• In 2018, at 46, Chris retired and left Chicago for Bangkok.
• He spent two years planning and saving for his move by investing in real estate.
• He enjoys the affordability of living in Bangkok and how easy it is to make friends.

As he soaked in the pool of his Airbnb in Bangkok, Chris wondered, "How can I make this my home permanently?"

It was 2016, and he had spent the past 25 years in the toy industry overseeing product development. His routine was the same: wake up, go to work, come home, play a video game, and sleep. At 44, retirement was weighing on his mind.

"There was nothing else I needed to really do," said Chris, now 52, who asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his privacy. "I mean, could I have worked longer to buy a cooler car? Maybe. Could I have bought a bigger house? Maybe. But nothing like that was really important to me."

At the same time, Chris knew he didn't want to retire in his home state of Illinois. He loved the city but couldn't stand the long and bitter winters. Most of his friends — unlike him — were married with kids. He wanted to challenge himself with a hard reset.

Chris had taken many business trips to Asia and started to love that part of the world. So, he mapped out a plan to save up, quit his job, and then live there full-time.

The first thing he did was tell no one

He didn't want to deal with negative reactions, he said. So, he kept his plan a secret for almost two years.

But behind the scenes, Chris worked feverishly to make his plan a reality.

First, he ramped up his real estate investments. Chris got more involved in the real estate market in 2014 after paying off the mortgage of his first home 17 years early. "When you pay off a house, it's the coolest feeling for a couple of weeks — you don't have a mortgage payment. And then you're like, what do I do?" he recalled.

He decided to invest in more property. By 2018, he had nine properties earning around the same amount as his full-time job.

He also visited Thailand eight times to ensure it was where he wanted to be. He had considered Hong Kong and Japan but eventually decided against them due to the higher cost of living.

"I wouldn't do touristy things. I would sometimes spend days just hanging out at the condo I was renting as if I already lived here," he said.

By September 2018, he had a six-figure safety net in the bank — in case he "didn't survive" and had hired a property manager to look after his properties. With a Thai Elite Visa — a long-term tourist visa that permitted his residency for the next five years, he left frosty Chicago for sunny Thailand.

The first six months were hard

Chris said he was used to being in a job where he had a team and worked on multiple projects.

"It was very strange to be fully retired and not have any responsibilities at a young age," he said. "I definitely, in the beginning, had some panic attacks where I'd wake up at 3 in the morning and be like, 'What did I just do?'" he recalled.

Things improved when he followed a friend's suggestion to explore a site for meeting people with the same interests. Through meetup.com, Chris was able to connect with other expats and make Thai friends. Playing pickleball was a great way to connect with new people, he said.

"Bangkok is such a massive city. It's so easy to walk up to almost anybody and say hello," he said. "I don't do it as much as I used to because I have a lot of friends now. I'm like, I can't handle more friends," he said with a laugh.

Living in Thailand is more affordable

Chris lives in an 882-square-foot two-bedroom apartment in Thonglor, a hip neighborhood in Bangkok with trendy bars and shopping centers. His rent is 62,000 Thai baht, or around $1,785 a month.

Before he left the US, he had set a budget of around $3,000 a month based on three factors: his age, lifestyle, and health. Describing his lifestyle as "semi-luxury," Chris said that he's increased his budget year after year to adjust to his changing circumstances. Now, his budget is at $3,800.

Still, it's almost half of what he spent in Chicago, which was over $6,000 a month.

Chicago is the most expensive place to live in the Midwest. Among 32 Midwestern cities, Chicago has the highest Cost of Living Index score, the Council for Community and Economic Research found last October.

"I get so shocked every time I go home once a year to visit my mom and see how it's gone up even more exponentially over the last couple of years," said Chris, who would spend a few weeks with his 82-year-old mom.

He recalled that his parents were more shocked about his early retirement than his move.

"I think this is important for people that move away from family," he said. "You can't think of it as how many years you have left with somebody. You have to think about it as how many visits you have left with that person."

Thailand is a popular retirement destination

Chris is not the only one who has found a retirement haven in Thailand.

According to the World Bank, the number of foreigners over 50 who received retirement visas to stay in Thailand doubled between 2013 and 2018 to nearly 80,000.

Retirees enjoy the country's slow pace of life and low cost of living.

John Walker, 73, moved from Australia to Chiang Mai, a province in northern Thailand, in 2019. He lives on an annual pension of around $18,000 and saves around 40% of his income. "People from all different countries come here," he told BI. "It's got a huge retirement community."

Similarly, Jeffrey Odgen, 75, decided to retire in Hua Hin, a beach town south of Bangkok. "The people here are very respectful. They respect their elders, whereas you don't get that in other European countries," said Odgen, who is originally from the UK.

For Chris, being able to live any type of lifestyle is his favorite part of living in the city.

"If you want to be a recluse and just hide in your condo all day and get everything delivered, you can do that. If you want to explore the city, the public transportation is amazing," he said. "There's a lot of great culture, and everything is just right at your fingertips."

Although he's been in the city for six years, Chris says it only feels like six minutes.

"It has been the fastest and the best six years of my life living here," said Chris, who has since extended his visa for 20 more years. "I absolutely want to stay as long as I possibly can."

Do you have a story about moving abroad to retire that you want to share? Get in touch with the reporter, Erin: [email protected].