According to Hindu belief, life is divided into 4 stages. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism) They are Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (gradual detachment) and Sanyasa (renunciation). For lay Hindus, it will be uncommon for them to follow the stages.
I admire some of our Farang friends in Thailand who left a well-paid white-collared job and hit for places like Isaan to teach English. It is hard for many to understand the motivation.
