@Anna ********

adjusting from a working life to retirement can take a year or two. I call it "recovering from work", but slowly one realizes there are no deadlines, impatient customers, unreasonable bosses, etc. It's not hard to let go of the routine and even one's own expectations. The reality sets in... we are free till Kingdom comes.

@Mia *********

I regret I have no experience or know about dehumidifiers. In the rainy season, we could not hang clothes to dry outside, so we had to hang them indoors in a clothes rack and have a fan blow on them overnight. The monsoon lasts nearly 6 months and one needs air circulation in spite of humidity.

@Derek *******

ah, ok.

@Derek *******

am not familiar with that province. Suspect is quiet and laid back. What is the provincial capital?

@Derek *******

Phuket

@Derek *******

same here. I thought I'd need so many things I had back home, but the reality was that it was all an illusion. We can live and be happy just as the common folk live here. There is one thing I miss dearly... Fritos Doritos!

@Mia *********

I lived in downtown BKK in a common apt bld. It had air con, which I used to cool down the studio, then used the fan for the evening. After a few months, my books edges got moldy and also noticed green mold on the side of the studio's built in clothes closet. I hear if one keeps the air con on it helps out, but I did not want to go thru the expense. Two years later, moved south to Phuket, and the prob here was worse. I do not know how to quantify humidity but after opening and closing the fridge door under normal usage, there is lots of ice forming on the freezer and got to manually defrost every 5-6 days, and the water collected is about half a gallon. I tell my friends humidity approaches 100%. I sweat a lot, even sitting in the living room, fan blowing on me. Shower twice daily. Sounds terrible but I do not want to face a Norh American winter (I used to snow ski, but those days are past me).

@Anna ********

starting a new life is also a door to discovery. I personally found out that after decades of playing guitar and not being good at it, am a better pianist and now use an electronic grand piano that cost me less than my best guitar. Same with painting. For decades struggled with watercolor, yet after switching to acrylics, I can paint what I could never do before. Just about all the topics I want to read about are online these days, and since am getting older and my eye vision is slowly failing, guess what? I can adjust the font size on the computer for easy reading. Enjoy your happy wandering!

Besides the usual two suitcases, I had a friend bring me a third one with my favorite books to read: English lit, novels, poetry, investment, computer, etc. Within two years of having a new life, I had read none, and most got moldy and the paped yellowed out because of moisture. Had to throw away most. Wortless effort. Leather belts, shoes, boots, and nice jacket also got moldy and ecky. Only bring totally irreplaceable items. Not things one can buy at any store, as this is a modern civilization. We have everything. Often at a fraction of the cost.

Ready made food is tasty, good eatin', and not expensive (unless at the upscale restaurants). I buy food to go daily and get rice, vegetables, and either chicken, fish, pork, etc, all for 60-70 THB (~$2), and if I add a beer, it's now $3. Not a Peterbuilt truck driver sized meal, but good enough. This is more efficient than cooking at home. You cannot buy "just enough" ingredients for a meal, so one ends up buying excess ingredients, cooking (then eating) more than needed. Since I went thru the trouble of living overseas, am not going to spend that time cooking. Laundry is the same... wouldn't I be doing something else other than washing clothes? On the other hand, lots of locals have washing machines, but not driers. Customs do differ wildly. There isn't such a thing as a common Thai house with a fridge or freezer with frozen pizza, steak or TV dinner. They do not bake turkeys, hams, or cookies. Forget about stew or minestrone soup. These are mostly cold countries activities, and the temp is too hot to be baking. Living routines are invariably fitted to the locale.