I’ve been trying for a while now to put together an update. The reason that is a struggle is there have been so many moments of progress followed by taking steps back, such as getting my hopes up about a potential property, for it to suddenly come up unavailable. Now, through a myriad of events, we’ve taken a pretty big step in an unexpected direction.
First of all, can you believe it’s been over 2 months now since we moved to Thailand (and 4 since leaving the States)?? I sure can’t. It sure has been a whirlwind already, but it is starting to feel more and more like home (no, mom & dad, not permanent, but home for now,
).
Our time here in Thailand has been, well, nothing like what I anticipated.
To make a long story short and concise:
1. We set out to start a hostel by October.
2. It’s December and we don’t have a hostel yet.
Here’s the deal. We began this journey toward starting a hostel by doing loads of research.
Necessities:
- A hostel and an AIM base all-in-one.
- Got it
- Something that could serve as a functional, appealing hostel, but also have enough space to host World Race teams & Gap Year Squads
- Upwards of 50-60 people…gonna be a big hostel…ok!
- Get this up and running ASAP, and work out the kinks to set up the long-term team that is set to launch the beginning of 2018 and will take over business operations when we leave
- check, we can do that
- Simultaneously host teams that are already slated to come through Chiang Mai
- Alright, not my strong suit, but ok, let’s do it
So as we were sitting in Cambodia in August and September, the plan began to unfold. We would wrap up our training in September, go to Phnom Penh to get our Thai visas, and then begin our trek to Thailand. Once in Thailand, we would have a hostel to run, have 2 teams to host, and would start to figure out just what it looks like to have an AIM base and hostel all wrapped up together.
…but then we got closer to Thailand, and we still hadn’t secured a location. Then, on the day we went to visit the most promising location, it suddenly was taken off the market (after being up for sale for a couple years).
We went back to the drawing boards. Gradually our dream became much bigger. Why are we limiting our hostel efforts by confining it within what we need for an AIM base? Why do they have to be one in the same? Why are we dreaming so small for something that has a much greater potential? Why not separate the two? Can we have a hostel and an AIM base, separately? Can the AIM base simply be a ministry house, set to host teams, while the hostel serves as…well…a hostel?
All of these questions lead to one common thought: we need to push back our timeline.
So here it is. We are pressing forward with our initial priority: set up an AIM base. We have teams coming through the city who need a place to stay that is within the AIM budget. We can provide that.
((Stay tuned for more news on this front. It’s still brewing, but is about ready!))
One of the hardest realizations for me was that in moving forward with the AIM base (ministry house // team home, whatever you want to call it), the dream of opening a hostel has to be put on the back burner. Funding will have to be put toward the base, and additional funds raised for the hostel. Not to mention, in order to open a hostel that models what we’ve laid out on paper, it’s simply going to take time. We need location, structure, funding, Thai laws, and many other factors to line up. That’s a tall order.
All of this to say, we are still dreaming up our ideal hostel. It’s still in the works, it’ll just be delayed.
