Health How often do you drink?

[Silent Alarm]

Yeah I remember some chick calling me pathetic because I went to a party in year 12. 'Who do you think you are, SA?' She was a mental case though and would routinely say how she'd never drink. Surprise surprise, she drinks nearly as much as she roots these days. Classic yarn.

 

[Run n Spread]

Do you think you will always see things this way?

I used to see things that way. Now I wish I had gotten wise sooner.

This is an amazing time to be alive for truly creative people.

Hobby -> side hustle -> part-time business -> living in SEAsia or Eastern Europe like a king off two days work per week

Think it can't be done?

Is it? I honestly here this a lot side business. But doing what? The old rules still apply. You need a product or skill or specialised labour. Most businesses end up going broke so you have to be careful you're not going all in if it goes pear shaped.

SEA or EE you can live like a King but not on 2 days a week there. No way. Not if your paid at the local rate.

Thing is I don’t care that much about money. What’s it gonna be to me? Short of me being a millionaire it’s all the same.

See your point. But the more you have the more options you have to do want you want.

 

[Scotland]

Money is excellent because you can exchange it for alcohol.

Which you need to numb the feelings generated by work.

Which you need to do in order to buy alcohol.

It's a vicious cycle.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

I have two glasses of wine one night a week when HBF is on weekend baby duty. Apart from that I’ll have a couple of drinks on a special occasion but I haven’t been drunk in about 2 years or so.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

Is it? I honestly here this a lot side business. But doing what? The old rules still apply. You need a product or skill or specialised labour. Most businesses end up going broke so you have to be careful you're not going all in if it goes pear shaped.

The whole point of building up a side-hustle is that you are not 'going all in'.

You still work like a regular shmuck, but instead of wasting all of your free time in front of Netflix or vidya or getting drunk, you slowly but surely build up a small business of your own. Then when you have developed it enough to do so, you can quit (or work less at) your regular job, to focus on your own business.

SEA or EE you can live like a King but not on 2 days a week there. No way. Not if your paid at the local rate.

A single man can live on AUD $800 per month in places like Chiang Mai.

If you run your own online business, you can make that kind of money easily.

Yes, it takes time to build up a side-hustle, but once you are established, you are set.

 

[DidakDelight]

The whole point of building up a side-hustle is that you are not 'going all in'.

You still work like a regular shmuck, but instead of wasting all of your free time in front of Netflix or vidya or getting drunk, you slowly but surely build up a small business of your own. Then when you have developed it enough to do so, you can quit (or work less at) your regular job, to focus on your own business.


A single man can live on AUD $800 per month in places like Chiang Mai.

If you run your own online business, you can make that kind of money easily.

Yes, it takes time to build up a side-hustle, but once you are established, you are set.

$800 sounds about enough for an average room and a few Chang’s every night with money to pay for clothes to be washed and folded and to also hire a scooter to get around.

Comfy living but hardly the life of a king. Good fun and good for stress levels no doubt though.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

$800 sounds about enough for an average room and a few Chang’s every night with money to pay for clothes to be washed and folded and to also hire a scooter to get around.

Comfy living but hardly the life of a king. Good fun and good for stress levels no doubt though.

Fair call. How much do you reckon a single male would need to 'live it up' in a place like Chang Mai?

$800/m is enough for a decent apartment, food, massages, a scooter, weekly drinking sessions.

 

[Silent Alarm]

The whole point of building up a side-hustle is that you are not 'going all in'.

You still work like a regular shmuck, but instead of wasting all of your free time in front of Netflix or vidya or getting drunk, you slowly but surely build up a small business of your own. Then when you have developed it enough to do so, you can quit (or work less at) your regular job, to focus on your own business.


A single man can live on AUD $800 per month in places like Chiang Mai.

If you run your own online business, you can make that kind of money easily.

Yes, it takes time to build up a side-hustle, but once you are established, you are set.

My mate tried the 'digital nomad' thing in Chiang Mai. He ******* hated it. Tried pretending it was okay for a little while but yeah, ******* hated it.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

My mate tried the 'digital nomad' thing in Chiang Mai. He ******* hated it. Tried pretending it was okay for a little while but yeah, ******* hated it.

Did he have business built before he went to Chiang Mai, or did he try the trendy 'bootstrap' route i.e. get there with a little bit of money but nfi how to start a business, thus no revenue, therefore soon run out of money, and then head back home with his tail between his legs?

 

[Silent Alarm]

Did he have business built before he went to Chiang Mai, or did he try the trendy 'bootstrap' route i.e. get there with a little bit of money but nfi how to start a business, thus no revenue, therefore soon run out of money, and then head back home with his tail between his legs?

Nah heaps of money and was being paid to work. He just found the actual physical place to suck.

The locals can't speak English but it's full of loud mouth Americans, the actual place isn't that pretty or nice, the food is okay but reeeeally peasantry (ie rice and nothing else). It's just overrated.

Do you live there? If you like it, let me know.

 

[PP34]

I don't think I've ever pressured someone into drinking. Few times I've caught up with an old mate and when they rock up they say they can only have one – not a drinker or driving – and I don't mind that at all. I'd be pissed off if you left straight after but if you're happy to listen to my s**t and you're still a laugh, good on you. People drink less and less these days, especially young people, I really do not see it happen that often. In fact I probably see more people going 'anyone else?' and being met with a 'nah, gotta head home.'

A classic example of this was when I was working over the summer and I mentioned in passing to someone how keen I was for a beer. Ten hour shift, hot, moving stock around downstairs with no ventilation. This guy was like 'oh where you going?' 'ahh, just at home I guess.'

The next morning I rock up and this 18-year old-ish girl asks me 'did you go out last night?' 'nah nah, had to front up, did you?' (I assumed she did and just wanted to tell me about it). 'Oh, well Lachlan said you were having beers after work last night' and I said yep that's true, I did indeed want a beer and I did have a couple, but at home. 'Oh with who? Few mates?' 'Nah, had a couple with my old man, I'unno.'

She couldn't believe someone would go home, walk to the fridge, and have three beers in a casual, homely setting without the express intent of going out or getting pissed. Irony being, every single weekend she was at some $200 festival in a new $600 outfit taking three pills. Yet I was the weirdo abuser?

Yeah I basically had one of my mates going WTF is wrong with me because I had a few solo beers one night during first year uni.

Have a few mates who are real weird about mid week drinking. Do not get it at all. Obviously alcohol is great when you’re at a pub, bar or whatever. But also absolutely nothing wrong in my opinion with cracking open a beer on a Tuesday after a long day.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

Nah heaps of money and was being paid to work. He just found the actual physical place to suck.

The locals can't speak English but it's full of loud mouth Americans, the actual place isn't that pretty or nice, the food is okay but reeeeally peasantry (ie rice and nothing else). It's just overrated.

Do you live there? If you like it, let me know.

Very interesting. Thank you for relaying that.

I have not personally been to Chiang Mai yet, but have been reading/watching/listening to countless anecdotal reports over the past few months, as I prepare to make the sojourn myself to see what all the fuss is about.

Most of the reports have been overwhelmingly positive, but a few people have indicated that Chiang Mai is too boring for their tastes. This happens to be one its main selling points for me: once I arrive, I plan to spend a day or two relaxing, and then I'll be straight into work.

For the record, I have done the hobby -> side hustle -> main gig thing. I finish at my regular job in a few weeks, and then I head to Thailand (and beyond).

Perhaps in a few months I will return with my own tail between my legs.

Personally, I doubt it. The business is already generating more than enough revenue to support me in cities far more expensive than Chiang Mai.

 

[DidakDelight]

Fair call. How much do you reckon a single male would need to 'live it up' in a place like Chang Mai.

It all comes down to your version of living it up. Chang Main doesn’t do it for me. Living it up to me means taking advantage of every moment of the day.

I personally prefer 6:30-7:00am wake ups with a dip in the Mediterranean followed by a long walk to a village cafe for some eggs and strong coffee. Spend the morning walking an ancient village followed by a lunch with a bottle of wine. Afternoon siesta then a motorbike scooter ride exploring mountain villages, find a spot with a view of the sun starting to drop and enjoy a beer or wine with some olives and cheese.
Head home for a swim in the villa pool at sunset and a few more drinks before hitting a village tavern for grilled meats salad beer and wine. Asleep by 11:30. Rinse and repeat.

Can’t do that in Chang Mai but can in Europe; Greece, Italy,France, Spain or Portugal for about $1000 a week sharing with friends/family.
One month a year is enough to be king and to keep it on topic every night would involve a decent amount of alcohol

 

[ShanDog]

I've cut the booze away, save for social occasions. Means I end up having a beer once a week at most, but probably once every few weeks on average. Not sure why I did, but it happened. Probably can't justify the cost.

I have been carrying a few extra kg over the last year or two (dad bod) but even after just a few months of cutting the booze away and some occasional exercise, I'm shedding the excess quickly. Gives me good motivation to maintain current drinking levels.

 

[Silent Alarm]

It all comes down to your version of living it up. Chang Main doesn’t do it for me. Living it up to me means taking advantage of every moment of the day.

I personally prefer 6:30-7:00am wake ups with a dip in the Mediterranean followed by a long walk to a village cafe for some eggs and strong coffee. Spend the morning walking an ancient village followed by a lunch with a bottle of wine. Afternoon siesta then a motorbike scooter ride exploring mountain villages, find a spot with a view of the sun starting to drop and enjoy a beer or wine with some olives and cheese.
Head home for a swim in the villa pool at sunset and a few more drinks before hitting a village tavern for grilled meats salad beer and wine. Asleep by 11:30. Rinse and repeat.

Can’t do that in Chang Mai but can in Europe; Greece, Italy,France, Spain or Portugal for about $1000 a week sharing with friends/family.
One month a year is enough to be king and to keep it on topic every night would involve a decent amount of alcohol

Yeah I'm pretty keen on doing that. You can get it cheaper though – heard of little fishing towns in Portugal where you can rent a house for a grand a month, walk to the fish mongers every day, two hour train to Porto or Lisbon, sounds like the dream.

Chiang Mai I think is talked up online and it's become this self-fulfilling destination and way of life. A lot of people blogging about it went there saying how it's the new frontier, look at you suckers back home etc etc and now need to continue on that or else admit they were wrong. The other sort are rich Americans who can afford big weekend trips to every part of Vietnam, Thailand and during the week hang around a bunch of other tech-flogs who think Patagonia is 'blending in.'

They also hugely fetishise Asia in general – see the amount of Americans, English, and Europeans (especially Russians now) who see Bali as this unreal destination but to us, Asia's a nice place for a cheaper holiday and an excuse to have some decent food and smell some new air. Those people are going to be amazed by the open sewers and rabid dogs.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I've had three stubbies this arvs before a gig and it's actually a chore. Also seeing I regularly inhale 1000 calories of beer most nights is ****ed. I've put on kegs and I'm a bit overweight at 73 kilos (was 66 most of this year) but fmd I should be 90. Also very much believing in the idea that maybe it's getting to a stage where I've got underlying life issues (boredom, not really having many mates, pointlessness) which I need to address. That's without getting pretty needlessly angry and upset while even just having a few beers at home on a Sunday.

When I was working every day at 6 and getting home at 6 I wouldn't touch a beer or piece of meat. I dunno.

You gotta be honest with yourself and realise this s**t.

 

[Scotland]

The last time I was 66kg I was probably 15 or 16.

 

[Gralin]

Man I loved the food in Chang Mai

 

[ioppolo]

The last time I was 66kg I was probably 15 or 16.

I'm 5'7'' and a have a slight frame so 66kgs wouldn't be too bad for me

 

[rank and file]

Money is excellent because you can exchange it for alcohol.

Which you need to numb the feelings generated by work.

Which you need to do in order to buy alcohol.

It's a vicious cycle.

I drink more at more at work than I do at home.

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

I drink way too much, but I'm not fussed by what people think.

I actually sell wine for a living, so I'm often in situations where it's free, which is grouse. I'd probably drink 5 days/nights a week, two quite heavily. I'm a big bloke, 6'2" and about 100kg, so there's room in there. It's nothing for me to put away a 6 pack and a bottle of red whilst watching the footy on a Friday night. Yes, I know it's unhealthy. I just enjoy it.

Then when I catch up with a particular friend, between us it's almost unbelievable. Seriously unbelievable. I'm actually not going to put the amount down in bottles of wine, because people wouldn't believe it.

I'm careful around the kids. I'll wait until they are down before I "hook in", because I do know what I do isn't a great look for them.

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

Anybody knows the bloke in my avatar, the irony will not be lost.

 

[Scotland]

I was speaking to a bloke recently who reckons he could knock off a carton of Bundy and coke cans and not be hungover the following day.

I'd be dead from a mixture of alcohol poisoning and immediate onset diabetes.

 

[ioppolo]

I drink my spirits with Pepsi Max, no sugar from the soft drink side of it at least

 

[Cold Sober]

I love non drinkers, they've helped me keep my ticket for years.