After my Air Force discharge in December 1973, I returned to Minnesota planning to save money for Thailand. That year balanced work and freedom—I bartended in St. Michael, made concrete rings for sewer lids, and blacktopped driveways during the summer. My new group of friends were adventure-seekers, and together we enjoyed good times and occasional risky behavior. Young and confident, I believed I could shape my future however I wanted. Once I'd saved enough for airfare, I flew to Thailand in January 1975, planning to live on unemployment checks before turning to questionable means to fund my extended stay.

My Thailand dream quickly dissolved into aimlessness. I fell into constant partying and smoking pot from morning to night, drifting between cheap bungalows without purpose. While the Vietnam War concluded, reshaping Southeast Asia's political landscape, I remained oblivious, lost in escapism. A failed smuggling attempt and narrow escape from Thai police exposed the flaws in my financial plan. When my friend Mike Auger arrived, we continued this reckless path until an arrest landed us in a local jail and then overnight in a Thai prison for one terrifying night. Even this wake-up call couldn't break my attachment to this unsustainable lifestyle. In December 1975, my brother Randy arrived, and six months later, Miam—a young Thai woman—became part of our carefree world. But gradually, reality crept in: what had once felt like exhilarating freedom began to reveal itself as a reckless gamble with dwindling options.

The carefree high collapsed when money ran out, leaving us broke and hungry in Bangkok. Our lowest moment came when we resorted to selling old magazines just to buy rice with scrambled eggs. Then fate intervened—a job posting for English conversation teachers appeared outside a government building. Despite having no qualifications, our desperation drove us to apply, and surprisingly, we were hired. This job became our lifeline, evolving from mere survival to a way to make money. Randy eventually returned home but came back when I secured a teaching position at a Thai military academy with a crucial one-year visa. We later joined the American University Alumni binational language center, receiving formal teacher training and working alongside experienced educators. What began in desperation launched us into legitimate careers.

My personal and professional lives evolved together naturally. My sister Linda joined Randy and me in Bangkok as a teacher, while Miam and I married after learning of her pregnancy. In February 1979, our parents visited Bangkok, and shortly thereafter we welcomed our first child, Patti. By August 1979, the three of us flew to Minnesota where I intended to pursue academic credentials to strengthen my career as an expatriate English teacher. What began during my lowest point became the foundation for an unimagined life when a single job listing transformed my directionless wandering into a purposeful journey.

Chapter 5 Photo Collage