After decades of misadventure and a perilously close encounter with the abyss, I decided to make a radical change and start a whole new life. At 57, with no job, no pension, and no expectations, I distilled my existence down to a single backpack and walked away from it all.
These pages are field notes from the other side of that decision.
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How I Got Here
The monologues continue. In this video I finally crack the nut open and share a little bit about what pushed me close enough to the abyss to make the decision to make a radical change in my life and walk away. Spoiler alert: A girl. Money. Job. Health. You’re right. What else could it be.
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Walking Away
by William Snyder Ban Kan Throm, Thailand April 23, 2026 Beyond the checkpoint, I’d settled into a seat along the wall where floor-to-ceiling windows stretched past the coffee shop before I noticed … before the weight of actually being there settled on my chest. Sunrise dancing off the tarmac. A faint smell of duty-free perfume.
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The Corner Store
Inside this small border village in southern Isaan, at the far end of the main road, is a gathering place that serves as tavern, drugstore, temple, mercantile, and healer’s shrine. It is also home to a man named Yow. From six in the morning until eight at night, every day of the year, villagers come
More field notes, shorter dispatches, and fragments from the road live on Substack.
