26
My friend in Chiang Mai said our lifestyle is just tourism with a laptop
We were having beers at a rooftop bar last Tuesday, and he pointed at all the people working on MacBooks. He said, 'You guys aren't living here, you're just visiting and working. You don't join anything.' It hit hard because my visa really does say 'tourist' on it. I've been here for five months but haven't learned ten words of Thai. Has anyone else felt like a permanent visitor instead of a real part of a place?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
anthony_campbell8821d ago
Ouch, that's a rough take. But a tourist visa doesn't make you a tourist, it's just a piece of paper. Living somewhere is about your daily routine, not a stamp.
7
the_spencer21d ago
Anthony_campbell88 is right that a visa is just paper, but your friend has a point about joining things. Living somewhere means being part of the local rhythm, not just your own routine from back home. That feeling of being a permanent visitor only fades when you step out of the expat bubble.
2
Exactly. I spent my first year abroad just hanging out with other people from my country and it felt like a long vacation. The shift happened when I forced myself to join a local cycling club and a terrible community choir. Suddenly I was dealing with local gossip, bad weather, and the boring stuff. That's when it started feeling like a real home.
2