Two Months in Chiang Mai

Back in May, when I quit my job I hadn’t planned to spend 7 weeks in another country. Let alone the other side of the world.  I knew I didn’t want to work in an office environment but I’ve never been spontaneous enough to head out to somewhere so far, for so long.

Why Chiang Mai

I choose it because it is popular for digital nomads. But what is a digital nomad:-

Digital nomads are people who are location independent and use technology to perform their job. Digital nomads work remotely (telecommute), which is now economically possible due to cheap internet access, smartphones and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to keep in contact with clients and employers.

I’m not quite location independent just yet though, I still have a mortgage on my apartment and so does the Fiance on hers. This makes our outgoings higher than they would be if we didn’t own property. However there’s potential rental opportunities in the long run for us here.

Here’s the reasons why we chose Chiang Mai

• It’s not as touristy as Bangkok
• It’s cheap, relative to the UK
• We wanted to learn some Muay Thai
• The digital nomad summit is here (http://www.nomadsummit.com/) – which was a random co-incidence

What does it cost in Chiang Mai?

We decided to stay in a Condo out of the City Centre, through AirBnB. This is more expensive than it would have been if we ‘rented’ the apartment direct. However through AirBnB we had some security and with it being our first trip away – really helped give some assurance.

It also had some ‘must haves’ for working out here:-

• Internet connection
• Near a large mall
• Gym
• Pool
• Cable TV
• Hot weather (30+ degrees instead of temperatures around 0).

To rent the apartment direct for 12 months, is 9,000THB a month, for 6 months is 10,000THB a month (which is about $280 a month).  Living expenses, we are probably spending between $30 and $40 a day on food + entertainment.

This is a lot cheaper than the UK based on what we are doing out here (eating out most evenings).

Why are you telling us this?

It’s part of my journey, and I wanted to share in case anyone else reading this is considering working remotely (and want an idea for somewhere to go).

If you’re out here, leave a comment 🙂 if you want to follow along with my journey – sign up below: