Your first days in your home in Cambodia

Nice folks, good eats.  Our biggest shock and disappointment are the suffering dogs everywhere in Siem Reap.  We plan to make a push to help them. 

Hello fishsealaska,

Thank you for your input!

And what about the accommodation in Siem Reap? Was it easy to find one?

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@Cheryl Actually Cheryl no. Not a concern. I started with Cambodia only to have a base from which to explore Southeast Asia. I used the retirement visa extension to return every so often from other places. An old expat friend once told me,

always have a backup or base you can reach

For years Cambodia was that. I never intended on living there so I would come back, rent a airbnb or something and stay awhile while I planned out whether I'd go somewhere. Often somewhere was Taiwan or Singapore or Malaysia. Most often Vietnam.

I lived this way for years until the pandemic struck and I was stuck in Vietnam for a few years. I left there and had considered Hanoi my home but could not stay because of visa laws and changes. I went back to the US, rode Amtrak around for months and headed off to Mexico for a year.

Then finally I came back to Cambodia in September 2022 but this time I felt something had changed. I was tired of the vagabonding around and wanted to just settle in Siem Reap. So I did. But then I meet her. She was older and Khmer and we both felt a thing that had been missing in our lives was found. She takes care of me now, loves me, helps me. I help her. We found a cheaper apartment away from downtown and started living together before February 2023.  The apartment is small but we together do not have much stuff. We pay $180 a month and have a pool, locked security gate, paved road and the most wonderful of neighborhoods with great Khmer and international restaurants, wonderful coffee places, and many Khmer friends and even family live nearby.

We don't go downtown or out to eat too often because she's a wonderful cook and will do any kind of food for me I ask. I showed her a recipe for american fried potatoes and she cooked them the next day for me.

So the whole settling thing was gradual but I had these years of skipping around Asia which I enjoyed so much. I also would just go back to Vietnam when the urge hit me and go see friends.

Finally though, Cambodia is home to me. I have this wonderful, beautiful woman to share my time with. I've found the missing ingredient in the years of wandering and being alone. Now Siem Reap is my home and life is full. I go to see my Khmer mom every so often. She is 77 and I love her very much. She gave me Alin with her blessings some time ago and it meant the world to me.

So that's my story of first days and homes. Kind of a wandering tale.

@mpmilestogo

Thank you for your post, I found it quite touching.  I find myself in the same situation you were in ... I was living in Asia prior to the pandemic, using China as a base (believe it or not, even though I am Canadian, I do speak Mandarin after "living" there for 6 years) and traveling to various places.  I returned "home" to Canada during the pandemic, but never felt at "home".  It is not that Canada is a bad place, but living in Asia for such a long time has changed my view/perspective on life.

Anyway, I am currently in Vietnam for a visit (my first trip to Asia since I returned to Canada) and will be going to Cambodia soon to explore the place.  I will get the Retirement Extension to see if Cambodia will work for me.  Last time I was there was in 2015, so I imagine the place has changed a lot.  I was really taken with both Siem Reap and Kampot before (for different reasons), so I will spend a few months in each place to see if I could see myself settling there.

I am happy for you that things have worked out so well.  Also, congratulations on finding such a great lady and having such a healthy relationship.  It is great to hear such uplifting stories.  I hope to post my own soon :-)

Thanks again for sharing and best wishes to you.