Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand December 2014 / January 2015 | Page 13

Style
of Pad Thai and pretty much
anything with coriander and lime
in it. Let’s not forget the sandy,
white, pristine beaches literally
on our doorstep; nor the smiling
Thais to remind us how life
is not about money but about
happiness with a capital “H.”
Sure, I could use some Thainess in my world. So I quit
my excellent job in marketing,
giving up a generous Swiss salary
in the process, and followed
my husband to Thailand.

“I’m not afraid of storms,
for I’m learning to sail
my ship.” — Louisa
May Alcott, author
of “Little Women”
Optimism soaring high,
we disembarked from the flight
and entered a whole new world.
It looked like we were on the right
path. We were now in a country
totally conducive to the Year
2012 Mission, but sticking
to our resolution would prove
more complicated than imagined.
Moving from Switzerland
to Thailand felt like a raging
tempest. It was as though our ship
started sinking the day we arrived
here in the Land of Smiles, which
was completely unexpected!
In our minds, Thailand was to be
a holy grail, the automatic answer
to our New Year’s resolution.
Thailand was supposed
to be a fresh start. It was a whole
new horizon. The ShangriLa where we would finally find
ourselves and understand the true
meaning of life. We would shed
ourselves of the worldly things that
had taken hold of our every waking
moment and be in a perpetual
haze of nonstop happiness
and boundless joy. In hindsight,
I probably took the book Eat, Pray,
Love a little too literally. (Should
have gone to Bali, I guess.)
It started with finding a house
to rent. How could a task
as simple as finding an abode
go so wrong? Someone didn’t do
her homework—that would be moi.
I’ll just casually mention that
in Switzerland, we lived in a quaint,
rustic and historic mountainside

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