There are so many things to love and appreciate about nature, and it has always been a dream of mine to live in a place where I can feel surrounded by plants, animals, and the wilderness. Hearing sounds like crickets chirping at night and birds singing in the morning make me feel alive. To me the thought of living in a suburban neighborhood with a quarter-acre of grass lawn and no trees makes my stomach churn. When I decided to move to Thailand I knew that living in the jungle wouldn’t have the luxuries that I was used to in America but I didn’t care. It would be a grand adventure and it would put my curiosity of minimalist living in unconventional places to the test. During my second week in Thailand I moved into the “Creaky Leaky” with my roommate Mai Yer.
Our little Creaky Leaky is honestly better than I could have imagined. It was built over 50 years ago on LKP’s school campus and is mainly made out of scrap wood, tin, duct tape, and student’s leftover poster board homework assignments (see photos below), but it's still holding up for the most part. Duct Tape is used to patch holes around the windows and in the floor so unwelcome guests don’t let themselves in. We almost named our home the “Tile House” because we have no less than six different tile patterns downstairs alone! We have a nice enclosed outdoor patio that was added within the past couple of years. On the patio we have our washer, sink, and a large wooden table. We have bamboo rods and clothes lines for doing laundry and a large fan to make it bearable to spend time outside. We have a small fridge, table, and two plastic chairs in the “living room” (the small room below the stairs) and we each have our own bedroom upstairs. Our small tables outside and inside are old desks that were used by students. We have a small indoor bathroom with a European toilet (yay, no squatty potty!) and an electric shower. To my pleasant surprise we do have warm water for showers and can use the water to brush our teeth and wash dishes as long as we don’t use it for drinking.
In the corner of our tile bathroom we have our lovely “bum gun”. As ingenious as the idea sounds, I have found toilet paper much more useful (and it gets the job done much faster). Mai Yer and I mainly use the bum gun to wash off Mr. Frog, our slimy roommate who lives in the shower drain. I feel bad for the little guy when a giant cloud of soap bubbles completely covers the drain hole and he pops his head out with a fluffy soap beard. I just remember getting shampoo in my eye as a kid and my mom helping me rinse it out under the faucet. I feel like Mr. Frog feels the same way, and I like to spritz him off after I wrap up in my towel.
Aside from Mr. Frog, Mai Yer and I have many more roommates. We’ve counted three Tokay geckos, over fifteen Huntsman spiders (these aren’t your average house spiders), one snakeskin (snake has still not been accounted for), countless Jing Jok geckos, and two different ant trails leading from the backyard jungle onto our food table and through our bathroom sink. The good news is our other roommates don’t cause any harm. Except the mosquitos. I don’t know how they choose who to bite but I seem to always be on the menu. I brought a checked bag packed full of OFF bug spray but the last thing I want to do is crawl into bed with chalky deet on my skin, so I decided to invest in a mosquito net. It has been a true game changer! I can have peace-of-mind knowing that I won’t have to swat the little buggers away from my face every five minutes and my legs no longer look like I have a mild case of the chicken pox (It’s the little victories..).
Tokay geckos, also nicknamed the f* you gecko by American soldiers during the Vietnam war, are the biggest reptiles I’ve ever seen. Their nightly chant sounds like, you guessed it, a big “f* you”. Look up a Youtube video, you won’t be disappointed! We have two that live behind our fridge and I have one that lives behind my closet. They can grow over a foot long and are usually bright blue with orange spots. I’ll hear them scurry along at night when moths and other insects flock towards the light through my window. All of a sudden you’ll see a huge yellow belly with sticky toes emerge from the darkness and chomp down on an insect. They used to startle me, but now I’ve gotten used to them and barely bat an eye!
One of the foreign teachers named Sam who taught at LKP last year left some of her belongings while traveling to other places. She left her hammock and let me borrow it which has been one of my favorite spots to hang out in at home! I love looking up into the trees and listening to the Asian Koels and Magpies call nearby. I lay out my yoga mat on the patio and have been doing practices in between my running routine with the noises of the jungle. I purchased a Kindle since being here and I’ve been reading many books at home during my weekends and after school. With limited things to do nearby I’ve tried to take advantage of this time to take care of my physical body and work on self-development.
While the Creaky Leaky isn’t a place I would want to live in forever, I’m enjoying the time I get to spend here. It’s also humbling to know that my living situation is much more luxurious than most people that live in Thailand. Many people here live in unenclosed rooms behind their stores or restaurants with half the space that I have. It certainly has put many things into perspective for me and I am learning what I can live without and what is really important in a home. I am a firm believer that our physical surroundings influence our physical and emotional wellbeing. Living here and looking up at the stars at night, listening to the sounds of the jungle, and seeing the tall trees from the view of a hammock all provide me with a deep joy. I will try to not take it for granted!
