Dave Berger:
CLASS OF 1975
South Amherst High SchoolClass of 1975
South amherst, OH
Dave's Story
Life
I've done and seen a lot. I have lived in Columbus, Denver, San Diego and Pattaya Beach Thailand. I was a sales manager for pitney bowes, left and became a mortgage loan officer, started what became the largest paging company in San Diego, sold that and moved to Thailand for 2 years where I opened 2 pizza restaurants. My goal was to retire by 45 and I achieved it. Unfortunately I lost everything I owned in the dot com crash and moved back to San Diego as a loan officer again. Real estate went in the tank. Now I'm a sales manager for an import/contemporary furniture store. Who'd a thunk it?
I have never been married and have no kids that I know of. I live in a cheap apartment in a bad section of San Diego with a Thai woman I have known for years. She is not my lover but is definitely my soul mate. In 3 years we have never even had an arguement. Ever. I can see the ocean from my bedroom window. But the trolley runs underneath it every 20 minutes, or like they said in the Blues Bros. "So often you dont even notice".
I have written 2 books. Both are suspense thrillers that take place in South East Asia and both are unpublished as of yet although they are available on Amazon if you have a Kindle. I've done most of the things your mother's warned you about and probably several times.
My life used to be about working hard to save money to drive the latest cars, have a nice house, etc. Now I collect experiences and memories. At this point in my life I haven't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of but strangely I am content. I have lived in South East Asia and know what hardship really is. My worst day doesn't even come close to a Khmer's (Cambodian's) best day. My goal is to move back to South East Asia. There are things there that will turn your stomach and break your heart and 10 feet later there is something so beautiful it will take your breath away. Somehow I feel more alive in that setting. The US seems so sanitized. We don't have anything really bad but I think we lost something along the way. You travel almost anywhere in the world and there are people on the streets, music in the ...Expand for more
air and street vendors selling food. The sights and sounds of a city like Bangkok, Acapulco or even Phnom Penh assault you and seduce you at the same time. Drive through a neighborhood in the US and you may see a few cars but almost a total absence of people. Everyone locks themselves in their houses to travel the world through the Discovery channel from the safety and comfort of their easy chair. There's a whole world out there to explore and most of it does not operate the way it does in the US. If this is your life, I'm not knocking it. It's just not for me. I have no responsibilities and no security. I will probably die a horrible death, broke and penniless. That's the part I'm not looking forward to. I guess in the end, any death is horrible so what difference does it make? I've had an E ticket ride while it lasted.
This definitely wasn't what I thought my life would turn out like. I always figured the house in the burbs, 2.3 kids,a minivan and a basketball hoop on the garage. When my mom died at 48 years old, I changed my attitude completely. I quit doing the things I didn't like and focused on doing only the things that make me happy. I try to make every day count. This life turned out to be mostly rest and relaxation for me. I must have done something really spectacular in my last life to be rewarded so greatly in this one. Flaky Buddhist philosophy? Maybe, but even Christians believe in life after death. I just believe that life takes place here.
If it looked like fun, I tried it. I have done things I never even dreamed about. I've kayaked mountain streams and spent 2 years skiing the best ski resorts in Colorado every weekend. I've visited foreign countries where I didn't speak the language, completely alone with only a backpack. I speak Spanish and Thai although am not fluent in them. To tell you the truth, the only thing you really need to communicate in any foreign country is a smile. The rest you'll figure out.
My email is thailanddave at hot mail. You fill in the missing blanks. Would love to hear from you. Life is about the journey, not the destination. I hope you are loving yours
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