A Nottinghamshire father-of-two is planning to move his family to Thailand with “nothing but a bag of clothes” in pursuit of a better quality of life.
Dale Smith, 37, alongside his wife, Kim, 36, and their two children, Noah, 10, and Molly, eight, felt increasingly “trapped” and “fed up” living in the UK.
Over time, he also noticed his earnings were consumed by rising costs, rather than providing disposable income, and his children were disengaged from their schooling.
The family yearned to escape a routine where they simply “wish away the days for the weekend”, and, determined to make a change, they decided a move was required, settling on Thailand for the “beautiful scenery” and “incredible food”.
To finance this ambitious move and subsequent travels, the family plans to sell their three-bedroom home, their 2015 Ford Focus, and most of their electronics and personal items.
Their goal is to arrive in Bangkok with “nothing but a bag of clothes” and supported by a pot of savings.
With the children taken out of school, Dale said he and Kim will homeschool them instead. He hopes Noah and Molly will “learn new languages and learn about new cultures” in the process, as they embrace their new life abroad.
Dale has been sharing his journey on TikTok, where his most popular video discussing his reasons for leaving the UK, such as the rising cost of living and the poor weather, has had more than one million views.
Feeling “terrified” but “excited” all the same, the family have set a target date for November to get their plans in motion – and they hope to have their house on the market in August.
“Don’t live your life in regret,” Dale said. “If you want to do something like this, don’t be afraid, don’t give up.
It scares me to death to think we’re just chasing this dream of ‘one day this will happen’ or ‘when we’re retired it will be nice’.
“We need to embrace this and enjoy our lives, we’ve got nothing to lose.”
Dale said his family felt “trapped” and “fed up” living in the UK.
“We just want to break out of this routine, I feel like life is just flying by,” he said.
“You wake up on a Monday, you’re fed up and you can’t wait for the weekend – you’re wishing the days away.”
Dale also feels crime and the cost of living have made the UK “not a nice place to live any more”.
“The prices of everything are going up, and the streets are a state,” he said.
Dale said he took on a job as an HGV driver a few years ago, which “doubled” his income, but he soon realised his pay cheque was not landing in his pocket.
“That extra money is just going on bills, the bills have now doubled – you’re banging your head against a brick wall,” he said.
Determined to make a change, Dale and his family have decided to embark on an exciting journey relocating to Thailand, saying his two children were on board “straight away”.
“I think this is the right time for them, they don’t enjoy school here and they find it a bit pointless,” he said.
Dale anticipates he and Kim will homeschool their children, continuing to focus on English and basic maths, as well as other subjects they enjoy studying, such as history, video editing and photography.
“Kids are sponges, so hopefully they will start learning the Thai language,” he said.
“Noah and Molly will still have the opportunity to do their GCSEs if they want to; we’re not holding them back on anything in relation to their education.”
To afford the travel costs, Dale said the family plans to arrive in Thailand with barely any belongings.
They are aiming to sell their home, their car, their electronics and most of their possessions – although they will store some items of sentimental value with relatives in the UK.
“We plan to go to Thailand with nothing but a bag of clothes, because what else would we need?” he said.
While the family do not have concrete plans for their travels, they have set a target for November to leave the UK – pending the sale of their house, which they are hoping to put on the market in August.
Dale said they have since been doing “loads” of research around their visa applications, flights and the places they wish to visit, saying they will first travel to Bangkok for one week.
From there, they plan to move down the coast to Hua Hin, a beachside district, for a few months.
“We need to base ourselves somewhere cheap for a month or two to try and figure out our spending costs – from there, we’ll work out where we’ll go next,” he said.
Dale said he is most excited for the “adventure” of their travels.
“I don’t like having things planned, every day we’ll be waking up wondering what we are going to do today,” he said.
Dale hopes the family can rent a property overseas, saying many places are fully furnished, which would be “one thing (they) don’t have to worry about”.
With their extended family still living in the UK, Dale said they may return in the future, but “it depends”.
“That’s the joy of doing what we are doing, we can come back if we need to and spend quality time with our relatives,” he said.
While Dale did not wish to say how much the family have saved, he said they should have enough money to support them for a few years.
Dale is also posting the family’s journey on TikTok and YouTube, under the handle @4go.traveling, which may give them “a little bit of extra income”.
His most popular TikTok video to date, with 1.5 million views, shows Dale sitting in his car and discussing his reasons for wanting to relocate, earning positive comments from others who have moved away from the UK.
“I think it’ll be fun,” he said.
“It’s scary and I’m terrified, but I think it’ll be amazing – especially for the children.
“We’ll have a better quality of life, we’ll be more present with the kids, the weather will be nicer, and the scenery will be prettier – it’s a no-brainer.”