I chose Thailand for my sailing course because of some advice from a friend. My original plan was to do a course in my home country of South Africa, but my friend, who had a lot of experience working on board, told me, "If you're going to go for it, you should go all the way!". I did some research and discovered that the course was almost the same price in Thailand and the living expenses seemed very affordable.

This is the apartment building I lived in during my stay. Thailand is an amazing mix of traditional and modern.

My studio had a magnificent view.

On the left, you can see the empty ground where they set up the night market a few times a week - plenty of delicious food. Even though I was on a budget, the prices were so good that I ended up buying far too much food (and gaining a fair amount of weight!)