While making mental preparations to end this holiday, it was already clear:  this trip was one for the books.  For now, errands needed to be run before leaving Pattaya itself:  another round of laundry, bicycle tune-up, and deposit excess cash from the budget into my Thai account.  Cash management had been extremely careful the entire time.  Most of it was locked away in my condo while I went out with small batches of cash, around 2000-3000 baht at a time.  I also made sure to spend all the coins on an ongoing basis.  With this system, I didn't lose a baht.

The big task was the inventory and cleanup.  This was made easier since the condo screamed of minimalism.  That is, you do small things every day to keep the place clean and tidy as well as small laundry loads every couple days.  Practice the principles of Atomic Habits in other words and then the condo becomes something you control, not something that owns you.  I resolved this whole concept was how I would live out the rest of my life.

As I got on the bike and rounded the corner of my residence for the last time in awhile, I accounted for the massive value of this condo on just this trip.  This is now the peak of the peak season.  Friends were coming and going all the time.  They all said how difficult and expensive it was to find hotels.  A quick check online confirmed this.  Not only did I save an absolute ton by staying here, it felt like occupying that strange nether region between tourist and expat.  In some strange way I was starting to own this city.

The vast overwhelming number of tourists were coming in or out, and only doing superficial stuff like visiting shopping malls, eating at restaurants, and bars.  Traffic was an absolute nightmare the entire time mixed in with the tour buses.  But throw in the bicycle, it didn't affect me one bit.  I was also unaffected by the peak season prices despite others around me getting ripped of constantly.

Put all this together, maybe my retiree friend John was right:  I really was smarter than the vast majority of people in Pattaya.  Regardless, I had managed to understand these two key points:  first, you must create a routine of order and structure while you're here.  Second, you need to be mentally prepared to leave this place and make a decisive call to do so.

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Those who really cry when they leave Pattaya are those who get too comfortable here and don't plans.  They are forced out due to visa issues or lack of money or both.  As for me I was going out with a celebration.

There were multiple stops planned for today.  First was another meeting and lunch with friends.  Second was in Si Racha, I had arranged English lessons with a group of bank staff this afternoon.  The rate was only 500 baht for the hour which is peanuts but it's not about the money.  I did it for several reasons, one to show appreciation they helped open an account, two for something to give my brain to do, and three that I actually could do this.  There wasn't some government that decided to ban side hustles or make tutoring illegal.  

But at the last minute they wanted lessons in Pattaya and changed the plan.  They had a car, that's why they could do this.  When you're traveling by bicycle and make a plan you can't change it on the fly like this.  I had to tell them it wasn't going to happen.  This really sucks because I was planning on a midway stop in Si Racha and then a nice hotel already booked further up the road in Chonburi.

Then just as I was leaving, another Canadian colleague rolled in off the bus and said, "I saw that you're in Pattaya, are you still there?  I'm on my way over, would love to get together for dinner ir drinks if you're around".  Go figure the timing would be like this.  Regretably, I had to once again pass.

I committed to my plan of cycling out of Pattaya.  The headphones went in, the music cranked out, and I dodged one traffic jam after another.  On the final turn out of the city onto Sukumvhit Road, I let out a massive cheer and pumped my fist in the air.  The song that was playing was perfect for the moment.  

Pattaya had not claimed itself another victim, I had outsmarted the city and gotten out victoriously.