Plans for Next Year

Neils and I have decided to stay in Thailand another year. We made this decision for many reasons. Not the least of which is, we've been looking for jobs at home and the market looks terrible right now. Additionally, we've been traveling for one year and have spent a good chunk of our savings, so we aren't willing to risk coming home with little money and not being able to get jobs. Additionally, Neils has always wanted to start his own computer programming business and if we stay here, even if his year isn't great, he will be making a significant amount more money than what our living expenses require. Which means, we should be able to save a good amount of money AND he will have had a whole year to build up clientele for when we return.

So, our plan is to stay one more year. Neils will work from home and I will teach again. I am getting a pretty nice raise and a month's salary bonus, so we are much more confident that we can live a comfortably if we stay here.

I want to say this is something that we've put a lot of thought into. And while it wasn't an easy decision and likely will not be a popular one, we do feel like it is the most responsible decision for us at this time.

There is good news, though. We plan to come home for a nice long visit towards the end of March. We are thinking of flying out some time around March 21st and coming home around April 28th. Those dates aren't final, as we haven't booked our tickets, but they seem to have the best rates. We can fly into Denver cheaper than we can fly into Minneapolis, so that's where we plan to start. We hope to be able to spend time in Greeley, Pierre (Isabel and maybe Sioux Falls and Rapid), Fargo and Minneapolis. Logistics could be difficult as we don't have a car, but we are hoping things will work out.

We are thinking a week or so in Greeley, 1.5 weeks in Pierre, 1.5 weeks in Fargo and 1 week in Minneapolis, probably in that order and not counting commute time.

We will be on a pretty strict budget, so don't be surprised if we aren't up for a lot of shopping or whatever. Six weeks in America will cost quite a bit of our little Thai salary. But again, we think we can do it and that it will definitely be worth it.

We will let you know our itinerary when it is final. We hope to see while we are stateside!

Hope you are well!