Friendships

Such an important personal subject. My friends mean the world to me and was one of the hardest things to consider (besides family) when deciding to move to Thailand. Keeping in touch with my friends via this blog, marco polo, and other apps has saved my sanity many times. My friends continue to be there for me at my lowest points and help encourage me along this journey. Explaining what this means is beyond words in my vocabulary and never, ever, will they be replaceable.

I met a few friends here that you have read about. Min and Mimi- from the Art C hotel. Local residents here. Their hotel is closing next April, the owner is selling. It was the saddest news to me. My launching pad. My first two connections here. Not sure where they will end up. I am hopeful we will continue to keep in touch, but it will be different. I won’t be able to just pop into their hotel and chat casually over coffee.

Barbara, my second friend I met who introduced me to Cambly and shared some fantastic lunches and outings with, is moving to Vietnam. Her retirement visa got denied because she left the country to go to Portugal while the visa was processing.

Virlane has been a true midwestern connection for me. She’s authentic and adventurous, following her instincts through life. Hitting quite a few hard lessons along the way which we all can relate to. She read my cards again today using a new deck.’ I wonder if you can guess who these are about. She is travelling to China for a month where she will be using these decks to help children learn and grow in their communication.

So remember Jason? The Malaysian relator I met at the last expat party over a month ago. I gave up hope of reconnecting with him. I loved his energy and knew from meeting him he would be such a fun person to get to know. Well, he texted me out of the blue and invited me to a luncheon with 7 of his other expat friends. I was thrilled! A bit intimidated since they all have known each other for quite awhile now, and have lived in Phuket much longer than I have. But a fantastic opportunity to meet new people!

The guy sitting across from me ended up being from, I kid you not, Columbus, OHIO. He was a diver and trained with Greg Louganis. Such a small world! Loved him and his story. The other people were from the Netherlands, UK, & Australia. One gal ran a marathon that morning and won it here. She’s heading to Chicago for their marathon soon. Such a great new interesting mix! All appeared to be normal, open minded, full of tales -good hearted people. Jason said he’d let me know when they meet up again. 🙂

Next week TRACI SIPPEL is coming!!!!!! I can’t wait. We are going to tear up Phuket on our scooters!! I purchased a vacuum cleaner and a mattress pad for her comfort in my simple small condo. My rug has not been swept in 2 months….getting narly. Now I just have to figure out how to put the vacuum together!