The Simple Dream #

When I was a college student in Bangkok, my parents gave me 200 baht a day to live on. A single cup of coffee cost 35 baht.

I was a big guy with a big appetite, so making 200 baht last the whole day was not easy. Food, transport, everything had to fit. Coffee felt like something I could not really afford. But I needed it. I was studying, reading, trying to get through each day. Two cups would have helped a lot.

So I told myself that someday, I will be able to buy two cups of coffee a day without even thinking about it.

It sounds like a small thing. But back then, it felt like everything. A life where I did not have to count every baht. Where I could just live.

That Day Came #

I got a job. Now I can buy as many cups as I want and it does not cross my mind at all.

But sitting here with my coffee today, I am not sure I feel much happier than I did back then. Which is a strange thing to sit with.

What I Realised #

I think it is because while I was busy chasing other things, I forgot that this is already the life I once dreamed of. The two cups of coffee were never really about coffee. They were the dream. And I had been living it without even noticing.