Things I Miss About the United States

I will apologize in advance, this post is a little more personal, as I have found myself doing a lot of reflecting this weekend.  On Sunday I turned a quarter of a century old, and today marks the day that I’ve been traveling for three months.  So if this doesn’t interest you at all, feel free to move on, and I will have something more relevant for you later this week!

Today I’m able to officially cross #44 off my Bucket List: Travel for 3 Months Straight.  While I may not have been traveling for much of this time, the spirit of the goal was basically to be out of the country for an extended period of time.  As this is the first time I’ve been away from home for so long, I thought it would be a fitting time to explore some of the things that I miss about being in the United States.

There are certain things that are very easy to take for granted while at home.  I can still get many of them here, however, it is usually much harder to find and more expensive.  So after three months, here are a few of the things that I miss most about being back home.

Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese: With the Tillamook Cheese Factory being only an hour from my home in Portland, I’ve always had a big brick of cheese in my fridge.  I’d put it on just about everything.  Here I can hardly remember the last time I had cheese, let alone something as amazing the stuff from Tilamook. Yes, I miss cheese.  Deal with it.

Mcmenamins: If you are from Oregon, undoubtedly you have been to a Mcmenamin’s restaurant at least once.  The food and beer is kind of love it or hate it, but personally there were about half a dozen Mcmenamin’s spots that were some of  my favorite outings in Portland.  Places like the Kennedy School or Baghdad Theater are totally unique to Portland, and I would highly recommend checking them out if you are ever passing through.  I mean who else turns an elementary school into a complex comprising of a hotel, theater, and 6 bars and restaurants…amongst other things.

Backstage Bar at The Baghdad Theater in Portland, Oregon. 70 Foot Tall Ceilings...

Good Beer: I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to find an India Pale Ale in Thailand.  Hell, I will settle for a Pale Ale.  No I will take ANYTHING even the least bit bitter and hoppy.  In Bangkok, my options are relegated to one of 4 or so Thai Lagers.  St. Patrick’s Day meant a lot more this year as I actually ponied up the cash for a few Guiness’ – and I don’t even like Guiness.

Good Live Music: I will say that I’ve found some excellent Jazz and Blues clubs around town, but that isn’t quite the same as heading to Crystal Ballroom on a weekly basis for any number of awesome shows.  However, should you find yourself in Bangkok, be sure to let me know so I can take you to Saxophones.  A five minute walk from my place, it is certainly the best place I’ve found to listen to music.

Friends at Sahalie Falls on our way to Aspen Lakes Golf Course in 2008

Golf: While there are hundreds of golf courses in Thailand, I’ve yet to play while being here.  By my low income standards, it is still fairly expensive, especially when you have to rent clubs.  I think one of the things I will miss most is not being able to take my annual Memorial Day golf trip to Central Oregon with some of my best friends.  Sorry guys, I will make it up to you!

Guitar: I’ve written in the past how music plays such large part of my life.  I bought a super cheap guitar a few weeks after arriving, but sadly left it down in Krabi – big mistake.  You can buy a halfway decent inexpensive guitar at any number of places in town, I’ve just been too consumed with the new lifestyle to make the effort.  That changes this week.  Thank you to my family for sending me the money to buy one as a birthday present!

Friends and Family: This is a given, but I’m going to mention it anyway.  It was great to see my sister and her boyfriend out here last week, but I still definitely go through minor bouts of home sickness from time to time.

Running Around the PDX Waterfront: If you’ve been to BKK in April, you know that its HOT. Like REALLY HOT.  This has resulted in very little exercise outside of all the walking I do to get around town.  This time of year in Portland, I would do a daily run around the river and enjoy crisp 60 degree weather.  I used to do that run dreaming of being somewhere else.  Now that I am somewhere else, it would be nice to be able to do that run again.  Well, maybe just once…

Snow: I grew up skiing, and haven’t been once in the last two years.  Thats kind of pathetic.  Of course we all make sacrifices, and this is one I think I can live with.  Although next year, you better believe a trip to Bachelor is in order.

One other housekeeping note, I’ve FINALLY gotten with the times and created a Facebook Fan Page for Location 180.  It is still a work in progress, but I think it is going to be a really useful tool to talk about a lot of the things on my mind that aren’t appropriate for a full blog post.  This is also a great place to ask me quick questions or let me know your thoughts about everything I am doing.  I would LOVE it if you would join and help me to build the community via other mediums.

Late last week I surpassed 750 subscribers for the blog, and I’m hoping to make a push to get it to 1,000 in the next few weeks.  This means, more posts.  Must. Write. More.  There is so much going on that I want to keep providing everyone with a realistic sense of what life is like here, both from a personal and professional stand point.

Happy belated Easter to everyone and thank you all for the continued support – it means more than you will ever know.

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