joko
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Post by joko on Sept 21, 2017 22:26:03 GMT 7
How often do you go back to your home country?
I'm looking at booking my Xmas break and I got 3 weeks to fill up. I'm considering going back to California for a couple weeks. My parents are in their mid-seventies and I don't know when I'll see them again,. Xmas is going to be in New Zealand, but I dunno if I really want to go back to America beforehand.
Thing is, I could go to Indonesia for a couple weeks, and air-fare wise, I'd be looking at 1/3rd the cost of flying all the way over the Pacific.
What to do? I've been away for 4 years. I don't want my first time back to be for a funeral.
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rubl
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The wondering type
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Post by rubl on Sept 22, 2017 12:50:24 GMT 7
I might be the wrong one to ask, I haven't left Thailand since April 2002  |
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Post by Soutpeel on Sept 22, 2017 12:56:28 GMT 7
How often do you go back to your home country? I'm looking at booking my Xmas break and I got 3 weeks to fill up. I'm considering going back to California for a couple weeks. My parents are in their mid-seventies and I don't know when I'll see them again,. Xmas is going to be in New Zealand, but I dunno if I really want to go back to America beforehand. Thing is, I could go to Indonesia for a couple weeks, and air-fare wise, I'd be looking at 1/3rd the cost of flying all the way over the Pacific. What to do? I've been away for 4 years. I don't want my first time back to be for a funeral. Every 2nd or 3rd year to see the folks.... |
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smokie36
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Post by smokie36 on Sept 22, 2017 13:38:42 GMT 7
You know what you must do laddie.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2017 15:21:41 GMT 7
Go see your mum or mom , and dad. Enjoy time with them cause they aren't here forever.
Indo has a volcano smoking up. Keep that in mind although it might be over by xmas. No idea ,I'm not a vulcanologised. If that's even a word.
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AyG
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Post by AyG on Sept 22, 2017 16:30:10 GMT 7
How often do you go back to your home country? I go back once a year for 3-4 weeks. Partly it's driven by seeing friends. I don't make friends readily, and most of my friends have been so for 30+ years. I like to maintain those relationships. I also miss the intellectually stimulating conversations which, quite frankly, are very hard to come by in Thailand. I also miss the way it feels to have my mind racing as I keep up the badinage with my varsity friends. And partly it's driven by seeing my elderly mother. However, seeing family can be painful. I remember waving my father goodbye as I left at the airport as he was dying of cancer, knowing that I'd never see him alive again; I tried to capture an image of his face in my mind that wouldn't fade (but it did). And now, every time I leave my mother I fear it may be the last time I ever see her. |
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Post by Soutpeel on Sept 22, 2017 16:34:55 GMT 7
How often do you go back to your home country? I go back once a year for 3-4 weeks. Partly it's driven by seeing friends. I don't make friends readily, and most of my friends have been so for 30+ years. I like to maintain those relationships. I also miss the intellectually stimulating conversations which, quite frankly, are very hard to come by in Thailand. I also miss the way it feels to have my mind racing as I keep up the badinage with my varsity friends. And partly it's driven by seeing my elderly mother. However, seeing family can be painful. I remember waving my father goodbye as I left at the airport as he was dying of cancer, knowing that I'd never see him alive again; I tried to capture an image of his face in my mind that wouldn't fade (but it did). And now, every time I leave my mother I fear it may be the last time I ever see her. Intellectual conversations in Thailand...what about us on BM ? |
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AyG
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Post by AyG on Sept 22, 2017 16:55:24 GMT 7
Intellectual conversations in Thailand...what about us on BM ? Using BM reminds me of a few lines of Beckett (Samuel, not Margaret). Vladimir: That passed the time. Estragon: It would have passed in any case. Vladimir: Yes, but not so rapidly. |
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joko
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Post by joko on Sept 22, 2017 17:25:52 GMT 7
Well, I've done it. I've booked the flight and my mother is ecstatic that she'll see her boy again. There's no family homestead to go back to. Soon after I left America, the folks sold their home and bought a 40' Alfa luxury RV (a caravan, as the Brits would say). Nowadays, they live from campground to campground. Mom is abuzz planning a trip to the Grand Canyon for when I'm visiting.
I was surprised by the airfare. I got a one way ticket, Bangkok to Los Angeles for $616! I'll be visiting New Zealand on the way back, and San Diego to Auckland was $1400 (well, it is on December 23rd).
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Sept 22, 2017 17:57:28 GMT 7
Well, I've done it. I've booked the flight and my mother is ecstatic that she'll see her boy again. There's no family homestead to go back to. Soon after I left America, the folks sold their home and bought a 40' Alfa luxury RV (a caravan, as the Brits would say). Nowadays, they live from campground to campground. Mom is abuzz planning a trip to the Grand Canyon for when I'm visiting. I was surprised by the airfare. I got a one way ticket, Bangkok to Los Angeles for $616! I'll be visiting New Zealand on the way back, and San Diego to Auckland was $1400 (well, it is on December 23rd). That's brilliant, retirement in a luxury RV, way to go mom and dad. |
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Sept 22, 2017 18:23:02 GMT 7
How often do you go back to your home country? I go back once a year for 3-4 weeks. Partly it's driven by seeing friends. I don't make friends readily, and most of my friends have been so for 30+ years. I like to maintain those relationships. I also miss the intellectually stimulating conversations which, quite frankly, are very hard to come by in Thailand. I also miss the way it feels to have my mind racing as I keep up the badinage with my varsity friends. And partly it's driven by seeing my elderly mother. However, seeing family can be painful. I remember waving my father goodbye as I left at the airport as he was dying of cancer, knowing that I'd never see him alive again; I tried to capture an image of his face in my mind that wouldn't fade (but it did). And now, every time I leave my mother I fear it may be the last time I ever see her. My father was a cold man, all business and Victorian to boot, raising children was women's work hence we never had any sort of meaningful relationship. Sister called and said you should visit soon,...it was the mid '70's and we were in San Diego, it was a fun Xmas holiday in Bridlington, we ate fish and chips, drank too much beer and went to midnight mass, in that order! Our visit ended and we said our farewells, dad took the extra-extraordinary step of coming outside to bid us adieu and watched as we drove away, I watched in the rearview mirror as he waved and waved and waved - that image remains with me 40+ years on. He died a week later as we returned to San Diego. A relative of mine died fairly recently and left me a flat in Bridlington, I've been there twice in the past 18 months, the flat is pleasant enough but the town is a lost cause, I have it in mind to visit again at Xmas and go to midnight mass except there are no decent pubs there anymore although fish and chip shops abound but the quality just isn't there.....so sad. |
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joko
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Post by joko on Sept 22, 2017 18:47:20 GMT 7
That's brilliant, retirement in a luxury RV, way to go mom and dad. I was taught I should aspire towards the "American Dream", which meant home-ownership, the white picket fence, 2.5 kids. I think I might have managed the .5 kid somewhere along the way, but I sure haven't had any picket fences of any color. There's a new American dream, being pioneered by my Baby Boomer parents, retiring to an RV with the freedom to go wherever, whenever you want. The picket fence has been replaced by a turtle-dream, you carry your home with you wherever you go. |
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Sept 22, 2017 18:53:32 GMT 7
That's brilliant, retirement in a luxury RV, way to go mom and dad. I was taught I should aspire towards the "American Dream", which meant home-ownership, the white picket fence, 2.5 kids. I think I might have managed the .5 kid somewhere along the way, but I sure haven't had any picket fences of any color. There's a new American dream, being pioneered by my Baby Boomer parents, retiring to an RV with the freedom to go wherever, whenever you want. The picket fence has been replaced by a turtle-dream, you carry your home with you wherever you go. As an aspiring hippy in the early 1970's I tried similar, except it was a converted Ford Econoline and it certainly wasn't luxury! But it did the trick and allowed us to travel extensively and cheaply, the luxury RV industry came off the back of that period - I can highly recommend it over static home ownership. |
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Mosha
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Post by Mosha on Sept 22, 2017 19:01:53 GMT 7
Parents are long gone, but I will go when I get my state pension. One brother is not well, and the age gap to them all is 9 to 16 years. My sister is a little younger. Last there in 2006.
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chiangmai
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Post by chiangmai on Sept 22, 2017 19:43:04 GMT 7
Parents are long gone, but I will go when I get my state pension. One brother is not well, and the age gap to them all is 9 to 16 years. My sister is a little younger. Last there in 2006. 2006! You may as well go visit somewhere you've never been before, the place is not what it used to be. |
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