I have booked three one-way flights: one to Singapore, one to Bali and one to Dili. I’ve handed in my notice and work and my last day of full-time employment in Thailand will be on August 26, not including a few vacation days that I will be cashing out. As if that’s not enough, I’ve also taken three-and-a-half days’ holiday this week (I’m sat at Indigo Pearl at the moment) – my first time off in more than a year, not including a couple of weekends in Bangkok.

This is my way of saying that I’m leaving. After a love affair with Thailand that has taught me a great deal about life, love work and the universe, it’s time to move on and try something new. I will, of course, return to Thailand, but my plan is to live elsewhere, unless a dream job presents itself.

It’s been a little more than a year since I arrived in Phuket. While I have enjoyed my time on the island, I have to admit that it just isn’t “me”. Something about the place, the people, the atmosphere just doesn’t grab me. I miss the big-city feel of Bangkok, but I don’t feel inspired to return to the City of Angels for anything more than a visit.

Most of my possessions will remain in Thailand along with about half of the money I possess, so I’m still tied to the country whether I like it or not.

As for my choice of destinations, Singapore is a brief stop on the way to Bali, where I will spend about a week relaxing, milling about and probably not blogging. My final destination is Dili. I can’t take the kudos for formulating the idea of moving to Dili, but at this stage in my life, I couldn’t see any reason not to go to Dili, much in the same vein as I couldn’t see any reason not to go to Bangkok three years ago.

As for what I will be doing in Dili, well, that’s something that will unravel once I arrive. I have touched base with two Dili-based publications and established a few contacts. I have also started contacting foreign publications and for some time my primary job will be to learn, make contacts and send a lot of emails while establishing myself in Dili.

Being unemployed will also give me a chance to study for my NCTJ qualification – something I’ve been unable to do in Phuket given my workload. To make ends meet in the meantime I will be blogging, writing and editing, which probably means I will grovel for people to send work my way.

I have a real challenge ahead of me, but I’ve never been so excited. My goal is to study and do as much credible work as I can. I plan to help out with the two publications I mentioned, although to what extent I won’t know until I arrive in Dili. There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment.

I have all manner of things to do. I need a new laptop, new camera, new bag, a torch (apparently), some decent shoes and, sadly, real travel insurance to buy. So that’s me in a nutshell. For anyone in Bangkok, I’ll be visiting this weekend.

I should probably mention that I will keep blogging. My focus will shift, but this blog will become something new. It will form the basis of my initial work in Dili, so there will be a lot of changes. I won’t have as much to say about Thailand and, who knows, I may lose my entire readership, but there’s nothing I can do about that. There will be photos, videos (if Preya remembered to post my Flip cam) and stories.

So that’s me in a nutshell. I fly out on August 28.