girl-earsYesterday, my husband and I booked an apartment for a month in Chiang Mai, a city in Northern Thailand. My goal while being here is to pretty much work on my laptop all day, so we aren’t really here for sightseeing.

So….we spent most of the day riding around on a scooter, scoping out places to stay.

One of my requirements is that the apartment not be a studio. I need my quiet time and my space, so a studio would drive me nuts because it would mean we’d be in the same room all day. Most couples would be fine in a studio for the short period of a month, but not me. I simply need my own space for my sanity. So that meant our options were more limited and more expensive. I wish I didn’t feel this way, but I’ve learned that I have to accept it and accommodate it.

We finally found a place and it seemed just fine.

Then night time rolled around and we soon discovered that right next door, there is an outdoor karaoke bar.

Until ONE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING on a WEEKDAY, we could clearly hear loud singing and music, even with our windows shut and the a/c on.

Even as I puttered around, putting clothes in drawers, taking a shower, and doing general things in the apartment, the muffled background noise grated on my nerves and I could feel it making me more and more irritated as the minutes passed.

I complained aloud a few times to my husband, who clearly was not as annoyed as I was. I wish I was more like him. I don’t want to be annoyed by these small things. But I can’t help it.

All I wanted was a quiet apartment with my own space. We went through the trouble of finding a place that fit these requirements, and then something out of my control happens and ruins it all. Now I have to put up with loud music and singing every single night, just at the time when I crave quiet and peace so I can do work.

I bet most people could tune it out. I wish I was most people.

We asked the front desk if we could move rooms, but in typical Thai customer service fashion (if you’ve been here, you’ll know what I’m talking about) they said, “No, it’s not loud! It’s not noisy!” Basically telling us that there is no noise! And they claimed they were full so they can’t move us.

So I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Thinking about it makes me feel anxious. I need my quiet time and to be denied it without any recourse makes me feel trapped.