I spent a few months at a resort called Koh Wai Pakarang in Thailand and it was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I did not appreciate photography as much as I do now so luckily my father suggested I take lots of photos with a digital camera. I took tons of photos and plenty of them turned out bad, but looking back I am happy to have the memories. I was at the resort during low season so I pretty much had the place to myself along with the few resort staff that stayed on. I spend my days wandering in the jungle behind the resort accompanied by a pack of beach dogs I made friends with.
I am not a fan of large densely populated cities, so getting out of Bangkok was my first priority once my plane landed. The solitude if the resort was just what I needed to calm my mind and figure out what was important in life. I had just quit my IT job and needed to plan my next move. I always drove inexpensive cars and never tried to live above my means and ideally enjoyed living well below my means. This vacation from a life of working all the time was much needed. The calming waves and the sound of the ocean really put life into perspective and reminded me what life was all about.
I fell in love with Thailand at that point and ended up returning to the same location three more times in the following years for months at a time. I learned that working temp Jobs in IT often payed more and allowed me the freedom to have large chunks of time off once the temp Jobs finished. If the company that hired you liked your work, they would contact you for future Jobs when you returned from your adventures. It was nice to finally find something that worked and let me take time off to take a real vacation and not just a couple weeks where you had to stress just to get everything done that you wanted.
I of course am not married and have no children and realize this play a big part in why I can live a life so free. I know married couples that can achieve similar results as I did, but it takes a little more work and usually it helps if they do not live in the USA.
I have rambled on long enough, so I will leave you with a photo and a wish for you to get away and be with nature.