Well I was raised in a typical small town and I hated it. As soon as I finished high school I booked out of there to attend university in Louisville, KY which is a fairly large city (20th largest city in the US last I checked).

I took my first trip abroad (to Southeast Asia) during the summer of 2012 and after that I knew that I needed to get out and see as much of the world as possible. Plus I was studying music, which wasn’t going to provide many opportunities after graduation.

So I made the decision to move abroad when I graduated. I began researching TEFL (I had done some ESL tutoring during university) and I already knew that I enjoyed Thailand… so here I am!

It started in 6th grade when I joined the school band on a whim to play saxophone; I ended up loving it and learned quite a few instruments during middle school. High school came and I had no desire to join marching band so I did my own thing and started making my own music and playing with friends.

When university rolled around I had the cliché dilemma of whether or not to go with practicality or what I was really passionate about. I followed my passion and chose to major in music. I was provided some amazing opportunities and got to study with some remarkable people; without a doubt the best and most important decision I’ve made in regards to shaping the person I now am.

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in music technology and jazz studies in December of 2013.

These days, I focus on playing jazz (saxophone), electronic production, and a bit of DJing. I also did some teaching back home and really enjoyed it despite originally thinking I'd hate teaching music.

My long-term plan is to get back to the states at some point and get my master's degree in music therapy and find work in that field.

If anyone is curious I have music online at soundcloud.com/a-roof-for-your-roof and aroofforyourroof.bandcamp.com (it's free)

Spot on. I’d love to find a job teaching music here. I’ve been in Thailand for just shy of 2 years and I’ve constantly been on the lookout for a position as a music instructor.

From what I’ve seen most schools tend to either hire Thai teachers or require a master’s degree in music education. I have gotten to teach a few small “music clubs” at my schools though, which can be pretty fun.

I also get to play out around town occasionally.

Well I landed in Chiang Mai and began looking for work there but the pay was absolute crap. Then I went down to BKK but really didn’t have any desire to live in the city, so I started looking at some of the nearby provinces.

Phetchabun marketed itself as “Little Switzerland” with great weather, beautiful scenery and all that. I enjoy rural life and I figured Phetchabun would offer some “authenticity” without being too much of a shock. Plus it’s fairly centrally located so getting most anywhere in Thailand was fairly easy.

I am beyond happy I chose the city. Phetchabun is an incredibly gorgeous area, the weather does tend to be a bit nicer than most other places, the air is clean and fresh, and there is lots of hiking/camping/nature (which I love).

Yeah I mean I had spent nearly a year at home reading everything I could possibly find about teaching in Thailand, so I had at least somewhat of an idea of what I was getting myself into.

I understand all the complaints, but my experience was that if you just do what is asked, smile, and don’t ruffle any feathers then life will be easy.

Yes it was frustrating doing all the stupid after-school competitions, morning assemblies, millions of photos, teaching in sweat-boxes with no a/c, asinine grading and testing, and all the other well-documented problems, but the Thai staff treated us well, the kids were fun, and life was good for a 22 year old who had just moved to a new country.

The experience was pretty great for an easy intro to the “bottom of the barrel” TEFL gig. I figure if I could survive what is widely hailed as one of the worst working environments (if you take the internet forums seriously) then I could get along pretty well anywhere else.

My first school hired me to teach Mathayom 6, which is the last level before university, and I enjoyed this age level. In my previous ESL and music instruction I had always enjoyed teaching older kids way more than younger ones.

At the end of the first term I was asked to switch to M2. I was hesitant but gave it a shot. I made it through two weeks before I called it quits.

One of my friends told me about an opening at the local Rajabhat so I applied, interviewed, and started almost immediately.

Rajabhats are basically community colleges (at least that’s what we’d call them in America, not sure about Europe).

They are government universities that cater to students who either can’t afford a big uni, don’t have high enough scores to get into a big uni, or just don’t want to leave their family (the nearest major university was 2 hours away).

I was hired to teach literature, poetry, tourism, and basic conversation.

My only complaint about the move was that I took a bit of a pay cut. Everything else was 1000 times better.

I could come and go as I please, write my own curriculum, no more being forced to attend silly events and meetings, and I actually felt respected and valued as opposed to just being the necessary white face.

It also doesn’t hurt that I was the only native-English teacher there, so the school certainly treated me kindly to keep me around.

I really can’t stress enough how much I loved my job at the university. The Rajabhats have a bad rep because of the fact that they are “lesser” than the other universities, but the kids were tremendous and my co-workers were lovely.

I still maintain contact with quite a few people from the university and given a few circumstances I could very easily see myself returning there some day.

First, you have to understand that in all of Phetchabun there were maybe a total of 20 foreign teachers in town (nearly all of them in their mid-20s). There were a few older married expats, but you didn’t see them out too often. So I was essentially 1 teacher out of 20.

Having any sort of privacy was completely out of the question. Everybody knew who I was, where I taught, and basically everything I did.

If I came home late from a bar then my apartment manager would surely talk to a co-worker who would surely ask me what I was up to until 4 am on the weekend.

I also couldn’t go ANYWHERE without seeing students. Have you ever been walking through a pub and been offered shots from your underage students? I have.

Dating was simply out of the question. My foreign friends had all packed up and moved on to their next destination or back home and I had no desire to befriend a new group of 20-something year old teachers who were only around for a term.

It was stuff like this that ultimately began to get under my skin. I was making more and more trips out of town on the weekends in order to escape and become a ‘nobody’ again.

The final straw was the fact that I was making no progress in paying my student loans or saving money. It was time to either go home or find a better paying job.

I interviewed at a school in Bangkok and was hired immediately. Almost a year exactly after moving to Phetchabun I was packing up and moving to Bangkok.

My new job is teaching computers in the English Program at a private school. Many of the students are miles ahead of even my best students at the university.

It does suffer from many of the same issues that plague most other Thai schools, but it's fairly easy to look past. Teaching computers is something I enjoy and the staff (both Thai and foreign) are easy to work with and helpful.

So far everything is good and I have zero complaints.

It sure hasn’t. I’m only 23 so a city like Bangkok certainly has far more to offer, but I’ve also never been fond of massive cities like this (Louisville had 1 million in it’s entire metro area).

I love running outdoors, but with the traffic, pollution and awful sidewalks in Bangkok I rarely get to do that.

I miss the laid-back life in a provincial town. Never a hurry, no traffic, no worries. It’s hard to put into words but everything in Phetchabun just felt more relaxed.

What truly made Phetchabun special though was the people. They were more warm and welcoming than any anywhere I’ve ever been. Sure I was looked at as a bit of a novelty at time, but at the same time every single person I encountered went way above and beyond to make sure I felt welcome and never wanted for anything. I sincerely miss the whole community

On a lesser note I miss knowing exactly where everything was. If I wanted to get the best khao mun gai, or the best coffee, or the best tailor (you get my drift).

I guess provincial towns get a lot of flak for the things they lack, but I was quite content with the simple life. Sure Bangkok offers more in the way of Western amenities and entertainment, but I guess it just isn’t for me.

This is tough. I think both experiences have proven (or will prove) to be very rewarding. Part of me wants to say that as a 23 year old I should much prefer Bangkok (as it has much more offer in the way of things to do). And that’s true to a certain extent. I love a night out at the club and hanging out at some trendy bar or cafe just as much as the next young expat.

But as I said previously – I just think I’m more suited to a simple life. I’m content with occasional weekend trips out of town. I’m content with eating Thai food and living a “Thai lifestyle” (whatever that means).

I’m happy with both experiences and I wouldn’t change anything if I could start over. I can see myself enjoying Bangkok while I’m young, and then maybe settling in a place like Phetchabun.

Gotta disagree with you here, Phil. The obvious difference is availability. I didn’t have access to Mexican food, so I was never tempted to spend 300 baht on burrito. I couldn’t go to Tops and buy a 1200 baht bottle bourbon like I can now. I never was ‘forced’ to spend 200 baht on a taxi.

With less to do you spend less money. In Phetchabun my friends and I could go to the pub and have a night out (food and drinks) for less than 400 baht per person; or some nights we’d just pick up some booze at the local shop and sit around one of our homes.

I COULD do that here in Bngkok but it’s just realistically not going to happen with all the other options I now have.

But also goods & services were definitely cheaper. I now live in Pinklao which isn’t near the tourist areas of Bangkok, and prices are far more reasonable here than say Silom. But still food in Phetchabun was cheaper. I could get a Thai dinner for 30 baht in Phetchabun, the same dish will cost at least 50 baht here.

I paid 3500 baht/month for my apartment in Phetchabun (which was fairly simple, but pretty nice); a 3500 baht apartment in BKK, even in the cheapest areas, is typically going to be a dump.

I spent roughly 100 baht per week on laundry, that’s now gone up to 200.

Things like that are the difference. It seems fairly insignificant, but it all does add up. It’s still early to say for certain, but I was doing better at saving money on a substantially smaler salary in Phetchabun than I am here in Bangkok.

Well my original plan was to spend just one term here and then I was going to go to teach in Spain (I studied Spanish for 4 years and have always wanted to visit).

However, 6 months came and went so I told myself I’d leave after a year. Then a year came and went…

I’ve never been to Europe and Spain is still very much on my radar, but for now it’s on the backburner.

Also I do want to get a graduate degree so I will be returning home for that at some point, but I honestly can’t imagine living in America again.

Right now I’m just taking it a day at a time. That said the novelty has long worn off, I have plenty of frustrations with living here, but I’m not so naïve as to forget what drew me here in the first place or to think that everything would be peachy-keen if I moved back to America.

Eh. I miss certain things like the food, bourbon, good craft beer, and being able to chat with like-minded people at the local dive bar; but I can honestly say I don’t miss much about American culture in general and I certainly don’t miss the American lifestyle or working environment.

Life in Thailand is just so much easier. The pros outweigh the cons for now.