talking2myself

Your Place In The Sun

‘Place in the sun’ – a place/environment that promotes a sense of success, happiness, or prosperity.

I have a friend who likes to go to Thailand.  For the past few years, he has visited at least once a year and in some years twice.  He has been to other parts of the world but his Thai visits are regular and appear to be getting longer each time.  The other day he mentioned that he could have gone to so many other parts of the world if not for this obsession with Thailand.  I had to say to him that sometimes we find ‘our place in the sun’ and naturally we like to be in an environment where we are comfortable.

 The discussion reminded me of my early working experiences, working for a Ministry in Zimbabwe.  This technical Ministry had a number of expatriate engineers and technicians, the vast majority of them English.  Many of these people had been renewing their 3 year contracts for years and though they sometimes spoke of missing the ‘green fields of England’, which many saw once a year, not one of them envied me when I decided to up sticks and head for the UK.  How could they?  Though they were not earning the kind of money of their compatriots were, they were living a life style that only earning 5 or even 10 times more could get you in England. 

These expatriates drove new cars and lived in detached houses with gardens big enough that the dogs do not need to be taken for a walk every day.  Many would have had a barbeque area and an outdoor swimming pool maintained by a full time gardener.   Their wives did little or no housework which was taken care of by the full time ‘house-girl’ who relieved madam of mundane tasks.  If you found yourself in such a predicament, would you not be renewing your contract every three years to avoid the return to underground commuting and terraced housing, too?  I have no doubt that many of those people are either still in Zimbabwe or at least living and working somewhere in Africa.

My stepfather has lived in the Seychelles for well over 30 years now.  I suppose most people there regard him as an expatriate.  We left him there and he has found no reason to leave despite the difficulties for foreigners to earn a living there.  I seriously used to think that he was a loser, lazy to do the right thing and leave and use all his skills in setting himself up in life.  Now that I am 45, I truly understand why he is there.  If you don’t, you need to find out about the Seychelles!  Two of his friends left at one stage but both returned within a few years.  It certainly is one of those places where I suspect I would like to hang my hat.

One of my favourite pastimes growing up, I was a bit of a swot, was to open up and atlas and spend hours imagining what it would be like to live in some of the presumed  exotic named places around the world.  Some places like Tahiti and India and Madagascar always had some sort of draw but I knew as I felt the lump in my throat and the swelling in my chest looking down at the runway as we landed in Rio de Janeiro that Brazil was going to be my place in the sun.  It is a very difficult to explain to anyone what it is like to realise that something you have wanted for so long has finally come to pass.  The carnival was my excuse to go to Brazil but in reality it was Brazil drawing me.

Since my return to the UK, I have not been able to stop thinking or dreaming of what it would be like to live and work in Brazil and in Rio in particular.  I am sure everyone is sick and tired of me talking about it but now without a doubt, it has become part of my future plans.  Mozambique and Africa may have to wait a very long while for my return.  Brazil without a doubt is my place in the sun.

Recently, like many times before, I have heard discussions about where to go on holiday.  Many people decide a budget, check what they can get for that and choose from the array of choices presented to them.  I suspect not a very good strategy for finding your place in the sun.

Have you found yours yet? Do you suspect, as I have always done, where your place in the sun may be?  Finding it may guide your future decisions on your journey to find fulfillment and contentment. 

May you find the balance.