I stopped counting how many of my friends and former colleagues had passed away when I realised that a lot of them were my age or younger at the time of their death.
I’m 57 as I write this; 58 very soon. A quick internet search tells me that the life expectancy for Australian men is 82.45 years. If that’s the case, I should be good for about another 24 years. Except that, according to this calculator, 67 is about my lot. Coincidentally, or not, that’s the age at which I can claim a state pension (if such a thing still exists then).
Of course, the Australian Mutual Provident Society could be wrong and I could power on into my 80s or 90s. Or I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Whichever way you look at it, though, I’ve already been alive for longer than I’ve got left. And yet I feel that there’s still a lot of living to do.
That’s why I decided to quit my job and go into what I’m calling semi-retirement, doing only the work I want to do in a way, and a place, that I want to do it. And that decision carries with it the risk of never working again and going spectacularly broke.
I’ve given myself another 12 months, and/or the money that’s left in my bank account, to discover whether it is possible for me to continue on this path. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to look for a “real” job, assuming somebody out there is still employing people who are nearly 60.
Right now, I’m living in Thailand, and I’ve been unemployed (apart from two freelance writing jobs) since early July, when I quit a position at a newspaper in Bangkok. There will be be more on that, maybe, in a future post.
After that, I rented a condominium on Mae Ramphung beach in Ban Phe, Rayong province, about 170km south of Bangkok. It’s a good place, although perhaps not everything I was hoping for.
I will be returning to Australia to see my family and friends in late November, and I’ll be spending Christmas in Brisbane, but I expect to return to Thailand in January.
Why? Because, although I dearly love my family and friends in Australia, it makes sense to be in Thailand at this stage in my life.
Please don’t hesitate to
hit me up with a job offer
I like the place, I have made some good friends here, and the cost of living is low — about one-third of that in Australia. If I’m going to go broke, I may as well do it slowly and in grand style.
However, my mind is open to other options, if they present themselves. (So, please don’t hesitate to hit me up with a job offer.)
I’ve had plenty advice about what I should be doing, and I value it all. Yes, I do need to lose weight, eat better, exercise more and improve my general health. But all that has to wait.
The bottom line is that I’ve not been happy. I’m not especially sad, but I’m not happy. There are things that I want in life that have eluded me. So, the priority now is coming to grips with what’s going on inside my head.
I realise that I’ve been on the run, physically and figuratively, for more than 10 years. More on that later, too (maybe).
Although I’ve had some great adventures, done some interesting work and met some wonderful people, I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
Moving around is a great way to avoid confronting big issues. Such as finding out exactly who I am and what I want, so I can spend some quality time being me before it’s too late.
No matter how long my life turns out to be, I know that the clock is always ticking.
