Did your life turn out as you Imagined?

[bumblebee]

I just realised that it is 30 years ago this week since I finished high school.  Mid June was good weather wise in '84, but it always is during exam times.  I remember putting down my pen in the final exam and strolling down to the nearby beach, trying to take in the fact that life as I had known it up to then had come to an sudden end.

 

I had applied for a printing course in college in Dublin, so I had a rough idea how I would spend the next couple of years come September.  But as I sat on the shoreline that warm summer's afternoon I also pondered what would I do after that course.  Would I meet a girl during it, maybe get a job in Ireland, (times were bad in mid 80s Ireland with large scale emigration.) meet someone there and settle down, have kids etc.  So that seemed to be the path ahead of me at that moment in time.  And I guess for many that's the way it turns out more or less, but not in my case. 

 

I did my first trip around Europe the year I left college '86 and that instilled in me the travel bug that never left.  And I have been doing it ever since, getting different jobs back home, always scrimping and saving for the next trip.  If you had told me on that sandy shore 30 years ago that in 2014 I'd still be single and only now approaching a commitment with a transsexual I don't know what would have been my reply.  So my life certainly didn't turn out as I imagined when I left school, what about you?

 

 

[Kahuna]

No BB...My life didn't turn out as I wanted it to...Not even close to what I wanted...

 

You're in the middle of yours BB but I'm at the end of mine...And I have had cause and time to look back at my life...To look back at things that happened and things that didn't......

 

Especially to look back to those times when I fucked everything up....The FUBARs of my life...And there were many of them...

 

But today as I look back and reflect I am absolutely certain, that if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change one fucking thing........

[williethepimp]

thats a pretty heavy question BB,and not one to be answered without quite a bit of thought......(which i haven't given it.....yet).....i thought i would probably stay in the same long term relationship i had for 30 years,but it didnt turn out that way.....but i've enjoyed being single these last few years....and the freedom it's given me.....i always felt trapped when my kids were small,so i'm a lot happier nowadays.....

 

When starting out in life,i thought i'd be really wealthy by the time i arrived at my age now,but i aint.

 

.saying that,i'm not skint either ,and if happiness was quantifiable,i'm satisfied with my lot....

[deepthroat]

Great question BB, one which seems to have been popping up in front of me in a number of ways lately.

Simple answer of course is no as I had never even considered the idea of being in a long-term relationship with the chick with a dick. For the majority of my life, I didn't realize the even existed.

Okay, not exactly true, I guess I always sort of knew there were "tranny's". I just never realized that there was a third sex as opposed to hetero's and homo's.

Other than that little twist in the tail, I'd say that on par I'm about where I expected I would be.

[Hefe]

No BB...My life didn't turn out as I wanted it to...Not even close to what I wanted...

 

You're in the middle of yours BB but I'm at the end of mine...And I have had cause and time to look back at my life...To look back at things that happened and things that didn't......

 

Especially to look back to those times when I fucked everything up....The FUBARs of my life...And there were many of them...

 

But today as I look back and reflect I am absolutely certain, that if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change one fucking thing........

 

You had me worried there Kahuna until the last line... 

 

I'm towards the end too, but I hope not too close yet, but who knows at this age.  I thought I would have more money. I wrongly assumed just graduating from a university would automatically lead me on the Golden Road.    That is the one major thing I would change if I had to do it over again.

And I wouldn't smoke either. ( OK, I would also focus on jobs with pensions!     )

 

It's interesting to look back & see distinct turning points as well as subtle trends, no way would I imagine I would end up in a corporate environment. I always knew I wouldn't marry till my 30s & was never interested in kids but didn't realize I would never marry. I am disappointed that I never lived overseas, that was a big lifelong dream... but now I am set up in a pretty decent situation that would be hard to beat in senior times, we'll see, I'm still working on this.  

 

The early loves of my life have become: 1- a right-wing conservative christian activist (sorry Arch, she's married) 2- a lesbian artist, & I'm a life-long bachelor who visits southeast asia on occasion to dally with ladyboys, obviously the mainstream has never tempted me.

 

I still hope for a 3rd act, I'm a wary optimist, but I can't think of any of my friends from my formative years that I would change places with, so I think that gives me as much satisfaction in my life as I am capable of.

[stoolpusher]

For me when I was young I was hoping to be good looking and have a bigger cock...Well that didn't happen .

 

But now I am 53 I must say life is pretty cool I have good health and some money so the party goes on.

 

I just hope Minnie me keeps working for a while longer. bring on the little blue pill. (ya gotta love modern chemistry )

[dixon cox]

 

... but I can't think of any of my friends from my formative years that I would change places with, so I think that gives me as much satisfaction in my life as I am capable of.

 

I like your closing statement Hefe, I hadn't thought of it like that.

 

To follow your lead. I can think of no-one I've ever met in my life who I'd rather change places with. So based on that alone makes me satisfied and content with my lot. Same as you though, I wish I'd never taken-up smoking in my mid-teens.

 

Had I replied to this same question 10 years ago I would have given a very different answer. Several nightmarish years. Thankfully I'm long since divorced.

 

My life right now is simple with few possessions, but it's the best I've ever known it to be.

[rxpharm]

As I was growing up my dream was to become a doctor, have a boatload of $$ and find a partner in life. Now in my mid 50's, the reality is quite different - I am not a doctor, but a pharmacist, I have a reasonable amount of $, and I do have a lb gf who wants to marry me.

 

I never would have imagined I would end up working overseas. Sometimes circumstances arise that drastically change your life's direction. If the health care budget was not cut so drastically, I would probably still be working in Canada, not have met my current gf, etc.

 

As for regrets - I've had a few, as most do, but I can say that I'm happy they way things have turned out and wouldn't have changed a thing.

[Jimslim]

I've never had a plan nor have I imagined what way things would turn out , I'm happy so its turned out well .

 

I've certainly had some twists and turns and different situations in my life but things have mostly changed for the better in the long run , if they haven't I've changed and adapted and made the most of it .

 

I'm a free spirit now and even though I'm still constrained by certain things like we all are I pretty much do my own thing and only do what I want to do , some people I'm sure find that weird or eccentric but it suits me fine ...I'm happy in my own company a lot of the time . 

[JaiDee]

The last 12 years of my life were actually quite unbelievable, some of the things I have done and places I have seen and countries I have explored;  if someone told me at age 30 or 35 all that stuff would have happened I never would have believed them.  Sometimes the luck of the draw - as well as taking a few chances and risks - works out in our favor. Also fathered 2 great kids along the way, something I think no one can imagine when they are young.

 

   Post-50 now.......not sure where the next 20 or 30 years will take me but I'd have to say at this point my life has worked out much better than I ever could have imagined.

[pdogg]

Hell no.

 

I always figured I'd live a more mainstream life. wife and kids, so on ad so on.

 

Was quite a slacker most of my life and in my early 40's my net worth was zero.

 

Then managed to land my first good job late in life, and then got very lucky as the company's stock went into hyper drive allowing

me to retire at a young age and goof off in Southeast Asia albeit on a shoestring budget.

 

If you had told me fifteen years ago that I'd be living overseas with a ladyboy girlfriend, I would have looked at you as if u had two heads.

[redrock]

I must admit my life is turning out to be way better than I had imagined.  I just wouldn't have been able to comprehend my current lifestyle 20 years ago.  I suppose I always knew I wasn't cut out for the conventional life, but I never saw the whole ladyboy thing coming.  It's been a blast, and long may it continue.

[bumblebee]

As I mentioned in the opening post I left school 30 years ago.  The summer of 84 was the usual Irish mix of wet and sunny days.  I spent most of the sunny ones in a small cove near my home swimming and enjoying the sun whenever it cared to make an appearance.  Again I pondered September quite a bit and my first year without high school and beyond that. 

 

Of course I was totally unaware that a baby was born in rural Buriram this week back then whom I would get hitched to 30 years later.  I was back in that cove during the week with that 30 year old and in a way it was like coming full circle.  The future I mulled over all those years ago was looking for shell fish in front of my eyes.

[williethepimp]

As I mentioned in the opening post I left school 30 years ago.  The summer of 84 was the usual Irish mix of wet and sunny days.  I spent most of the sunny ones in a small cove near my home swimming and enjoying the sun whenever it cared to make an appearance.  Again I pondered September quite a bit and my first year without high school and beyond that. 

 

Of course I was totally unaware that a baby was born in rural Buriram this week back then whom I would get hitched to 30 years later.  I was back in that cove during the week with that 30 year old and in a way it was like coming full circle.  The future I mulled over all those years ago was looking for shell fish in front of my eyes.

lovely stuff BB-t'is true ,the Irish are all poets..

[bumblebee]

Cheers Willie. It was amusing to observe a transsexual forage for shellfish in such an everyday Irish environment as you can imagine lol. What would the 19 year old me have made of it if it had happened in 1984. Watching some guy with his tranny partner messing about in his little cove. The mind boggles when you think of it.

[bubba]

Almost a serial husband, me. Often think about the morning of the first nuptials. I was staying with a mate, observed to him that I felt like hopping in the car and hitting the road instead. He advised me to do just that. I was conscious of all the social obligations of that day; people travelling long distances to see me fixed up etc. Stupidly bound to compliance with convention.  Why didnt I? How would it have turned out? Bailed out of that one after five or so years of being a semi drunk with her and springing two kids. Fell straight back into another one who promised "never to tie you down".... Oh yeaaahh!

 

A life sentence served with no time off for moderate behaviour. Again compliance with social norms. Eventually retired and we fought continuously ever after. Eventually she said:"Its my way or the highway!" What was she thinking?  I took option B and have never looked back. Sure there have been a lot of the emotional twists and turns but I am alive now. Ironically, she is not. If I stayed and knuckled under for 6 or so years I would have ended up with a lot more income. But, hey! I am happier now with less. Guess you could say I'm becoming a minimalist?

[williethepimp]

Cheers Willie. It was amusing to observe a transsexual forage for shellfish in such an everyday Irish environment as you can imagine lol. What would the 19 year old me have made of it if it had happened in 1984. Watching some guy with his tranny partner messing about in his little cove. The mind boggles when you think of it.

You sound really happy BB,that's good,and life now ,for me is good....In my 20's and 30's i was a complete wage slave,trying to bring up a family on  a meagre salary,periods of seasonal unemployment,never having holidays.......a life of semi drudgery ......last night i was contemplating which 6 months i will spend in LoS/asia this year......october to March,or November to april....5555.....i never envisaged this....

[Topcat72m]

Cheers Willie. It was amusing to observe a transsexual forage for shellfish in such an everyday Irish environment as you can imagine lol. What would the 19 year old me have made of it if it had happened in 1984. Watching some guy with his tranny partner messing about in his little cove. The mind boggles when you think of it.

delighted that she has got her visa. When is the big day. Hoping that it's all working out as planned

[bumblebee]

delighted that she has got her visa. When is the big day. Hoping that it's all working out as planned

Cheers Topcat the big day was actually 2 July.  She is here till 23 July.

[Topcat72m]

Congratulations. I'm delighted for you. Hope the hunnymoon is keeping you busy.

[bumblebee]

Another one of those anniversary months is upon me and the decision I made in September 2004 was one of the major turning points in my life.  I had been to Los twice by then, both 2 month trips and I had had my eyes well and truly opened with what I had seen and done and i guess the curiosity lingered.  But before those trips I had lived for a short while in Madrid and Barcelona and I wanted to give Spain one more go and move to Valencia. 

 

So it was in the middle of the month I flew to Madrid for a holiday/job hunt with a mate.  We spent a few days there, visiting my old haunts and then it was on to Valencia where we caught up with some friends from home.  Every morning I went around the language schools, dropping off CVs and doing interviews with the intention of lining up a job before going to Barcelona for a week for the end of my friend's holiday, and when he went home I would return to Valencia and my new life.

 

Some schools were interested and I had two definite job offers starting in early October before I left town.  It was quite comforting knowing I could enjoy a week in Barca safe in the knowledge that i had something to come back to.  And I also knew that there were plenty of transsexuals in these cities and so my developing interest in this area would have opportunities to expand if i had the balls to follow up on it.  We stayed just off Las Ramblas and there were quite a few hung ladies of the night in the area which pricked my interest for want of a better expression.

 

But as the days went by I found myself liking Barcelona more and more again and it felt right to be back there after a two and a half year absence.  My friend eventually went home and I decided to hang around and look for a job there and knock the plan to return to Valencia on the head.  But one thing that dawned on me fairly quickly was that access to trannys was not going to be as easy or enjoyable as it had been over in Thailand.  Also at this time that unfortunate Ken Bigley was being held in Iraq with the threat of being executed at any time.  I read the news and saw how he had a girlfriend in Thailand, that his plan had been to earn some money working in Iraq and then return to live with her in rural Thailand, Issarn probably but the name meant little to me at the time.

 

The daily headlines made for harrowing reading as he pleaded for his life, but it also got me thinking that if this guy could live in Thailand then maybe I could also.  I began to join up the dots, living in Thailand = easy access to ladyboys, something that i was finding difficult to make any inroads into in Barcelona regarding the tranny scene.  So I spent endless hours pondering if I should give Barcelona another go or do something crazy and move to Thailand and try to make a go of it there.  I went to internet cafes and read up on teaching in Thailand and realised there was a big demand for teachers.  Although there would be more paperwork and hoops to jump through than staying in the EU, it would be a small price to pay to get my hands of some of those divine creatures I had seen on my previous trips I reasoned to myself.

 

It all came to a head one afternoon sitting on Barceloneta beach wrestling with what to do.  I just stared out to sea and realised I was facing east and that somewhere way over there lay Thailand.  Barcelona would always be here but I really needed to go back to Los one more time and see if I could cut it living there and explore this whole ladyboy thing that I had barely scratched the surface of.  The rest as they say is history and in hindsight it was the right decision.  I meet all you great guys in the intervening years and never regretted not trying Spain one more time.  10 years have passed so quickly but the stuff I have done in those years has made all the difference.

 

No regrets!

[TEXASMAC]

 To be honest at 41 years old I weighed 499 pounds. I figured by now I would be dead. But now as of last week, I am at 261 and I have been to Pattaya 8 times since Stogie invited me to the Big Bash in 2009. My life is NO way where I thought it would be. It is BETTER !!