What Life Should You Choose

In 2013, I fell in love with Laos; I also fell in love in Laos. Now I have family, I need to do what's best for them but sometimes I question what that really is?

 You see, my parents came from a small Island nation to Australia to seek new opportunities and a better life. It provided significant opportunities for me which assisted me to start an engineering career. But life can feel too constricted and confusingly materialistic here. I haven't been able to cultivate a close community that I see regularly and, if I'm honest, life here can be somewhat
underwhelming. Most of my friends don't love their jobs and I find myself jealous from the stories I've heard of really successful people. What they always seem to have in common is a passion for what they are doing and enthusiasm for life. I felt that too back in my days in Laos so what am I doing here?

Mostly the lessons from my parents: what this country has is a good education system that gives everyone the opportunity to study should they want to. A modern health care system that is of world standard and generally accessible to the population at large. High paying jobs and career continuums that take you through to retirement. A system of superannuation that provides greater security for when you reach working age. Good access to services to electricity an water. And if wanted to get my own home I could look at doing that an getting it paid off in around 30 years. I like having all those things and what to provide the same if not more for my family, but how much is it really worth? And could I get those things without committing to a 30 year life plan. That is way too much pressure.

So I want to explore here an alternative life. What would one need to live a commensurate life in the developing country of Laos? Could I get all the enjoyment of an interesting life lived there with none of the setbacks?  Hence this blog which I hope is more of a collaborative think tank. I hope anyone with idea or alternative perspective can contribute. I'll provide updates as we go on furthers. Things to consider specific to context of Don Det or perhaps we should consider another place in Laos to. I don't know the answer but I want to explore it and make a decision based on thorough research.

I aim to consider:
Visas & Residency
Health care & Insurance
Low Cost Housing
Off the Grid Living
Education (For my child's education and potentially for us older ones)
Planning for the future
Security
Backup plans and Support Networks
Giving back to the community

And who knows, maybe some more as they come to mind. As I'm in Australia, I'll have more time to consider these things now that I'm here. I'll probably throw in some anecdotes from the life I did live so briefly over there.  What I think everyone can be passionate about is choosing the life they want, so look at everything under the sun and lets see: What life should you choose?