When I was younger I enjoyed moving around the world, but as time went on it became difficult to tear up roots yet again and transplant myself and my family to yet another country. While interesting and stimulating, the life of a diplomatic wife is not all gin & tonics on distant verandahs. In fact, sometimes it’s both tough and lonely. Though over the years I became more sophisticated and 
less terrified about entertaining VIPs and crowds of different strangers, at the same time it grew harder and harder to leave friends and family behind.It was also bad for the self-confidence to be ‘just a trailing spouse’. People tended to ask me what my husband thought - my own opinion being of no consequence!
If you would like to read the rest of this article, which first appeared in the RNA magazine, click here
(I thought of trying to install one of those HTML devices to make another page but it looked too difficult so I've started a third blog for longer articles.)
Photo: a flooded Queen Victoria at the British Embassy in Bangkok. She has now been moved back and the house above demolished to make way for a shopping centre. So sad.
5 comments:
I am sure it was exciting living in all those countries but I can understand how it was hard to be away from family.
What a beautiful house to have just torn down like that!
Yes, it's sad about the old trees too. Bangkok needs trees to combat all the pollution.
That is sad. Progress is not always a good thing. Did you start writing while doing all of that traveling and while feeling lonely?
Yes, I did write articles and stories during our early travels, but no novels until much later. A late bloomer! I wish I had started sooner.
About the demolition - there is now an overground metro/sky train along the road right by that house, so that could be why the British Embassy sold the front of the compound. Still sad, though.
Susie, I was at the embassy for coffee last month and Queen Victoria is looking very good in her new place. I had a lovely view of her straight through the doors.
I love the pic.
(I guess that's the very reason I'm writing now... a late bloomer too, but hoping to have a life of my own!)
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