In that video, you said perfectly what I would like to say. I am grateful to the US military for kicking me out of my comfort zone and sending my scared young self on my first overseas assignment many years ago. Since then, I have loved visiting other countries. Now, here I am, living in Chiang Mai, and loving it! I have noticed the political obsessions. I was that way also at one time. But the dehumanization of people in all of the rhetoric, the scaremongering, and the skewing of facts to the point that they became lies gradually turned me off. Eventually, I concluded that by serving in the military (21 years), I have served my country more than 93% of all Americans. I have done more than enough. Let somebody else take over now. In Thailand, I don't have to look up and down the street for anything unusual in expectation of a terrorist attack. If I go into a bar, I don't need to worry about watching the door or where the exits are. When I go to the local convenience store, I don't have to look through the windows first to ensure I'm not walking in on a robbery. When I address a stranger, they look at me and smile, and help me however they can. I have served my country abundantly. So give me a break and let me live in Thailand now. I have earned it.

I am also an American. I served 20 years in the US military and lived in Turkey for 20 years. I failed at my online business in Turkey, so I moved to Chiang Mai with a new plan. In the photo are my worldly possessions just before my flight to Chiang Mai. Becoming a Digital Nomad is an act of courage. So be courageous. If I can be of any help, please get in touch with me.

I sent you a message about this, I hope it helps.

December is the perfect time to visit Chiang Mai. I was in Turkey before and came to Thailand to escape the dreadful Turkish winters. It was beautiful here! Top of the tourism season. I ended up moving here as a result. Right now, in November, the rainy season has ended. The beautiful weather begins. So yes! It is a good time to come to Chiang Mai. Now, there is no beach here. It's not on the coast. But wow, what a fantastic town. I got a retirement visa and decided to live here and not in one of the beach towns. I have literally everything here. Grocery, fast food delivery, nightlife, and very nice people (I hear that the people of Chiang Mai are even more friendly than the typical Thai). The beach towns are nice... but I would rather live in Chiang Mai and take a cheap trip to one of the tourist beach towns than live in a beach town.

I use iPostal1.com for my address in the USA, especially for anything related to the government, like the Internal Revenue Service. iPostal1 provides a post office box service that can be written as a physical address, like 1234 Main Street #4321. If I get anything from the tax people, I definitely don't want to lose it! They have a scanning service. If anything comes in, they send a message to my e-mail account. I follow the link to see a photo of whatever came in. Then I tell them to scan it, send it, or throw it away. Recently, for example, I was notified of mail received that turned out to be a check for a big tax refund. I first had them scan it and send me the scan (in case it got lost in the mail) then I told them to mail it to me. It took some 30 days to arrive, but it got here. For my address with my bank, I use my address in Thailand. But that has been to prevent my US credit cards from being declined during transactions in Thailand. They still often get declined, though! Therefore, I think I will go to my Thai bank and see if I can get a credit card from them.