Well, on with my story. Not long ago I met this guy in a bar. We made our greetings and, since we were drunk, it wasn't long until we fell into discussions about things. Anything and everything really. I felt like I could sit there and listen to him all night. Well forever really. He was your typical extrovert dreamer really. But something about him caught my interest. Even thought he was a dreamer, he had so much ambitions, so many plans.
So when the night were drawing close to an end, I remember asking him one final question: "Are you happy?" He looked into my eyes and responded "No." with a pause. "No, I'm not. Not yet." So I asked him why this was. How could a man with so many dreams and plans not be happy? The response I got what "Thailand." He leaned back and took a sip from his whiskey with dreamy eyes. "I need to get to Thailand" he said. "Thailand is the land of smiles." Without saying anything else he stood up and walked out of the bar, leaving me behind.
It wasn't until the bus drive home that I started to reflect on that random persons words. What did he mean exactly? Why would anyone want to go to a country, which in my eyes, is riddled with poverty and decease?
I woke up the next day, starting my Sunday with pouring myself a glass of whiskey, to chase the dogs tails so to speak. And I sat there, watching my TV, surfing between channels, finding nothing. Until...
Well one channel, particularly, stood out. It was of some, half naked, poor kinds playing in a water fall. They were playing in the water, jumping around, screaming, laughing and having a good time without a care in the world.
That's when I realized what he meant.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Living the dream - Part 1
Here I sit. How have I've become so unhappy? What have I done to deserve this? I've always though, my entire life, that I was a good boy, a hard working boy, a man that have had dreams worth fighting for. Opportunities. I've always have had opportunities to make it in life. A good job. Money to pay my bills. Money to buy me a car, to go out and party, to live my life.
I did have it all. But somewhere along the way I fucked up. I stopped caring. I didn't know what I was doing with my life. I asked myself "why?" Why am I doing this? For what? The more I though about it, the more I got back to the question "Why?" I mean, this can't be all that there is? There has to be something else out there worth living for. Something that'd make me happy.
Well, fuck it. I'm where I am right now. No job. No car. No idea how to make it. And the thing that I know is this: this is not happiness. I'm not happy. This is no way to live. I know that I can't find happiness here- But what I do know is that it has to be out there somewhere. Happiness.
But how do I know what happiness is? I already had the Swedish dream. I had a steady job, a nice car, a good apartment. I had security and income. I had what this society calls a dream. So what is happiness? I honestly don't know. I just want to be able to look myself in the mirror and see myself smile.
I want to smile.
I did have it all. But somewhere along the way I fucked up. I stopped caring. I didn't know what I was doing with my life. I asked myself "why?" Why am I doing this? For what? The more I though about it, the more I got back to the question "Why?" I mean, this can't be all that there is? There has to be something else out there worth living for. Something that'd make me happy.
Well, fuck it. I'm where I am right now. No job. No car. No idea how to make it. And the thing that I know is this: this is not happiness. I'm not happy. This is no way to live. I know that I can't find happiness here- But what I do know is that it has to be out there somewhere. Happiness.
But how do I know what happiness is? I already had the Swedish dream. I had a steady job, a nice car, a good apartment. I had security and income. I had what this society calls a dream. So what is happiness? I honestly don't know. I just want to be able to look myself in the mirror and see myself smile.
I want to smile.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
How it all started!
So how did I get this idea, if not obsession, about one day visiting Thailand? Well it all started some time back in December 2012. My friends and I was sitting in one of our apartments, preparing for the regular night out. Now, this is Sweden, a country where in December temperatures can drop down to -18 C (-0.4F) and you get just about 4 hours of sun a day. And then we got into a conversation that went on about that we need to get out of Sweden. "Let's go to Thailand" i said. I was already on my third drink of the evening. "Everything is better in Thailand." Everyone, who was just as intoxicated as I was, agreed fullheartedly. But then we figured that we couldn't just live there without any income. So the logical decision was to open a bar. The rest of the evening is kind of a blur.
We woke up the next day with one hell of a hangover. Most of the evening, and almost the entire night was just a foggy mess of loud noises and unfamiliar faces. But one thought remained strong. I sat up, almost too quickly, and exclaimed "THAILAND!" in a loud voice. And almost immediately i heard one of the other guys scream "THAILAND!" back. The game was on.
So the first step was to figure out what we would actually do in Thailand. The most logical thing was to open a bar. We all got some experience with drinks, at least with drinking them, and the thought of a small bar at the clear blue ocean seemed alluring to say the least. So we checked it out. "BARS FOR SALE IN THAILAND" was input into Google and it looked promising at first. Hundreds, if not thousands of bars were for sale at the most lucrative places. But this got me thinking.
Another day passed and I started to dig deeper into the world of economics regarding Thailand and bars. What I found out wasn't pretty. Not only can't foreigners own land nor business in the land of smiles. You also had to be a pimp to run a successful bar. This is no joke. You have to have so called "bar girls" to lure in the so called "farangs." And then there was the uncertainty of who actually owned the bar. And the bribes. And the fact that most bars lasted about 6 months before burning through the staring capital. There were just a lot of wild cards that doesn't exist in a western economy.
A new plan was hatched. We just had to go down there and get a feel on the culture, people, language, customs and traditions for ourself before actually investing in anything. So the new plan is to save up some cash to go down there on a "vacation" of sorts. But instead of just hanging out in a pre-paid hotel, sitting by the pool, and squander our time, we'd actually try to taste the country.
So that's how it all got started. A random drunk thought that evolved into something more, something bigger.
We woke up the next day with one hell of a hangover. Most of the evening, and almost the entire night was just a foggy mess of loud noises and unfamiliar faces. But one thought remained strong. I sat up, almost too quickly, and exclaimed "THAILAND!" in a loud voice. And almost immediately i heard one of the other guys scream "THAILAND!" back. The game was on.
So the first step was to figure out what we would actually do in Thailand. The most logical thing was to open a bar. We all got some experience with drinks, at least with drinking them, and the thought of a small bar at the clear blue ocean seemed alluring to say the least. So we checked it out. "BARS FOR SALE IN THAILAND" was input into Google and it looked promising at first. Hundreds, if not thousands of bars were for sale at the most lucrative places. But this got me thinking.
Another day passed and I started to dig deeper into the world of economics regarding Thailand and bars. What I found out wasn't pretty. Not only can't foreigners own land nor business in the land of smiles. You also had to be a pimp to run a successful bar. This is no joke. You have to have so called "bar girls" to lure in the so called "farangs." And then there was the uncertainty of who actually owned the bar. And the bribes. And the fact that most bars lasted about 6 months before burning through the staring capital. There were just a lot of wild cards that doesn't exist in a western economy.
A new plan was hatched. We just had to go down there and get a feel on the culture, people, language, customs and traditions for ourself before actually investing in anything. So the new plan is to save up some cash to go down there on a "vacation" of sorts. But instead of just hanging out in a pre-paid hotel, sitting by the pool, and squander our time, we'd actually try to taste the country.
So that's how it all got started. A random drunk thought that evolved into something more, something bigger.
Dreaming of Thailand: Prelude
Well this is my newly started blog about Dreaming of Thailand. The idea I had behind this is that I'll keep a record of how I prepare for my trip to Thailand. This includes things like coming up with the money, figuring out what to do in Thailand, do some research on what "visa runs" are and similar things like this. I'll also try make some permanent pages on the blog with good and inspiring videos, tutorials, guides etc. to help others who's planning to do what I'm planning.
After I arrive in Thailand, I'll use this blog to update all you readers on how I'm actually doing down there. Including any adventure or potential business venture I might have. I except a lot of pictures and videos of tigers, elephants and jungle! And food. I hear the food down there is great.
After I arrive in Thailand, I'll use this blog to update all you readers on how I'm actually doing down there. Including any adventure or potential business venture I might have. I except a lot of pictures and videos of tigers, elephants and jungle! And food. I hear the food down there is great.
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