Keith Hockton
Articles by Keith Hockton
A few years ago our friends spent a month in Tahiti, one of French Polynesia’s paradise islands. When they showed us photos of the house they stayed in, my wife and I were speechless. They live in Ingleside Heights in San Francisco in a lovely three-bedroom, two-bathroom home. The house in Tahiti was 2,800 square feet of beachfront opulence. It came with two maids, a cook, and a gardener.
In the musical South Pacific, the island of Bali Ha’i is an exotic paradise off limits to all except the officers. But in reality, the tropical island of Tioman—where the 1958 blockbuster was filmed—is a destination open to any traveler.
A few years ago our friends spent a month in Tahiti, one of French Polynesia’s paradise islands. When they showed us photos of the house they stayed in, my wife and I were speechless.
After dinner one night, Simon and his wife Lisa decided to take on a massive fund-raising expedition—they would ride around the world raising money for charity and taking photographs and documenting their story online as they went. In 2002, they sold their house and all of their possessions—and bought two BMW motorbikes.
This is a special place of stillness and tranquility. Luang Prabang, in north-central Laos, is a riverside town like no other. Here you’ll walk wide, French-style boulevards and feel like you’re in 1920s Paris, yet you can linger in palm-shaded temples and enjoy the serenity of Buddhist shrines.
At the heart of a 1,000-year-old kingdom, it’s a city where a stranger will invite you for a beer, and you’ll find chickens in the streets and wood smoke in the air—a place of peace and beauty.
Nestled between the mighty Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, you won’t find the backpackers you do in other parts of Asia. And the ones who do come here aren’t the beery types. Tourist buses are banned in Luang Prabang and the bars (all of them) close at 11.30 p.m. But it’s a great base for jungle hiking and other outdoor activities, eating, and relaxing.
One of the things we are most grateful for living in Malaysia is the health care, which is among the world’s best—and cheapest. It’s rare we need to use it, but when we do, it’s good to know we’re dealing with the very best doctors and at very low prices. There’s a reason four plane-loads of medical tourists land in Penang every day.
There’s so much to love about island life in Penang, Malaysia, that it’s hard to know where to start. My wife Lisa and I spend just $1,719 a month to live here, and that’s renting with an ocean view and eating out regularly in the island’s amazing restaurants.
Howard earned a good salary as an I.T. engineer, but he knew deep down that this was never his calling. Howard wanted to be a photographer. His nine-to-five was so far removed from his dream job that he thought he would never be able to make the switch. Aged 32, he decided he needed a change.
I’d always wanted to be a writer. It was something I yearned to do for a living. I had worked in banking all my life but in 2008, aged 47, I decided that it was now or never—I would take a chance. So, I quit my job, sold my house, gave away my two cats (to a woman who adored them) and moved lock, stock and barrel with my wife to Malaysia.
On the terrace of the grand, British colonial E & O Hotel, evening light flickers through the coconut grove as a warm breeze drifts in from the Straits of Malacca. I’m sipping a gin and tonic, watching the sun go down. This has become one of my regular habits since moving to the island of Penang, off the west coast of mainland Malaysia, over a year ago.
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