Forget Exit Strategy, I Need an Entry Strategy
Other than a school year in the US with my kids 2 years ago, I've spent my late 20's and all of my 30's here in Thailand. In theory, my life here is set. I have land, I built a house and a cured meat production facility with a restaurant. I have a car, a truck, several motorbikes, and all the other things a person accumulates in their adult life. In turn, I have nothing back home in the US other than a plastic tub of memories at my uncles house and as of 3 months ago, a 7.2 acre piece of raw, heavily forested land I bought sight-unseen in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina.
Someday, I'll get into the reasons I would give up my life here in Thailand to start over again from scratch on the opposite side of the world, but I assure you, it was a very hard decision.
As if heading back to the US with no home or transportation as a single father with 3 young kids wasn't going to be challenging enough on its own, the land we will be building our homestead on is completely and totally raw. No home, no driveway, no cleared area, no septic or well, no electric, not even an address.
Where do I even begin? Do we rent a house nearby while I clear the land and build our house? The nearest towns with rentals are 30 minutes or more away and there isn't much in the way of postings online. Do I buy an RV? I mean, several of the homesteaders I watch on YouTube are making an RV work temporarily with rather large families, so seems like a good potential option. I've combed through every idea I could come up with from yurt living to pole-barn conversions and changed my mind at least a dozen or so times. We are getting on a plane in 24 hours and I honestly still have no clue. This lack of a plan goes against my nature and is a adding high levels of additional anxiety I already have hopping on 22 hours worth of flights with my kids in the middle of a pandemic.
I suspect being in the US will make this decision process easier. Certainly, having a US phone number, being able to go look at RV's or houses to rent, and being in the same timezone should help quite a bit.
Catch you all on the flip-side.