I lived in a hut for six years without paying rent- now I make thousands with my thriving business
A WOMEN who has lived in a hut in Thailand for almost six years with no property now runs a thriving business in the UK.
Sam Clarke, 51, from Huddersfield, trained in Thai massage before selling his home and embarking on an adventure that combines training with travel.
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After volunteering at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, she helped set up a project and ended up living in the community there.
She spent five and a half years living in a hut – including an empty room but with a mattress and mosquito net – living and cooking from an electric skillet on the porch.
Most people would share an outside toilet, but since she was a “shy foreigner” they built her a windbreak to form a small room.
“You are living outside most of the time,” she said.
“You adapt really, to the lifestyle. It’s really liberating.”
Although she didn’t pay the rent for the hut, she did have to pay people to build it for her and contribute to the community, leaving her in financial hardship.
She said she would never have imagined staying in Thailand for so long, but “it has an effect on you”.
She ended up going back to the UK because her dad was sick and decided to stay behind to support her mother who was alone.
One of the biggest tweaks was getting back to normal shoes, after spending all of her time in Thailand wearing flip flops.
Now, she is running a successful aromatherapy-based business after starting an Etsy store.
Sam was able to grow her business after meeting other professionals in a co-working space, and now runs her fragrance brand Bliss Therapies.
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