I can’t believe we have been living in Bangkok for an entire week! There is so much to tell and yet at the same time we haven’t really ‘done’ all that much. But maybe, I should back up a little bit here and start closer to the beginning … in late July I left a job I loved and prepared for the big move to Southeast-Asia with my family! One of the biggest perks of this big move is I will be taking a 2 year sabbatical {as I’m calling it} from working. Stay-at-home-mom is my new ‘full-time’ gig. I still can’t believe how fortunate I am to have this amazing opportunity to live abroad as well as get more time with my daughter!!
Am I a world travel? Umm no, but I’ve done a good amount of vacationing in Mexico, Canada, and Europe. Asia, and Thailand specifically, is brand new to me. Making the decision to move abroad is WAY outside my comfort zone, but here’s the thing ….
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
— Wayne Gretzky
And in this case I take shots to mean opportunities. I’m the person who follows the rules, colors inside the lines, and has generally followed a ‘typical path’ in life. Taking big risks and making big changes aren’t things I haven’t actively sought out. But, that is what made the decision to move to Thailand so exciting. It’s something new, it challenges me and most importantly I wanted to do something new, not ‘on the path’ and unexpected.
Once we made the decision to move, I fluctuated between super excited and incredibly nervous with bits of sadness sprinkled in. It’s hard knowing we are going to miss birthdays, weddings, births, holidays, and more with our family and friends. Thank goodness there is Skype and FaceTime so we can at least be there virtually! The last week before our move was so busy I little time to focus on my nerves. There was so much to do like packing, closing of accounts (bye bye Comcast!) and hanging out with friends.
Our condo took 2 full days to be packed up and placed in crates. It was strange seeing our place empty again. So many memories in our condo! We lived there for 3+ years … it’s our first home and the place we brought Jellybean home from hospital to. But, it will be there when we get back and there are many new memories to make in Bangkok!
So yeah, 16+ hours of watching people pack and move our stuff into in a huge moving truck we were left with 6 big bags, carry-ons and a dog crate. Oh, I guess to this point I didn’t mention our dog, Sophi, also moved with us to Bangkok! More on our experiences shipping a dog overseas I will include in a later post … assuming ya’ll are interested.
The items in these bags, plus a little extra that’s already at our new place – think minimal dishes and cookware – are going to tide us over until our stuff arrives. We’ve gone from a VERY full 2 bedroom condo to 6 bags of stuff for the next 4-6 weeks … hopefully. :) Makes me think I should have read this book prior to the move {wink, wink}.
We left for Dulles Airport at 6am on Wednesday, August 5th and after 3 flights, 2 layovers and a cab ride we arrived at our apartment in Bangkok on Friday, August 7th at about 1:30am-ish!! Filled with excitement and exhaustion we toured our new diggs, cooked some eggs and toast and then headed to bed.
iPad plus blueberries = quiet and happy toddler! At least for a little while *wink, wink*
This is what REAL jetlag looks like
The past week has been spent acclimating ourselves and Jellybean to the time change, getting familiar with our neighborhood, food shopping, eating a lot of AMAZING Thai food {we had 2 lunches and a mango smoothie for under $5 – can’t get much better than that}, hanging out poolside and general life things. We have yet to do anything touristy and while I have some guilt we haven’t really toured the city I also realize we will be here for a few years. Getting situated is what was most important for our first week living as expats.
I think someone is happy to be hanging out by the pool!
It would be a lie to say the adjustment to living in Thailand and being a SAHM is going seamlessly or that I’m 100% loving it after only a week … just keepin’ it real(!). But, I’m so excited. Excited to meet new people, try new things and spend my days exploring with Jellybean.
And I will leave you with ‘my’ final thought on this big adventure the hubby, Jellybean and I have begun …
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by
the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”
– Mark Twain
I would love to hear your recommendations on places we should visit or things you loved doing while living or visiting Thailand {or near by area}!
PS – For pictures of our adventures in Thailand, please follow me on Instagram. Pictures will be tagged with #BitsOfBangkok as well :)
