I just got back from a 10-day trip to Japan. I was able to visit Osaka and Hiroshima – and the cities of Kobe and Okayama between – and had an excellent trip. While it’s fresh on my mind, I wanted to share some tips on how to make the most of your trip to Japan by saving you time and money.
Crystallized: How I am improving my crystallized intelligence
I recently watched Federer: Twelve Final Days (on Prime Video). I don’t follow tennis, but I could empathize with Federer’s decision to retire from the sport – and the feelings of grief that the documentary captured so well. Federer decided to retire at the age of 41, which was the age I retired at. While I knew about his impressive achievements, I didn’t know about the three surgeries he had on his right knee that contributed to his decision to leave the sport. After finishing the film, I asked myself what many viewers likely asked, “What is he up to now?” Reading this article put a smile on my face. Here is a sports icon, unable to competitively play the sport he loves, making a pivot with the second half of his life — towards family, creativity, and philanthropy. By all accounts, Federer is thriving in his 40s.
Thai Language: Three Tips on How to Learn Thai
I am fluent only in English. I grew up with Cantonese spoken in my household, and it’s one of my regrets not to have attained fluency in Cantonese. So one of my goals in mini retirement is to learn Thai. Two years into my stay here, I can say I’m still a Beginner. I can order drinks and food – and or give some basic direction to my Grab driver or masseuse – but that’s pretty much where I’m at. All of this to say: I’m still learning and this post is certainly a work-in-progress.
I want to share three tips I have picked up in language learning. Note that this post covers only conversational / spoken Thai, not reading or writing (which I believe to be completely different). I have focused solely on speaking/listening, so that I can make basic conversations in the few years I have lived here.
Nesting: The pros and cons of parents rotating homes
My children’s mother and I have a co-parenting arrangement called ‘birdnesting’ or ‘nesting.’ Nesting involves our kids staying in the same house at all times, while their mother and I take turns living in the house with our kids. We have been using this co-parenting arrangement since re-locating to Thailand. Currently, we are on a two-week schedule during which I live with the kids for two weeks, and then switch with their mother for two weeks, etc. This post outlines what I see, given almost two years of this co-parenting schedule, as the pros and cons of nesting.
Hacks: Top 5 Travel Hacks Across Asia
Traveling across Asia has been one of my key reasons why I took my mini-retirement. Almost two years into my mini-retirement, I have traveled 13 Asian countries, now totaling 33 across my life. I speak from experience when I say that travel can have its fair share of headaches. Whether it’s long delays or uncomfortable climates or technology hiccups, some times I debate whether it’s better to simply nest in Chiang Mai – and avoid flights and hotel nights altogether. I believe, however, that with proper planning, I can reduce some of these headaches and focus my time and energy on the reason why I want to travel in the first place – to experience what this beautiful world has to offer.
With this life-enriching goal in mind, I would like to share five of my travel hacks that have served me well, especially in the past two years as I have traveled across Asia. In no particular order:
Triggers: What I learned about my triggers
“F*CKKKKKKK!!!!!”
I screamed out loud in my car, parked outside the Department of Transportation here in Chiang Mai. Thankfully, no one was in the car or walking near the car; else they would be scared, running away from the psycho inside.
My forehead and palms were sweaty. My cheeks ruddy. My eyes dilated. I was angry. On a scale of 1-10, an 8.
Why? I received a phone call earlier that morning from Hyundai telling me that I needed to visit the DOT to process paperwork and obtain my license plate. This was after weeks of hearing nothing, and the service rep said it had to happen today because the residence certificate I provided would expire tomorrow. So I rushed to the DOT. I waited over an hour in the Thai heat – only for the official to tell me I need to get another residence certificate; she could not accept one that would expire tomorrow. Why not? This would mean waiting in another line, paying another 500 baht, and repeating another bureaucratic process.
Why the overwhelming anger? Why would a delay in the process elicit the “Hulk” inside me to emerge, making him scream and bang the steering wheel?
I was triggered. Hearing the official tell me I would need to repeat the process reminded me of something in my past – some unresolved issue from long ago.
Globetrotting Part 2: Where I have traveled in East Asia since mini retirement
This post continues from the Part 1, in which I covered where I globetrotted in Southeast Asia for the year and a half I have mini retired. This post covers where I have been across East Asia.
As with the prior post, I have listed next to each destination: 1) an estimate of how long of a flight it is from Chiang Mai (unless otherwise noted), 2) how much it cost me last time to fly there (one way), and 3) a quick listing of the experiences I had while traveling there.
Globetrotting Part 1: Where I have traveled since mini retirement
Wanderlust. It’s the word that comes to mind when I describe this feeling I have had since my early 20s. After September 11, 2001, I took some time off from college – and decided to teach English in a rural village in southern Thailand. It was during these few months as a volunteer teacher when I realized how large the world is and how much I wanted to explore it, to experience its opportunities, to live life fully.
I spent the better part of two decades repressing this wanderlust. I was raising a family, saving up and investing, and grinding away in corporate America. Oh, how I looked forward to the 3-4 weeks of vacation I had. My ex and I decided to spend half of those vacation days traveling as a family, and the balance traveling as a couple. And oh, how much I relished those days of exploring. We traveled everywhere – from closer spots like San Jose, Costa Rica and San Juan, Puerto Rico to more remote locations like Brisbane, Australia and Budapest, Hungary. Sure, these precious days spent with my family quelled some of my hunger for travel, but at the same time, it planted a seed in my mind: if we could travel for longer periods of time, where would we go?
Rebalancing: How I actually rebalance my portfolio
This entry is a little different from my others in that I’ll be laying out a step-by-step guide on how I actually rebalance my portfolio every quarter. For some of you, this may be pretty mundane – something you already know how to do – but perhaps for others, this could help build your confidence that you don’t need a financial advisor or a trading background to rebalance your portfolio. I will do my best not to get too technical, and I’ll use some simple examples to illustrate the math used.
100 Things: My Minimalist List of the Things I Own
It’s been almost three years since I initially took the 100 Things Challenge. I believe it’s one of the pillars of being minimalist – and maintaining my personal items at or under 100 things keeps me honest about what I truly need to be happy. Since 2021, I moved abroad to Thailand, forcing me to really consider what to keep versus give away or sell. The move experience also taught me to be more choosy about what to buy over here in Thailand, avoiding the painful experience of giving away things at far less than what I paid for them.