Thursday, August 05, 2010
What goes around...
The way my chosen lifestyle has developed over the past (almost) eight years, I have learned to live with little. Because I move on fairly regularly I have to accept that when I do I have to cull many of the possessions that I have accumulated. If I'm looking to stay somewhere for a while, I do start to accumulate things—speakers for my computer, a microwave oven, bedding, etc—but sooner or later I move on and if I can't carry it, I have to leave it behind.
I spent most of last year in Mahasarakham and I was seriously thinking at the time that I would like to stay there semi-permanently. When circumstances took me back to Australia, I put my stuff into storage with an expectation that I would return sooner or later. When the time came to return to Asia, I decided there were other fish to fry so it was time to let go of all that stuff. In Mahasarakham I sorted through my stuff, carried off what I reasonably could and left the rest behind. MSU is setting up a house for scholarship students from Cambodia to live in. We agreed that what I left behind could be put into that house.
For much of 2008 I lived in Jirapong Apartments on the outskirts of Bangkok. That time too I accumulated a few possessions. At the end of the year I returned to Australia via India. I was running out of time when I was sorting and packing. I suggested that if I left stuff in the room for them to clean up they could have anything of value for their trouble. They agreed.
Now I'm back in Bangkok but will stay for only three weeks. I returned to Jirapong. There's not a lot of point in investing in things for the sake of a three-week stay but I do appreciate some basic stuff like an electric jug. I asked if they would have a spare jug lying around, then I went off to the store to buy some of the more disposable things I would need. When I returned to my room, inside was a jug, an iron, various bowls, dishes and other things. I thought they look familiar. It seemed they'd kept much of my old stuff and now I get to use it once again.
I spent most of last year in Mahasarakham and I was seriously thinking at the time that I would like to stay there semi-permanently. When circumstances took me back to Australia, I put my stuff into storage with an expectation that I would return sooner or later. When the time came to return to Asia, I decided there were other fish to fry so it was time to let go of all that stuff. In Mahasarakham I sorted through my stuff, carried off what I reasonably could and left the rest behind. MSU is setting up a house for scholarship students from Cambodia to live in. We agreed that what I left behind could be put into that house.
For much of 2008 I lived in Jirapong Apartments on the outskirts of Bangkok. That time too I accumulated a few possessions. At the end of the year I returned to Australia via India. I was running out of time when I was sorting and packing. I suggested that if I left stuff in the room for them to clean up they could have anything of value for their trouble. They agreed.
Now I'm back in Bangkok but will stay for only three weeks. I returned to Jirapong. There's not a lot of point in investing in things for the sake of a three-week stay but I do appreciate some basic stuff like an electric jug. I asked if they would have a spare jug lying around, then I went off to the store to buy some of the more disposable things I would need. When I returned to my room, inside was a jug, an iron, various bowls, dishes and other things. I thought they look familiar. It seemed they'd kept much of my old stuff and now I get to use it once again.
Labels: Asia, Bangkok, Mahasarakham, thailand, travel
