Rachel Devlin

IL Chiang Mai Correspondent Rachel Devlin spent 25 years working as a high school teacher, and later as a Deputy Principal in Sydney’s western suburbs. A chance encounter at an International Living event in Chiang Mai turned her thoughts of retiring early and moving to Thailand into action. She resigned at 46 from a career she loved, sold the house she built with her husband, let go of a vast majority of her material possessions, and packed her family off to Chiang Mai. She numbers her regrets at zero and labels her adventures as ‘continuing’. In 2015 Rachel began contributing to International Living Australia, sharing her passion for property, culture, and lifestyle in Chiang Mai and hopes to inspire others to follow their early and not-so-early retirement dreams.

Don’t Let These Hurdles Hold You Back From a Life Abroad

Don’t Let These Hurdles Hold You Back From a Life Abroad

Expat Advice
By

Last weekend I was enjoying an icy mango daiquiri with my husband at our local pub, the Gekko Garden. It’s guarded by two very old teak trees, and the large leaves help shade us from the glorious sunshine. We ended up chatting to a couple vacationing in Chiang Mai. They asked us how long we were here on vacation, and their jaws dropped when we said that we live in Thailand. We were then bombarded with lots of questions on how we managed to do this.