The move is on…heading back to Bangkok was my next mission. You would think it sounds simple when you break it down. You sell the car, you pack, and sort out all the little things. It’s not simple.
You don’t realize how many attachments you have to things until you start to break free from them. Small things like what to do with my favorite plants and remembering to cancel everything or making sure you have all of the right paper work in order for visas. Luckily it was the beginning of the year and it was somewhat slow in the office and my amazing culinary team helped me out during this transition. As a surprise, the team threw me a going away party. It was SO nice! The party consisted of all my favorite foods with a special cake donning the Chicago flag. It was a great send-off but it was sad to be leaving the people who I’ve known for 10 years.
I only had a month and a half to pack up and get ready for the move. Of course there were a few going away parties with family and friends so I could see everyone that was important to me. I think the hardest part of this was leaving my mom and dad behind. I got in as much quality time as I could with them and also spent some time with my fiancé and her family, but not as much since she and my dog will be in the States a while longer before their big journey begins…with starting our new life together in Thailand.
I took the last week off before my move to pack and have the movers put everything in to storage. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. The hardest part was deciding what is going to come with and what is going to stay. I had two duffel bags, a back pack, and a carryon case. I was impressed with myself that I could fit my whole life into these four small bags.
Simplifying your life in to only the bare essentials is quite freeing and exhilarating. Removing the clutter from our lives lets us be more open to fill that void with more meaningful things. With everything sorted out and packed up I was ready to head to my new home. With all of my other things in storage and my plants given to friends for safe keeping, I headed to O’Hare airport with my family and fiancé.
With tearful eyes and big hugs we didn’t say goodbye, rather we said our see-you-laters. Before I can go to Bangkok and get settled in though, I needed to make a somewhat quick visit to our UK offices. I was on my way to participate in some market research and insights activity with our UK Chef, Chris Moxon. We deal with many UK traders in Thailand and I needed a better understanding of what the food scene is like in London and other parts of England. After a week in the UK learning some of the finer points of food preferences in that country, I’ll be heading to Thailand and ready to start my new life.