Time flies but bodies crunch - both human and auto

November 25, 2019

Introduction

Like all our travel blogs, Tricia does the balance of the writing, Ron edits and posts the narrative and adds pictures when appropriate. This blog will focus on the changes currently in our lives, focusing on buying, moving, constructing, closing down, selling and moving to again for another foreign living experience.  To be more precise, we purchased a home back in Vancouver WA and began converting a room into a small apartment for ourselves by adding a bathroom, kitchenette, and closet.  We are planning to rent the balance of the house it is attached to.  We had a preplanned trip to Thailand and Sri Lanka as our current visit will be our last Asian trip (unless more changes occur).  And then, we will be taking the next step into our last adventure…I hesitate to use the word ‘last’ given our history. Perhaps I should say our next adventure of living outside the US. 

Background

Since 2014 when we sold our house in Vancouver, Ron and I have wanted another adventure living outside the US. We took a year and traveled in SE Asia; afterward, we explored Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama as possible relocates for this next adventure, based on criteria we had developed for ourselves on destinations close to home. We had considered a number of places in Central and S. America in addition to Mexico. But after reading about each of those places we narrowed it down to the three countries.

 In early 2015 we spent one month in each of those three countries. Mexico won out and we had planned to move to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We came home to say goodbye to family and friends and to pack up. While in the US we decided to see all our docs. It was my 70^th year. Every doctor I saw said ‘wait, you need….’ The last one I saw was my ophthalmologist who sent me to a glaucoma specialist who recommended immediate surgery. The recovery was long and it prevented us from moving. So, we never realized that dream of living in San Miguel. 

So, we bought a condo on Portland in July of 2015 and lived there until early November this year. 

In early September we bought a four-bedroom/two-bath house in Vancouver…who says you cannot go home again? One bedroom was quite large, 20 X 15 feet. We are expanding that bedroom to be 20 X 20 by pushing one wall five feet into the garage and we are converting it into a small apartment for us. The purpose of this move back to Vancouver is to give us a place to stay when we return from travels. We hope again to have an adventure and live outside the US, hopefully Mexico. The apartment gives us a home, so if one of us requires medical care, or when we want to visit friends and family, we will have a base here.

Construction started a few weeks ago. We left our living room and dining room furniture in the condo for staging while it is on the market. Consequently, we are ‘camping’ in the Vancouver house. We have one comfy chair and ottoman in the living room here, an office chair and desk, and a small dining table we got at a thrift shop that we are using for eating. We have four dining chairs here. We have a complete bedroom set up and that is all the furniture we have set up here. One bedroom has 60 packed boxes and 11 packed bins. Construction will not be completed before we leave for a planned trip to Thailand and Sri Lanka to close up the house in Thailand and to say goodbye to all our close Asian friends.  We have hired a friend to be our point person and oversee the project in our absence.

Ron has named our blog “The Times Are a-Changin’” (TAC). This has multiple meanings. We are now in our mid-70’s. I’m 74 and Ron is 73. At this age, we realize we have a limited amount of time left in our lives. We are both healthy at this point. If we are going to realize our dream of living outside the U.S., we need to make it happen now. So, one major change is downsizing in Vancouver. Our former home here was almost 3,000 sq. ft., our condo in Portland is almost 1300 sq. ft. and the apartment here will be 400 sq. ft. The obvious change will be living abroad. Moving from the Portland condo back to a house in Vancouver is a big change as the two communities are quite different.

On Thanksgiving, November 28 we left for Thailand, our last trip there. Over the years we have traveled there over 20 times. Ron did a two-year project there in 2003-05 requiring six trips to Thailand.  At the end of the project, Ron was offered a job in Sri Lanka. He retired from the City of Portland and off we went for 14 months living in Colombo. At the end of Ron’s project our Thai friend, Nattawan, who lives in the Portland area and who worked with Ron on the project offered us the use of her home in Phetchaburi, Thailand. The home was built on a family compound and our friend, Nattawan, offered us to stay as long and as frequently as we wished as she could only be there for two weeks a year. We furnished and equipped the Thai house from the house we had furnished while living in Sri Lanka. We have been visiting there ever since. The trip is often 25-37 hours long, depending on the route and layovers. In our 70’s we find the trip difficult so it is time to say farewell to the family there. We plan to bring back some of our artwork and clothes we have there. We will take a side trip to Sri Lanka in December to say goodbye to our friends there. We will return to Vancouver in mid-January and at the end of February, we will travel to Mexico to search for our ‘home’ there.

Although we would love to live in San Miguel, we have learned of some issues there. One is water. The aquifer is not fully replenishing each year due to climate change. We have learned of an organization that deals with water issues and have made two contacts with them. While there in the spring we plan to fully explore the problem to determine if it is wise to invest in buying a home there. The other issue is the increased crime. After contacting two people who live there, both have said the crime has not affected the ex-pat community. But that can change so it is another issue to fully understand.

We befriended a neighbor in our condo community who lives in Ajijic near Lake Chapala, south of Guadalajara, Mexico. He has invited us to stay at his place for ten days while he is in Portland. Brad lives in Ajijic for about 6-7 months each year. On February 28 we will fly to Guadalajara and stay at Brad’s place until March 10. We will then take a bus to San Miguel and stay there a month to gather information regarding water and crime issues in order to determine if we will stay there or go somewhere else in Mexico.

November 30, 2019, Bangkok Thailand Last Chapter Thailand

We spent 34 hrs. getting here from when we woke up in Vancouver on November 28^th when we got to Leslie's house at 6:45 a.m. November 30^th in Bangkok. She hadn't slept well and had been up since 2:00 a.m. So, after a brief visit, we all took a nap. It took the edge off but Ron and I are beat. We ran a few errands here and it is hot and humid. We are taking Leslie with us to celebrate our anniversary tonight and then crawl into bed for hopefully a long sleep. Our last leg of the trip from Tokyo to Bangkok we sat in the 34th row. The flight was at 12:05 a.m. on our anniversary, it took 34 hours to get here and it is our 34th anniversary. What are the chances of that?

Leslie chose a lovely restaurant nearby and it was all of a five-minute walk. The dined outside. The meal was delicious but by 8:00 we ready were ready to do a face plant so we came home and we were in bed by 8:30. Much to our surprise, Leslie treated us to the meal.

December 1, 2019

We managed to sleep until 5:00 a.m. and we were grateful to a good night’s rest. We are surprised by how hot it is here. Usually when we have been in Thailand in November, December, and January the weather is quite pleasant: feels like 80 degrees with low humidity and sometimes a light breeze. Not this trip. It is quite warm in the house and it is 6:50 a.m. We hope it will be cooler in Phetchaburi where we stay.

We ran a few short errands. I wanted to get a pair of tailored pants made since none of my pants fit after losing 13 pounds and working out at the weight room, my body has changed…for the better, I might add. I got measured and choose the fabric I wanted. Then we went to one of our favorite restaurants across the street, Bummer, it closed. It has been almost two years since we were last here so things change. After lunch, we went home. Both of us are struggling with jet lag and being 12 hours ahead on the clock so we rested/napped when we got home.

Sorry, folks.  Ron was too blotto to take any photos. House pictures are "before shots" from the seller.