Beetles

Lonely Beach is another one of those places where people seem to settle for weeks or months at a time. It is mellow but with plenty of social life. A beautiful long, white, beach with warm inviting water.

The Treehouse is the center of activity and relaxation. It is a wooden deck hovering over the surf, peppered with shady thatch huts lined with fresh greenery, pillows, floor tables, and hammocks. They have the tastiest food, yet still so cheap you say "Really? That's it?". They have a rainbow of stylish lamps that hang all around, and some great mellow live music, and DJ's that play later into the night for those like me who love to throw down on the dance floor. One tends to see the same cast of characters there day after day. Many of them are semi-permanent fixtures.

You have to wonder how some of these people finance their beach combing, hammock laying lifestyles. Many people, of course, go back home, save money, and come back. But some never seem to go "home".

Only so many people can write for Lonely Planet... and do they even get paid? One evening at The Treehouse I met a German gentleman who took the cake for travel finance creativity.

He collects beetles.

Apparently, if you know what you're looking for, there are many universities, museums, and collectors who actually pay pretty decent money for exotic beetle specimens. And probably other flora and fauna as well. But this guy was all about beetles.

I asked him if he only collected them here in Thailand. He said "Oh no, no! Africa is zee best." I said, by "zee best" do you mean they pay the most? He nodded enthusiastically.

And thus a dream career is born.. and probably many other jobs you would never even thing exist, that are just waiting for willing workers who never actually need to go home.

I don't think I will be one of these people. I like my home too much. But what an eye opener.

Sadly, I left the beach today to start my journey back to Bangkok and then on to San Francisco for one week. I will miss Thailand and will almost surely return. But two months was enough time here. Any less wouldn't have been enough.

SF here I come!