The countdown clock is operational and there are just 19 days to go before Annie and I head off for Australia. Annie is busy sorting through and packing away nearly 11 years of island life. Some items have been sold whilst other items are sent to storage Stateside.

By far the biggest task for Annie has been sorting through all of her accumulated artworks and art supplies and deciding what to do with it all. There is still a lot of work to do but we will get there.

People are amazed when we state that we have no firm plans for our time in Thailand. Initially our biggest decision was deciding where to go. Our first choice was Bali but after doing research we realised that it would be hard to work on the island. My choice was Siem Reap in Northern Cambodia the location of Angkor Wat http://wikitravel.org/en/Siem_Reap the fabulous ruins that lie just outside that city. I had been there earlier in the year and really enjoyed it.

                                                                  Angkor Wat

Annie wasn't as keen and after some more research we decided on Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chiang Mai is the home to a large expatriate community, it has good medical resources has a very interesting culture and has a high standard of housing and living.

Once we had made the decision of where to go we booked the flights out of the Gold Coast, Australia on Scoot Airlines. http://www.flyscoot.com We travel via Singapore and then after a short layover on to Bangkok the capital of Thailand where we will; spend the night. The next day we are booked on another low-cost carrier, NOK Airlines.

One problem that has presented itself is that we booked 20 kilograms of excess luggage on Scoot to get us through to Bangkok. When I tried to book the same 20 kilograms on NOK they said that no excess was allowed only the standard 15 kilograms.

It has been impossible so far to receive any resolution to this problem to date though we are still trying. One option maybe to ditch the flight Bangkok and travel overnight on the sleeper train and haul our luggage with us.

We have an AirBnb apartment booked for eight days in central Chiang Mai http://wikitravel.org/en/Chiang_Mai and in that time we need to get orientated, open bank accounts and start house hunting. Simple!

What makes it a little more difficult is that I have to return to Australia in late January for work and Annie will be on her own. The choice of housing in Chiang Mai is staggering. Houses that we couldn't afford in the USA or Australia are readily available in Chiang Mai. $800USD will get a 4 bedroom. 3 bathroom house, often with an office or maids quarters and tastefully furnished. For this price you can often have a swimming pool or if you live in a gated community you have a communal pool, clubhouse and restaurant, full security and a gym.
http://www.chiangmailiving.com/hr55.html

Looking into the future our two biggest problems will be deciding where to live and transport.

So we head of on the proverbial wing and a prayer but full of confidence that everything will work out.

Stay tuned to find out how it all goes down.