I arrived in Thailand back in 2006, having quit my great job in London to start my new adventure. It was full of risks but equally too excitement. Being able to unshackle my life and take such a bold step was extremely empowering.

In 2005 my Mum died and it was heartbreaking, my Dad had died also very young 10 years earlier. At 30 years old I had become an orphan. This low point in my life had to be used constructively and my biggest conclusion was life is too short to merely go through the motions. Something most of us get unwittingly caught up in. In many ways it is tragic.

My decision was to do something bold and radical, so I quit my job, left my house in the UK – with mortgage – empty and jumped on a plane to Thailand. I had no plan nor job to start when I arrived. For 12-months at least I would work out my next steps.

Liberated and free as I looked to the moon

For no particular reason my early travels in Thailand took to me Rayong. I was sitting all alone one night, no doubt with a beer in my hand, and I just looked up into the clear dark sky at the moon. Took a deep breath and just felt empowered and excited about what I had done. I had walked away from my life, my friends, job and stability. At that moment, I was all alone for the first time in my life.

We get too comfortable with routine and monotony.

There is this little devil inside me that wants to be destructive, something tells me it’s the one thing that keeps us in control of our life.  With so much constraints imposed on us – some of which self-imposed – we lose the magic and ability to choose our direction in life. We get too comfortable with routine and monotony.

The move to Thailand was inspiring and energising. Everything was new to me, I was instantly back to being a nobody again. I was back in control.

Thailand showed me a new way to live my life

Often I look at life much like a book with a variety of chapters. Sadly many of our chapters look remarkably the same. (1) Born, (2) School, (3) Teenage years (4) Married, (5) Job, (6) Kids, (7) Death.  Why should we settle for this routine?

Being in a different country taught me about different cultures and ways to live your life. I certainly enjoyed the sunshine, food and world class beaches too. Still 15 or so years later, I love to travel to an island in Thailand. Just beautiful.

My good friend back in the UK has just uprooted his family, quit his job in Kent and relocated to Scotland. He has taken on a pub and guest house. As I follow his adventure and talk to him, I felt and shared in his excitement and energy.

Such a big change to ones life is momentous and liberating. So why don’t more of us do the same? It may be cliche, but we do only get one shot at life – so why not make the most of it?

I asked him if he regretted the decision and would ever move back to the Medway towns. “You would have to kill me first” was his reply.

But periodically, I still get the urge to move on

The very driver inside me that made me leave the UK for Thailand still rattles on inside me. The world is a stunning creation and I know I miss experiencing another new way of life by spending too many years in Thailand.

I have a family now, one in which I am blessed to have. It means I must be mindful of how any future change can impact on them.

My conclusion, now as a forty-something, is I must build bigger wealth to minimise any risks for my wife and kids were we to make a move again at some point. In many ways this conclusion has paradoxically pulled me back in line with societies ability to constrain you. I must play be the rules in order to move forward.

So, I need to add more risk into this equation and invest in new business ventures that come with high reward, such as from a buy out by another company.  I cannot be a steady eddie if I want to be mobile and free in this world. Well, that’s my synopsis on things.

As it stands I have multiple business interests and it keeps me very busy. I even now work on weekends. It’s not just the time it takes but the continuous mental application, it is tiring.

Don’t get me wrong, my family and I continue to live a remarkable and deeply blessed life. I never tire of both the travel and people within Thailand.

But, I learned the hard way, life is short and we should never take any day for granted.