Leaving California

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On November 28th, 2014, Rob and I set out on one of the biggest adventures of our lives. We had been talking about this day for several months, and it finally arrived. It’s one thing to talk about doing something and then having that thing actually happen. Once all the parts are in motion, it’s hard to stop it.

Don’t get me wrong, things didn’t just happen on their own. What I mean is that if you want to do something you just have to start. Making the decision to move to Thailand didn’t happen in one day. When people ask me when we decided to do this, I really don’t know what to tell them. It is more like a dream that somehow morphed into real life.

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Let me go back and at least tell you about our fist visit to Thailand. I had an itch to go on vacation. I have a craving for new places and traveling so my conversations with people tend to navigate in that direction. Of course, on one such occasion, the conversation started to be about Thailand. One of my co-workers had visited and was raving about the country, the people and the food. One thing that stood out about travel to Thailand was that it was “cheap.” As in economical, AFFORDABLE. That was the magic word!

After advertising Thailand to Rob, he started researching it on the web. I started looking up places to visit within the country and pointed out all the beauty it had to offer. It really didn’t take much from there to started searching for cheap airfare and booking a flight.

Thailand Vacation Ko Phi Phi

Ko Phi Phi View Point

Needless to say, our 10-day vacation to Thailand was amazing! We visited Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Ko Phi Phi. We rode elephants, went parasailing, and ate tons of street food and walked miles of night markets. I won’t go into too much detail about our vacation, but I’d be lying if I told you that the experiences we had didn’t contribute to our decision to move here. The people of Chiang Mai are some of the nicest you’ll ever meet. We have dubbed them “The Canadians of Southeast Asia.”

I guess you could say we never really left Thailand after that vacation. It lingered in our heads for months. We kept referring to it, thinking about Chiang Mai, reading about it online and watching YouTube videos. It didn’t help that Rob’s new business endeavor was also leading him to countless blogs of folks who pursued the online business world, quit their 9 to 5 jobs and moved to Thailand. It seemed that now Rob was the one advertising Thailand as a place to live.

Live in another COUNTRY?! The thought had crossed my mind. It just seemed like a fun idea, nothing I would actually do. I mean, my parents left Iran in a struggle to get my siblings and I to America in pursuit of a better life. I had just that; graduated college, had a career in hospitality with 13 years of experience and a management position.

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Why change a good thing? Because, if living in America has taught me anything, it is that I have a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And that is why, to be happy; to follow my dreams and experience what the world has to offer. So here I am!

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Hi! We’re Rob and Taiss. We set off to live a life in as many places as possible. To actually live in locations around the world long enough to get to know the locals, the culture, and the food, not just a taste of it.
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