The past four weeks have literally flown by folks. The first month has actually morphed itself into a couple of days in my own head for some reason. Life in Thailand so far has been just awesome!
It’s been one hell of a journey so far in such a short space of time. A lot has happened for us(all positive I may add) and we’ve slowly re-conditioned ourselves back into living and travelling around Asia.
The past month can be summarized as follows:
Dublin – Bangkok – Phuket – Kuala Lumpur – Phuket
We are just back in Phuket after a ten day stint in Malaysia where I had to go for some training on an a new online project that will hopefully work out pretty well for me down the line.
Moving into a condo
As well as getting a condo sorted for ourselves for a 3 month rental(moving in on Thursday), we are going to buy a scooter as we feel there will be less chance of us getting scammed by rental companies.
I’m not saying that we would get ripped off or anything, but I think if you go down the route of renting a scooter long term from a company, then there’s definitely a bigger risk of a) you actually scratching the bike at some stage, or b) the company finding something to blame on you.
Either way, I think its definitely a wiser option to fork out the money a just buy a second hand one for around €500. They hold their value well in Thailand so when it comes to selling it on, we should be able to get at least half the money back.
In my mind, the peace of mind you get in having your own wheels is worth it.
New direction for the blog
I’ve been thinking about taking NextStopWhoKnows in a new direction. Obviously it’s still going to be a travel blog, but I’m not going to blog the way I used to when I travel.
What I mean by this is, apart from family and close friends, no one really gives a shit about the day the day “diary type” posts I used to write about. Blogging about cool stuff though like trips here and there will be included obviously. I will try keep the daily mundane stuff for my facebook page as well as the NextStopWhoKnows page.
What I’m planning on doing is just keeping the bits and pieces of news(like today I’m staying in a sweet ass 4 star hotel called Banthai beach resort) for the monthly review post, like this one.
In addition to this, I’m going to try and actually create some sort of value content from my posts.
This will hopefully engage more readers as well as provide some interesting articles to read about.
The fact that I’ve taken the steps to move to Thailand and build up an online business probably allows me to talk with some confidence on the subject – not much, but some!
So I think providing some content on that subject could be a potential winner. Location Independence is a mantra that I’ve planned for over the past two years since returning home from S.E Asia and thankfully I’m beginning to sample the opportunities that it has given me.
Travel blogging, freelance writing and now this other project that I’m working on will hopefully provide the platform to really enjoy what lies ahead.
But if it doesn’t then no worries as nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Backpackingworldwide.com
Oh and one last thing, I’ve added another blog to my arsenal which can be found here: www.backpackingworldwide.com
I’ll be using it to blog about all sorts of stuff from cheap trips here and there, to reviews about hotels and all sorts.
Who said no one cares about your type… 😀 I do 😉
Great stuff mate, seems like you are doing well for yourself, looking forward to read more of your post in the future and hopefully i will see you by the end of this year 😉
haha! Nice one Mo. Thanks for the words man. Yeah, definitely have to meet up at some stage when you come over. We’re here in Phuket until mid November anyways, and then we’ll see where the wind takes us 🙂
Good post – just as a tip for anyone renting a scooter, there’s almost always more than one place to rent from. You don’t need a license for a scooter.
Also, take pictures with your own camera before touching the scooter. Some places are *WAY* too formal with their own process, but your own pictures (especially when they’re shown with the timestamp) prove if there was any damage beforehand.
Finally, check every aspect of the bike before taking off. We forgot to check the taillight one time – we had no problems, but the issue can vary from a police officer looking for an easy bribe to basic safety. You’re a lot harder to see at night without that big red light in the back.
Great info there Chris. I totally with all of it for sure. We’re actually considering renting a bike now, as we found a nice group of expats from back home who are straight up decent folk, so I’d rather rent from them knowing that they won’t be trying to pull any fast ones. It makes it a lot easier now I think. No need to change over registration details for a new bike or get it checked etc.
Hope you’re keeping well mate?
Loving the stories on your journey Carlo, so excited to see you dominating from Thailand!
I’m trying hard Liz. I still have to get a nice shot of me working from a beach though, as that’s one of the bucket list items. Looking forward to getting that pic posted sooooon!!!! 🙂