Be Like Vic: Transform Aging into Energy and Purpose Through Teaching in Thailand

Getting older hits differently when you’re living abroad. Responsibilities stack up, random aches show up uninvited, and suddenly your body sounds like bubble wrap when you stand up. It makes you wonder — can you slow it down? Reverse it? At least make it less… loud?

Living and teaching in Thailand has forced me to rethink what aging actually means. And somewhere between physical therapy sessions and classrooms full of teenagers, I started realizing that energy and purpose might not fade with age; they just shift.

Aging Abroad and Body Reality

The idea of getting old kinda sucks. Actually getting old does kinda suck… There are more responsibilities you have to worry about; remembering what being a kid feels like is impossible. Why do my knees, back, neck, hips, liver, and pancreas hurt? Yeah, you get the idea. Now, how do we manage getting older as immigrants/expats in another country? Is there anything we can do to help reverse or mitigate this aging process? Cause it is great to be able to move without pain and to be joyous, energetic, and worry-free.

Jeez, does body pain suck! Low back is connected to the hip bone, OW! The hip bone is connected to the spine bone (I know, just let me be 😘), OW! The spine bone is connected to all the bones in my body, OW! Yeah, that’s what it feels like in your 30’s going into your 40’s and beyond. They say it’s a natural part of aging… 😐 No, no it isn’t… and yes it can be reversed (well, most of it can before a certain age).

For many of us who choose to teach abroad, especially long-term, physical health becomes part of the lifestyle equation.

Finding Real Relief in Thailand

Since being in Thailand, I have had my fair share of massages all in the sake of bringing some youth to these old bones. They were therapeutic in the moment, and some even had effects lasting a few days. I even followed many proclaimed physios on IG. They introduced me to all these new exercises that may make me more elastic. The exercises coupled with the massages did help, yet I was not finding any relief from the chronic pain.

Fast forward to the current moment I am writing this, and my body feels like it is from a time I cannot recall. Joints are mobile, muscles are loose, and it feels comfortable sitting or standing. It must have been a Christmas miracle, Batman! It wasn’t, it was P. Nok from K&K Balance, a physical therapy office that specializes in body adjustments and corrections.

The office is located at 1/98 Chaengwattana-Pakkret Soi 23 in the Cocomic Condo building. What makes her practice so successful is that she is aiming to cure you. She doesn’t want to see your face again! (😂) Ok, that part is not true, but she does aim to educate all of her clients to the point where they would not need her anymore.

Initially, she will ask you questions to understand what the issue is. Once she begins working on you, she will need a few hours as she carefully investigates and corrects. During the process, she is also explaining the causes and effects that created the body’s physical condition and teaching you exercises to do at home.

Now, the secret to success is using those exercises at home. So, you may start off seeing her three to four times a month and then go down to once or twice a month. It’s a great feeling getting that mobility, flexibility, and movement again!

If you would like to feel young again, call +66 (0) 949-284-282. P. Nok can speak some English, but it may be better to get her line so you can text to communicate for more effective comprehension.

For anyone teaching in Thailand long term, investing in your physical health isn’t optional — it’s sustainable living.

Arriving at Thirty-Seven in Thailand

Thirty-seven is the age at which I arrived here in Thailand. Not really old, but far enough from childhood that effort is needed to recall childhood memories. That’s ok, though, soon I was going to have some little kids and teenagers help me keep those memories at the forefront of my mind.

Why does it take thirty kids to remind us that we were once one of those thirty kids who ran around for the hell of it, making unearthly sounds, tackling our friends, playing pranks, and just being silly? Hell if I know, but to some of us it does.

When you join the BFITS Program and step into a classroom, you don’t just teach — you’re exposed to constant reminders of youth, energy, spontaneity, and authenticity.

Relearning Youth from Teenagers

I was lucky to have the chance to teach teenagers. Some may say otherwise, but I have learned a lot about them and myself. From afar, being surrounded by thirty-fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen year olds may look like some ritualistic act of sacrifice; up close, it feels like it (😂). It actually is in a metaphorical sense.

I know, initially I was being too serious with the kids in an attempt to demand respect (old people-ish 😂), so the students would behave in class and submit their assignments. That didn’t work; it created resentment towards me.

This proceeded up until one of those random memories played in my head from my school days. I remembered one of the teachers I really respected and enjoyed, Mr. Zucker. He was never a teacher to get mad at students, but he did know how to be on their level. That level of navigating the teenage social interactions, cause really these kids just want to have a good time.

Knowing this, a teacher can adapt to find ways to engage and encourage their students and create lessons that they would find enjoyable. What is the harm in thinking, “What would make my young self enjoy this lesson?”

You will find yourself awakening that child again; the one who enjoys jump-scaring their friends, the one who enjoys swinging on swings, or the one who can’t touch the floor because the floor is lava.

Teaching abroad, especially in Thailand, has a strange way of reactivating parts of yourself you forgot existed.

Reclaiming Youth Through Purpose

All of us “old” people are trying to feel young again in so many ways. Getting older, to us, sits tandem with pain and suffering, but it doesn’t have to, though. It may take self-discipline and work, but our bodies can recover and get their spring in their step (barring any severe physical injury or other pre-existing condition).

Our youthful spirit can be recovered, as well. They say that acting like a child is a negative attribute. It’s never negative when your life becomes more full of content.

For those who choose to teach in Thailand with BFITS, growth isn’t just professional. It’s physical, emotional, and even playful. You might come for career development, but you stay because the experience reshapes how you feel — in your body and in your mindset.

Aging doesn’t disappear. But purpose makes it lighter.