Dreamin' of that First Beautiful Paycheck (Jackie)

For the past month I’ve been scrapping by financially, living as cheaply as I possibly can and stretching the $1,200 I came with to the last baht.  With a lot of mental anguish and ague I’ve had to forgo doing a lot of the activities that I came to Thailand for (scuba, climbing, travel) and already had to turn down a lot of sweet adventures proposed by friends. I could always have thrown stuff on a credit card or pulled from my U.S. savings but I had everything so neatly paid off and squared away it hurt to think about. And now the wait is almost over!!! I get my first paycheck next week and while it’s a piddly amount by U.S standards, it rocks out here! So here is the list of all the things I’ve waited so ‘patiently’ to do (and by patiently I mean moaned and complained incessantly for the last 3 weeks):

(Fun fact: If you step on a coin to stop it from rolling away you can go to jail because you will have just stepped on the King Bhumibol Adulyadej's face!)

1.  Plane ticket to Chiang Mai or Bangkok (I get a week paid vacation in a couple weeks!)

      2..Thai lessons (desperately need)

        3. Surf board rental (6 more weeks of good surf)

       4. Tennis racquet

       5. Dave’s birthday present! ( j/k…it’s already in the mail ;)

        6. Better motorbike helmet

       7. Buy and cook fresh seafood!

       8. Going out $$ (so I don’t have to buy that paint thinner-esque local whiskey or sip on 1 drink the whole night out)

        9. Movie night $$ (Wednesdays are ½ price at central festival and everyone goes)

      10. Watch a Muay Thai match (great matches and BBQ events at the end of every month at Tiger MT)

      11. Shoes/clothes/jewelry…everything’s super cute and cheap here and it’s been a nightmare trying to avoid buying ANYTHING! (I’ve done exceptionally well though ladies, done ya proud ;)

(One of my "splurges," partying it up with South African friends for the Rugby World Cup)

             12. Ah, and of course, resume getting hour long massages

OHHHHHHH, I cannot wait!!

Things that’ll take more than 1 paycheck/aren’t in season yet

       1. Plane ticket to Bali/ Malaysia

       2. Scuba diving (6 weeks til pristine ocean)

       3. Underwater casing for my camera

       4. Climbing in Krabi

A few notes about the general cost of things here: Plane tickets are $20-$70 to almost all destinations in Asia, heaping platefuls of spicy deliciousness are ~$2, I spend $3/month on my phone, ~ $20/month on gas for the motorbike, and $150 on rent…. So even after I blow the majority of my 1^st paycheck just cause I finally have expendable money I’ll still be able to start saving for an awesome multi-country, multi-month tour of Asia during my summer vacation! Yippee!!