town some 100 miles from Bangkok, my intrepid cruise colleague – sailing back to the UK to see his daughter and renew his visa (a ritual that has to be carried out every 15 months) – Stewart settled into his new life.

“My rent on a two bedroomed ‘Western’ apartment with full modern kitchen, is £78 a month, electricity is £100 a year, motorbike insurance is £8 a year, and I get a daily Costa type latte with water and refills for 20p every morning…….oh yes…….and a full evening meal for 30p!”

What do you want from life? Lots of money? Why? How much money do you need?

These are vital questions in shaping how you ‘use’ your life. I’m 52 and, believe me, I had an awakening several years ago, realising that life is far more important than money. You need cash but, in my opinion, only as a vehicle for purchasing ‘experiences’, and such experiences do not have to cost a fortune.

Stop waiting for the perfect day in which to build an amazing life, it is a consumerist lie, such a day doesn’t exist. Today is the perfect day. That’s what Stewart told me.