Contrary to the appetite for new boundaries in 2024, my time in 2025 was mostly in Bangkok and rather inward. The focal point, the apartment in Phra Khanong, led me to my own shadow works—submerge myself in a deluged groundwork. What have I learned from practising inner work in the past twelve months?
Drifting Back from the West
The first quarter of the year was a continuation of travel in Morocco and Spain as detours between DC and Bangkok. It kicked off with a month in Marrakech, twelve days in Tangier, two months in Málaga, and a few days in Madrid. Two bucket lists were ticked off: spending a night in a desert and crossing borders on a ferry across the Straight of Gibraltar.
Despite all those adventures, I’d had already stepped back from social media and turned into a hermit since the 2024 US Election, which triggered a deep introspection. My brain space would rather be allocated to internal explorations than composing social media posts. The main outlet was this blog. The content schedules on the itineraries were also paced out throughout the year.
The timing couldn’t be more right when I dodged a chaotic experience from the Myanmar earthquake, which shook high-rises in Bangkok, and one from the Iberian blackout, which occurred three weeks after leaving Spain. This drifting from the west also seeded long-term ambitions and prepared me for the challenges in the groundwork back in Bangkok.
One of them was an intoxication loop. I behaved well in those cities. The first alcohol since I got sick from the Sahara trip was a beer when I arrived in Spain. And cannabis restriction in Andalusia made it easy to manage the consumption. That would be tough to maintain in Bangkok, though.
Diving in Too Much of Plenty
From April, I was back in the Bangkok neighbourhoods and settled into life routines along three Skytrain stations: hitting the hay in On Nut, hitting the gym in Ekkamai, and hitting Phra Khanong in the middle, which was the depth of the shadow works for the rest of the year.
As expected, too much of plenty lured me to dive back into the intoxication loop. Songkran celebration was an excuse to shatter the self-control I’d had practised until March. The reality hit. I turned autopilot mode on to get back home too many times. Retrieving a sober mindset from months abroad, I had a break from the scene for a while in September and attempted to be more mindful after that.
Moreover, the dynamics in the ‘hood shifted. The pub, where I always ended up and finished a wild night, was revamped into a Japanese snack bar—not my cuppa. And the one, where we always started with happy hour, moved to a new location because of the rent. Oh, the soi pub that started my journey of drinking in Phra Khanong is now a hairdresser’s. Those intoxication paths I had before 2024 no longer exist. I don’t know yet how much I’d like to engage in a new drinking route.
Meanwhile, the cannabis law in Thailand became more restricted. This YouTuber, Cal, updated the situation on the ground until October 2025 quite well. I adapted accordingly. Frankly, these changes helped me make sense of plenty and redirect from this loop.
Disciplining Beacons for Breathers
Ultimately, the groundwork I submerged myself in deeply was the renovation of the Phra Khanong apartment. The major works were done in July. That burnt my energy as well as drained my reserve. I paused it and dived down to figure out what to do with it. While descending, I grasped beacons for some breathers—disciplines to maintain and even improve physical, mental, and spiritual balance. Some of them were exercises, journaling, and astrology.
On the flip side of enticing intoxication, the ‘hoods also provided excellent physical activities. When the weather allowed, a long walk within or between these areas cleared my head. Les Mills cardio classes pumped my heart, and coordinated rhythms to my body. Weightlifting tightened my muscles, and the regular blind masseur untied those muscle knots. Above all, yoga increased mobility, regulated breathing, and connected body and mind (and I progressed on advanced poses too).
When travelling, journaling is my instrument to document, assess, and plan my moves in foreign cities. I continued the practice this year despite familiar settlements in Bangkok. This inward exploration has been as significant as outgoing digital nomad journeys. Besides, it only takes three to five hours a week to review logged personal data from apps and consolidate it in my system. The process allowed me to check in with myself: in and out, left and right, up and down, back and forth—and kept me afloat.
Western astrology has been my rabbit hole for a few years. The curiosity activated my pattern recognition. Its mathematical approach became a tool to strategise my reactions and proaction. Since 2020, there have been many significant transits and alignments of slow-moving outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Those rare cosmic configurations also correspond to my natal chart. I’m still trying to make sense of them and their effects personally and globally. It gives me hope, though.
Those celestial objects continue to dance with each other in 2026. Therefore, I’m carrying on these beacons to cruise through another twelve months. There are tasks to be accomplished. 2024 presented me with new boundaries, and 2025 allowed me to explore the groundwork that has been under deluge. 2026 will be another year when you look back and find how far you have come.