So today marks exactly 18 months until we retire. WooHoo!
Today was also my yearly physical. Got poked, prodded, and stuck with pointy objects. When we told the Doctor that we wanted to get a complete checkup this year and next because we are retiring and moving to Thailand in 18 months he kinda did the same thing a dog does when he hears a high pitched sound. Cocked his head to the side and looked like WTF?!
He conceded that he didn't know much about the medical system in Thailand but thought it was great that we are adventurous enough to do that. He was a little surprised again when told him we had no plans to return to the US. So the checkup today went fine, the lab tests are being done, and in a couple weeks I'll go back for some more tests and labs. Lin is scheduled for her physical next week.
Lin has been very busy researching places to stay when we go to Chiang Mai at the end of this year. We've progressed from where we might want to check out in Thailand to which place in Chiang Mai do we want to stay on our reconnaissance mission.
We will be meeting Steve and Lisa in Thailand for their vacation during the same time and will spend some time with them wherever they want to visit.
I emailed our Credit Union to find out how the (Un)Patriot Act and the new banking regulations would affect our ability to keep an account open without having a US address; and they assured me that we can continue to have direct deposits into the account but would only need to update our address to whatever our Thai address will be and then we wouldn't have any issues using our debit cards in Thailand. There have been instances of some expats having their accounts closed by their banks because they don't have a permanent US address but that seems to be dependent on each financial institution's policy.
So, we are moving forward with our plans, studying Thai reading, writing, and speaking and feel like the Bullet Train has left the station and we're being whisked away into the future.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Right Choice
<Begin Rant>
Our trip to Japan reinforced our belief that we have made the right decision in moving out of the US when we retire. The US really doesn't hold anything for us to want to remain living here. We're disappointed with the government and their constant eroding of our freedoms, the idiocy of the politicians who seem to want to destroy America rather than make the compromises necessary to help the country due to their inability and fear to compromise from their set in stone ideology, and the general populace (yes, this is a generalization) who aren't able to think for themselves and instead take some talking head's opinion, or religious zealot's opinion, or some right or left wing organization's opinion as the truth and insist that everyone should be forced into their way of thinking.
All countries instill in their citizens the belief that their country is the best in the world. This propaganda in America leads Americans (and again, this is a generalization) to be arrogant, belligerent and self centered. This attitude leads to such All American sayings like “America, Love It Or Leave It” and “My Country, Right Or Wrong” and people really do believe this crap; and if something doesn't go their way in the world, they immediately jump to the conclusion that we should just bomb the crap out of them to set them straight. You know, kill them all and let God sort them out.
The polarization in American society is absolutely ridiculous.
We've worked hard our entire lives to reach a point where we can retire and enjoy a comfortable life. Then a few years ago the bankers and financial gurus pretty much wiped out all of our hard work and lots of people our age now think they can never retire because they can't afford to live on what they have left. And what has happened to the thieves that stole several generations hope that hard work and sacrifice would lead to the wonderful Golden Years?
Nothing! The government bails them out using taxpayer money but tells us that the thieves are too big and powerful to be held accountable. And they start all over again. Incredible!
But we still want to enjoy our Golden Years and find that we can do so if we throw off the propaganda of our government and take the (not so) difficult step to move out of the country. And Surprise, we can retire even earlier than we might have if the events of the last few years hadn't occurred.
So we choose to retire early, enjoy more quality years together, enjoy each others company, have more adventures together, and enjoy our Golden Years. And we choose to begin in Thailand.
</End Rant>
Our trip to Japan reinforced our belief that we have made the right decision in moving out of the US when we retire. The US really doesn't hold anything for us to want to remain living here. We're disappointed with the government and their constant eroding of our freedoms, the idiocy of the politicians who seem to want to destroy America rather than make the compromises necessary to help the country due to their inability and fear to compromise from their set in stone ideology, and the general populace (yes, this is a generalization) who aren't able to think for themselves and instead take some talking head's opinion, or religious zealot's opinion, or some right or left wing organization's opinion as the truth and insist that everyone should be forced into their way of thinking.
All countries instill in their citizens the belief that their country is the best in the world. This propaganda in America leads Americans (and again, this is a generalization) to be arrogant, belligerent and self centered. This attitude leads to such All American sayings like “America, Love It Or Leave It” and “My Country, Right Or Wrong” and people really do believe this crap; and if something doesn't go their way in the world, they immediately jump to the conclusion that we should just bomb the crap out of them to set them straight. You know, kill them all and let God sort them out.
The polarization in American society is absolutely ridiculous.
We've worked hard our entire lives to reach a point where we can retire and enjoy a comfortable life. Then a few years ago the bankers and financial gurus pretty much wiped out all of our hard work and lots of people our age now think they can never retire because they can't afford to live on what they have left. And what has happened to the thieves that stole several generations hope that hard work and sacrifice would lead to the wonderful Golden Years?
Nothing! The government bails them out using taxpayer money but tells us that the thieves are too big and powerful to be held accountable. And they start all over again. Incredible!
But we still want to enjoy our Golden Years and find that we can do so if we throw off the propaganda of our government and take the (not so) difficult step to move out of the country. And Surprise, we can retire even earlier than we might have if the events of the last few years hadn't occurred.
So we choose to retire early, enjoy more quality years together, enjoy each others company, have more adventures together, and enjoy our Golden Years. And we choose to begin in Thailand.
</End Rant>
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Real Planning Begins
We returned from an amazing trip to Japan to visit Steve and Lisa. Instead of going into detail here we will give the link to the blog we did while there.
http://landvinjapan.wordpress.com
Our original plan after the trip to Japan was to begin our real preparations for our scouting trip at the end of 2013 to Thailand.
We also signed up for online Thai language classes at http://learnthaionline.com/
Our current idea is to check out the areas we plan on beginning our retirement when we visit Thailand. Chiang Mai is currently our choice for our main residence. We are planning on living there between May and January. February through April we will go to Cha Am or possibly Khao Takiab to escape the smoke from the burning of the rice fields and undergrowth in the north. Of course, this is all subject to change as we discover more areas in Thailand.
Another area that has our interest right now is Lampang, which is about an hour southeast of Chiang Mai, between Chiang Mai and Bangkok. It is smaller than Chiang Mai, which is intriguing for us.
The trip to Japan was our first land based vacation in about 15 years and while we would do it again in a heartbeat, we agreed on the flight home that we did miss sea days where we really were able to relax. Lin felt that she would have a hard time not taking some time off between now and the end of 2013 so we booked a 10 day cruise to Alaska in July.
http://landvinjapan.wordpress.com
Our original plan after the trip to Japan was to begin our real preparations for our scouting trip at the end of 2013 to Thailand.
We also signed up for online Thai language classes at http://learnthaionline.com/
Our current idea is to check out the areas we plan on beginning our retirement when we visit Thailand. Chiang Mai is currently our choice for our main residence. We are planning on living there between May and January. February through April we will go to Cha Am or possibly Khao Takiab to escape the smoke from the burning of the rice fields and undergrowth in the north. Of course, this is all subject to change as we discover more areas in Thailand.
Another area that has our interest right now is Lampang, which is about an hour southeast of Chiang Mai, between Chiang Mai and Bangkok. It is smaller than Chiang Mai, which is intriguing for us.
The trip to Japan was our first land based vacation in about 15 years and while we would do it again in a heartbeat, we agreed on the flight home that we did miss sea days where we really were able to relax. Lin felt that she would have a hard time not taking some time off between now and the end of 2013 so we booked a 10 day cruise to Alaska in July.
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