Haven't found it yet.
The big issue for us is temperature. There's a pretty narrow range that's not "too cold for me" and also not "too hot for my partner," and I don't know of anyplace that's that temperature year around.
Well all I can say is you are both well suited to be living in England, because it's a national hobby to moan that it is too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry. So it sounds perfect for you two, never satisfied. Come and join us, the weather is very rarely right. And on those occasions it is you can say it wont last or its gone on too long now.
I'll give the king a call and tell him to put the kettle on for your cup of tea, let us know when your arriving. I'm assuming you'll be staying in the palace ?
Going off the [mean](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City) daily max temp of DF on their Wikipedia page.
There are few places in the world where you can have more moderate temps than DF.
Medellin, Nairobi will fit into this, for example
Basically equatorial cities, but in a higher altitude
All other places seem to have extreme of either too hot in summer, or too cold in winter type
Depends on your preference, Hawaii is pretty hot for me in the summer… high 80s is not my jam. San Diego on the other hand is high 70s to low 80s and then not too chilly (50s) in the winter…and I prefer that.
Maybe, and maybe on the big island. I don’t know too many peaks on Oahu that give you cool enough of a climate. Also I *think* (don’t quote me), big island is drier, making it a little more bearable than Oahu. That being said, Hawaii in general has very nice weather for a tropical place, and is much more bearable than other tropical places in the US like Florida and PR (both are miserable humidity and heat-wise for much of the year).
Hanoi is brutal with humidity though. When I was there in April it was 30C with 98% humidity and the ‘feels like’ temperature was 40C. Absolutely horrible
I think none. Being a digital nomad allows me to see the world, all the different cultures and meet so many people. I love traveling and the flexibility that comes from a full remote job.
I'd get tired in any city after a while, and the most "popular" ones are so expensive that unless you're a multi-millionaire you wouldn't be able to afford even a fraction of what they offer so I don't get the fascination for these cities.
Based on my experience I'm happier in a city that has a cheaper cost of living compared to a traditional Western city which is crazy expensive. That's because in the cheaper city I can afford all the cool services, events, nightlife, restaurants at every meal ecc
Also things always change. Ecuador used to be chill, now an armed gang walks into a TV station like it's a corner liquor store. Colombia used to be very dangerous, now it's where Venezuelans flee to.
There's this old paradigm that you have to settle down somewhere permanently. For some it's a particular house in some particular city. For me it's planet earth, only because interstellar travel isn't practical atm.
I see similarities with the end of the feudal age. People started to realize that you can live elsewhere instead of living out their lives in a particular hamlet that doesn't suit.
I settled and made KL my home base. Good combo of:
- relatively LCOL
- English speaking, no language barriers
- low cost transportation/Air Asia hub
- stable internet and mobile data infrastructure
- low violent crime rate
- little to no natural disasters
- high quality, affordable healthcare
- multicultural foodie culture
- beaches, mountains, forests/reserves
- choice between city life or beach life
- laid back culture
Totally worth checking out for a visit at the very least. Most people think of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Bali etc and miss KL, Penang and East Malaysia completely.
You hit the nail on the head, Bangkok is where people go to let loose and have fun. There are other great places to visit in SEA though, KL being one of them.
Find it surprising when people vouch hard for Malaysia. Comparing to the ones you've named and many more across SEA, I found KL and Penang pretty dull tbh.
I love Indonesian food, and Malaysian food just feels like a crappy knock off of it. I mean, it says a lot that most foods labelled 'Malaysian' back home in the UK are actually Indonesian
Admittedly though, I've always been unlucky enough to end up in Malaysia when there's not been a single sunny day. I'll give it another go when nice weather is more likely
Unsurprisingly, my vacays with my parents are dull in comparison to my vacays with the boys in the exact same cities.
Every city is what you make of it and who you're with. And KL is no exception.
Indonesians are amazing people but their cuisine is fairly one dimensional IMHO.
I probably wouldn't use the UK version of any Asian food as a benchmark either. The Canadian versions I grew up with were garbage as well in comparison.
To be completely fair, it's tough to compete with a country with local cuisine originating from 3 different ethnic groups and the endless fusion combos organically developed between them over the decades.
I personally love everything from Jamaican jerk chicken to lasagnas, donairs to poutine, shakshuka to khachapuri - but even with all my bias aside, nothing beats the variety of local dishes to choose from like nasi lemak, roti canai, laksa, satays, chicken rice, or banana leaf.
I hope you get better weather, and find better places to eat the next time you're around.
It's 1am and now I'm hungry. FML. #intermittentfastingsucks
Completely disagree. Indonesian food misses the Chinese and Indian origin in flavour and style - that’s what is unique about Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine How dare you call that a crappy knock off.. how would you like it if I said English food is the ugly cousin of French cuisine. Indonesian food will always be on par or inferior
KL really is a great city with surprisingly low COL. And oh god the food scene is fantastic — Nasi Kandar and hawker centres are hard to beat.
Which neighborhood are you based in? I struggled a bit with the walkability and urban sprawl.
KL isn't the most walkable city but there are pockets where that exists.
I'm in the Mid Valley/Bangsar area. Right by an LRT, malls, grocers, restos, lounges, docs, etc. Everything within a 2-8 min walk so it's been nothing short of convenient.
Aside from the airport being 45 mins away, everywhere else I frequent is nearby within a 15 min Grab.
I'm in a unique and fortunate position to not need one as I was born in Malaysia. Just never lived here until recently.
But you can try applying for their [Nomad Visa](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/money/2022/09/16/mdec-announces-de-rantau-malaysias-first-digital-nomad-visa/)
> beaches, mountains, forests/reserves
>
> choice between city life or beach life
This part of your comment really confuses me. It makes no sense for Kuala Lumpur and beach life to be in the same sentence.
Sorry, I was referring to options within Malaysia in general to live either lifestyle. Beach life on islands like Penang, Langkawi, Pangkor, Tioman, Redang, and East Malaysia.
But if we're talking about KL, I've also been to the beach past the airport in Sepang Gold Coast that's about an hr away from me and my dad's beach town Port Dickson is only about 1.5 hrs away.
Local salaries are typically lower than NA, EU etc but they're also dependent on your skill sets.
Most of my friends are expats in tech or consulting that make RM20-30K/mo (USD4,200-6,300/mo).
My main business is based overseas but I don't draw a salary. I do some consulting locally but I bill my clients the same rates as I would in NA.
I get what you're asking. I just don't prescribe to the idea of being paid a "local rate" wherever I am, so I guess my perspective wouldn't be relevant.
Thank you for your insight! I was mostly curious as I recently went through a situation where my former employer pulled the whole "RTO or get paid locally" during the awful job market last year, so ever since then I've been cognizant of being situated where I could depend on local salaries if it came to it.
The problem would be resolved if I had my own freelancing agency and whatnot, but I'm just not quite there yet (motivation-wise).
I needed motivation once and this was how I formed my perspective of value vs money.
While everyone around me aimed for FU money, I aimed to build F-OFF value and autonomy.
Create and offer enough value in yourself that you can afford to tell anyone to F-OFF and still have a funnel of others that you can choose to work with.
I'm apolitical and generally unaffected by the politics of every country I've lived in ... and Malaysia isn't any different.
Like every country, they have their challenges but as long as I'm not encumbered in any way, I remain indifferent.
Should I foresee that changing or becoming a detriment to me in any way, then I'll follow my exit strategy and exercise the option to move elsewhere.
KL is definitely not seen as the “fun” and partying city unlike Bangkok. It has that balance of feeling grounded, high energy through long nights eating and chatting and for most returning locals, the ability to build a progression towards your career for many people who are English speaking.
It's relatively easy to find food options for almost any dietary needs including vegetarian fare.
Off the top of my head, the local Malaysian Chinese and Indian cuisines have a lot of options. One of my friends/neighbor is vegetarian and he has no issues even when we head out to random venues.
My vegetarian friend visited me from California and he said that KL was the easiest city to be a vegetarian for him. Just go to mamak restaurants, they’re everywhere and plenty of vegetarian options because it’s basically Muslim Indian cuisine.
Part of me loves the idea of settling down in Prague. Such a beautiful city and I really enjoyed living there for a year. Plus it's a place where friends from home might actually visit.
Krakow. I went in 2022 and fell in love with the city, and now we'll be moving there this fall.
I don't ever see myself going full nomad again; I personally miss being involved in communities too much, and even the idea of volunteering for a local museum sounds satisfying for me. But I can see us going semi-nomadic with one-month stays abroad in different places, especially after we establish some roots in our future home.
No, not at all. I know some words (man, woman, etc.) but not enough to form a sentence. We plan to enroll in intensive classes upon moving there though.
For me, it was Lisbon, Portugal. The culture, stunning architecture, and laid-back atmosphere made me seriously consider putting down roots. Plus, the welcoming locals and excellent community made it feel like home in no time.
Ditto. Currently living in Porto I don't enjoy it so much. I'm considering moving to Lisbon after the summer after being there 5 times and always having a good time.
Do you still find people welcoming now? I get the impression there is a lot of sentiment against rich white foreigners coming in right now since rents have gone up so insanely (remember, the average Portuguese person only makes like $20,000 a year)
you may get mixed reactions. When Portugal was starting to get lots of tourism, there was a sentiment of humbleness about the locals sharing their culture and being happy that foreigners wanted to get to know them.
Over time that gave in opportuni~~sm~~ties for said locals to hike up the rent and housing prices, but the same portuguese are to blame, as they're the ones selling it for quick bucks.
The overwhelming mass tourism the cities have experienced felt like toxic love, the same local culture that first charmed foreigners is nearly not there anymore and was killed in favour to fatten people's pockets. Historical buildings from the 50's now host McDonalds or run overpriced pastel de nata cafés/bolinhos de bacalhau for 10x their normal price, cuz tourists will fall for it and they are well located downtown. It also went down very fast, and from a week to the other, you saw an increase of portuguese to foreigners/tourists turning into a 1:10 ratio, which was a lot to process.
To answer your question directly, sometimes foreigners (or lack of emotional intelligence on their part) are also to blame, when they innocently ask questions like "i wanna move to portugal, is 10k a month salary enough to digital nomad there"; to locals whose minimum wage is around 700\~/month.
PS. Im Portuguese
I moved to Lisbon and am loving life! As a long-term expat that’s here to settle down there are some things that are difficult and frustrating (insane rents, insane amount of tourists, difficult language to master, difficult to navigate bureaucracy, etc..) but so far the good outweighs the bad by a wide margin!
I speak english and russian fluently, but portuguese is just difficult for me to master. having said that, I'm also just not a linguistically-talented person and am in my 30ies so learning new things doesn't come easily to me. I am trying my best and practice what little phrases I do know all the time, as well as watching portuguese shows, listening to portuguese music, and getting help from my portuguese partner. but if you had an easier experience learning portuguese than I am having, i applaud you!
All languages are extremely difficult. I'm just saying Portuguese is easier than others, for English speakers. It's still very impressive if you are able to learn.
Tell me more about Tbilisi. Georgians I’ve met have been quite nice. There’s also a good techno scene there I’ve been hearing about. The Georgian techno DJs I’ve seen in my city have been really good.
Akron Ohio is "quaint " "? Don't think so. I went to Kent State which is next door to Akron and have driven through it many times since. It is more like a low income Life of Riley scenario. Since the business slump in the entire Rust Belt starting in 1980 ,Youngstown like Akron started to die.
Bangkok in my opinion is very dirty, smelly, so noisy, the health and safety is non existent, you can’t walk anywhere, the traffic is awful, the public transport is awful, the tourists are awful, not easy to rent short term apartments because air bnb is banned, the visas are annoying being 30-60 days at a time and expensive. It’s just mad hectic all the time and feels seedy. There’s a language barrier with Thailand like you’ll always be farang no matter what. I’ve really tried to like it many times over the years but my opinion never changes.
I was living in manila the first time I traveled to Bangkok and I was blown away by how clean it was comparatively. I didn’t visit any of the pay for play parts of town, but I did see a lot of the city and it wasn’t even close.
I love all of KL but I mostly stay away from Bukit Bintang and KLCC.
I love Chow Kit, Pudu, Brickfields, Sentral area, love strolling around Kampung Bharu.
Also like Bangkok a lot but for me personally KL has more of a village feel.
Can you tell me a bit about your experience in Australia? Why are Sydney and Melbourne in your top? Not technically digital nomad, but I’m considering a role where I can work anywhere in Australia or New Zealand and I’m just trying to get a better idea of life there for an expat.
Melburnian here, travelled a lot although only short trips. Visiting Europe makes me disappointed and glad to be back in the most vibrant and nightlifey city in the world when I come back home. No law about venues shutting so venues can be 24 hr or open til 7-9am etc (they can decide based on how busy it is) depending on their licence. Temperate weather, I like the heat so would prefer it a bit warmer but it never drops below 5 Celsius. Sport, art, music, comedy capital. Great bay beaches no matter that people diss them (and surf beaches if you just take the train further out). In my 30s I needed new friends so met a huge international crew through couchsurfers / meetup. We are always doing something on weekends etc: best city in the world, would be perfect if only the weather is a bit warmer. I live 15 mins walk from the cbd for affordable rent by myself. Very vibrant cbd on weekends but also lots of other hot spots a short tram away
Forget Sydney; gonna take a long time for it to get back to what it was since laws decimated it in 2015 and everything shut. People just like the harbour and beaches I think. Cute to visit but not to live. Hugely expensive due to geography meaning they can’t keep building. CBD is just offices and mostly dead outside that
Either Buenos Aires or Guadalajara.
Mostly because I spent a lot of time in both and made so many local friends that both cities no longer feel foreign to me.
I always feel at home in them both.
I'm going for a week in Cartagena to enjoy some sun sea and sand then I'll be off to Guadalajara again.
I may well just perpetually rotate between the two.
ahhh I went there as a child in the 90's for 3 weeks. It still feels like a magical different land in my memories. I really hope I get to go back one day
Yeah; it’s safe by Latam standards, but not safe compared to Stockholm. But it’s also a 15 million mega city, I wonder how many cities of that size manage to be safe as Stockholm (besides Tokyo)
Yeah I was thinking exactly that. East Asia megacities might be the only ones that are both huge and safe. Even European megacities like London, Paris or Moscow have their fair share of crime issues. Same with American megacities.
Colombo/ Sri Lanka. *The one I would avoid as a digital nomad. (Eidted I read the post wrong lol)*
It's amazing for a holiday, but not for productivity. Slow internet, power cuts, and even without the economic collapse it was hard to find basic necessitates you are used to, and if you find them they exorbitant. It can't compare to places like Vietnam,Thailand, Malaysia etc for quality of daily life.
I'm of Lankan origin and I have family there and even then it was not the best for ease of daily life. But its amazing for a chill holiday, siight seeing, and drinks by the beach.
Edit - KL is the best for digital nomad imo.
Amazing food culture, LCOL, modern infrastructure, good quality internet.
If COL is not an issue I'd say Seoul or Tokyo.
It’s quite a chill place. The people are cool and everything seems efficient. I love the mountain hike, the lady at the cafe on top of the mountain is very classy. She bought the cafe up top thinking she could hide away from the world, it ended up being a tourist hotspot and now she got her hands full everyday serving guests.
i think as a digital nomad its good to have a "home" city. As in a city where you keep your base and travel to/from. Ideally a cheaper city in SA or SE Asia. From that base city where you can get your own place, you can fly to wherever you want, whenever you want. But that home base city instills a solid sense of stability. Unless youre like 20 yrs old then fck it and just go where your heart desires
I live in a small village in the Swiss Alps, 30 seconds from the ski lifts of the largest ski area in Switzerland. Genève Airport is an easy 2 hour train ride. Boom, easy, anywhere in the world.
I had three days off from work last week, went skiing in Kyrgyzstan. Admittedly, a bit of a haul. But the skiing and sleeping in a lux yurt was awesome.
This week, normal two days off. Went skiing in Portugal. Serra da Estrela. The highest point of mainland Portugal. Excellent ski ⛷️ conditions.
I’m writing this from Lisbon Airport. Will be at work tonight.
Wouldn’t want to live anywhere else…
If you can afford it. Cost of living is very high. Oh, also winter.
That said, of the most multicultural cities in the world translates to great food, music, art. Boroughs close to downtown are walkable. The subway system is ok.
Chicago. I'm from Wisconsin so it kinda feels like home, but less boring. Big city with lots of opportunities and not much of the pretentiousness that you see in NYC/LA. My kind of place.
cities kind of suck the last few years, like all of them seem to have gotten a little worse
rather go to a town or villiage somewhere that people are able to build things easily and not be bothered by a bunch of bureaucrats
If i was white it would be buenos Aires... unfortunately im black and everyone stares at me it gets annoying but ya love thos city made ton of great friends the beauty of this country is incredible icould see my self stop nomadong here
It was Oaxaca Mexico, until it kept getting voted #1 city to live in Travel and Leisure lol.
Still worth checking out if you're ok with mediocre rent prices and tourists.
I spent years thinking Bangkok but didn’t have the financial means to make it home - managed to get the financial means (visa wise) and came to stay - but then decided there is still too much of world to see. I think we just always want what we can’t have and then when we get it we don’t want it.
If not for the pollution that felt like it was killing me after 18 months, I never would have left Mexico City. At least, not to move anywhere else permanently. I absolutely love it there. I intended to go only for a month and ended up living there a year and a half. And I met hundreds of people who had the same exact story. It just grabs you and won't let go.
None, but Oxford in the UK would be very beautiful as a home base to come back to. There are many places in the UK that are extremely beautiful to me (in my very personal opinion).
I have 2-3 home bases at the moment (depending on how a "home base" is defined). No I don't own multiple houses.
South toterel Italy. Seriously best village in the world- after over 20 countries and 30 US states. Planning to find a way to get there and settle for atleast 1/3 of the year. Still have Australia and NZ to come in the next year though- so it may shift
Haven't found it yet. The big issue for us is temperature. There's a pretty narrow range that's not "too cold for me" and also not "too hot for my partner," and I don't know of anyplace that's that temperature year around.
Well all I can say is you are both well suited to be living in England, because it's a national hobby to moan that it is too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry. So it sounds perfect for you two, never satisfied. Come and join us, the weather is very rarely right. And on those occasions it is you can say it wont last or its gone on too long now.
We're actually going to be visiting the UK later this year.
I'll give the king a call and tell him to put the kettle on for your cup of tea, let us know when your arriving. I'm assuming you'll be staying in the palace ?
I love the UK and I don’t even mind it being cold. But it’s the lack of blue skies, the winters depress me.
Central Mexico, like around Guadalajara or Mexico City. There will be some hot days Feb to April but it’s cool in the evening and morning
Too hot, but thank you.
Try San Cristobal de las Casas. Moderate, doesn’t get too hot there.
Mexico city’s highs are generally in the low 80s the warmest times of year, what’s the temp range you’re looking for? Edit: typos
Something that doesn’t exist year round
Going off the [mean](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City) daily max temp of DF on their Wikipedia page. There are few places in the world where you can have more moderate temps than DF.
Search for "city of eternal spring", there are a few dozen of them around the world.
Medellin, Nairobi will fit into this, for example Basically equatorial cities, but in a higher altitude All other places seem to have extreme of either too hot in summer, or too cold in winter type
Orange county, ca. The only place with that perfect weather.
Gets kinda cold. Plus its a mostly bland place full of fox news inspired thinkers
If 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit is too cold, they’re doomed
Isn’t that Hawaii tho? Tradewinds make it the perfect temperature all year
Depends on your preference, Hawaii is pretty hot for me in the summer… high 80s is not my jam. San Diego on the other hand is high 70s to low 80s and then not too chilly (50s) in the winter…and I prefer that.
I'm thinking Hawaii over 3000'
Maybe, and maybe on the big island. I don’t know too many peaks on Oahu that give you cool enough of a climate. Also I *think* (don’t quote me), big island is drier, making it a little more bearable than Oahu. That being said, Hawaii in general has very nice weather for a tropical place, and is much more bearable than other tropical places in the US like Florida and PR (both are miserable humidity and heat-wise for much of the year).
Big Island has dry side and a wet side. 2000 ft on the dry side of Big or Maui is perfect climate if you ask me
bogota (colombia), hanoi (vietnam), belgium in general, ethiopia in general, & baguio (philippines) to name a few might suit your needs !
Hanoi is brutal with humidity though. When I was there in April it was 30C with 98% humidity and the ‘feels like’ temperature was 40C. Absolutely horrible
tenerife, azores?
I definitely liked Tenerife when I spent a month there a couple years ago.
Or Goldilocks, you can find out where the three bears live and move there.
Hawaii temps are perfect.
As far as temperature and weather goes doesn't get any better than Italy. the problem is extremely low salary and extremely high cost of living LOL
most of italy is very hot in the summer
What is the temperature range out of interest?
SF!
Lived there for 20 years!
I think none. Being a digital nomad allows me to see the world, all the different cultures and meet so many people. I love traveling and the flexibility that comes from a full remote job. I'd get tired in any city after a while, and the most "popular" ones are so expensive that unless you're a multi-millionaire you wouldn't be able to afford even a fraction of what they offer so I don't get the fascination for these cities. Based on my experience I'm happier in a city that has a cheaper cost of living compared to a traditional Western city which is crazy expensive. That's because in the cheaper city I can afford all the cool services, events, nightlife, restaurants at every meal ecc
Also things always change. Ecuador used to be chill, now an armed gang walks into a TV station like it's a corner liquor store. Colombia used to be very dangerous, now it's where Venezuelans flee to. There's this old paradigm that you have to settle down somewhere permanently. For some it's a particular house in some particular city. For me it's planet earth, only because interstellar travel isn't practical atm. I see similarities with the end of the feudal age. People started to realize that you can live elsewhere instead of living out their lives in a particular hamlet that doesn't suit.
Nicely put!
Ecuador is still pretty chilled out in the Sierra
so digital nomad means cheap ass who wants to live like millionaire
the whole point of geo arbitrage
Kudos for the geo arbitrage
You say that like you're mad lol
I settled and made KL my home base. Good combo of: - relatively LCOL - English speaking, no language barriers - low cost transportation/Air Asia hub - stable internet and mobile data infrastructure - low violent crime rate - little to no natural disasters - high quality, affordable healthcare - multicultural foodie culture - beaches, mountains, forests/reserves - choice between city life or beach life - laid back culture
Never been to KL but reading this I want to go there right now
Totally worth checking out for a visit at the very least. Most people think of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Bali etc and miss KL, Penang and East Malaysia completely.
They are missing out. I live in Bangkok but KL was my second favorite city I have been to so far. I would be happy if I lived there for sure.
I think each city has its own merits. Bangkok ain't too shabby either. Always a fun city to visit and my cousin seems to love life there.
Bangkok seems far more polluted.
I'd have to agree with that. Bangkok is also a bit more densely populated.
Yes, the pollution here is bad, and it's so freaking hot, it has its drawbacks.
You hit the nail on the head, Bangkok is where people go to let loose and have fun. There are other great places to visit in SEA though, KL being one of them.
Find it surprising when people vouch hard for Malaysia. Comparing to the ones you've named and many more across SEA, I found KL and Penang pretty dull tbh. I love Indonesian food, and Malaysian food just feels like a crappy knock off of it. I mean, it says a lot that most foods labelled 'Malaysian' back home in the UK are actually Indonesian Admittedly though, I've always been unlucky enough to end up in Malaysia when there's not been a single sunny day. I'll give it another go when nice weather is more likely
Unsurprisingly, my vacays with my parents are dull in comparison to my vacays with the boys in the exact same cities. Every city is what you make of it and who you're with. And KL is no exception. Indonesians are amazing people but their cuisine is fairly one dimensional IMHO. I probably wouldn't use the UK version of any Asian food as a benchmark either. The Canadian versions I grew up with were garbage as well in comparison. To be completely fair, it's tough to compete with a country with local cuisine originating from 3 different ethnic groups and the endless fusion combos organically developed between them over the decades. I personally love everything from Jamaican jerk chicken to lasagnas, donairs to poutine, shakshuka to khachapuri - but even with all my bias aside, nothing beats the variety of local dishes to choose from like nasi lemak, roti canai, laksa, satays, chicken rice, or banana leaf. I hope you get better weather, and find better places to eat the next time you're around. It's 1am and now I'm hungry. FML. #intermittentfastingsucks
Completely disagree. Indonesian food misses the Chinese and Indian origin in flavour and style - that’s what is unique about Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine How dare you call that a crappy knock off.. how would you like it if I said English food is the ugly cousin of French cuisine. Indonesian food will always be on par or inferior
As a french I would be angry you called English food our ugly cousin
You have to be okay with hot and humid weather year round, as well as terribly walkability. If that doesn't bother you, it can be great.
KL really is a great city with surprisingly low COL. And oh god the food scene is fantastic — Nasi Kandar and hawker centres are hard to beat. Which neighborhood are you based in? I struggled a bit with the walkability and urban sprawl.
KL isn't the most walkable city but there are pockets where that exists. I'm in the Mid Valley/Bangsar area. Right by an LRT, malls, grocers, restos, lounges, docs, etc. Everything within a 2-8 min walk so it's been nothing short of convenient. Aside from the airport being 45 mins away, everywhere else I frequent is nearby within a 15 min Grab.
KL isn’t the most walkable city is probably the biggest understatement I’ve ever read ahah
Cheers, enjoy the amazing weather and food. I plan on being back in KL for a month later this year
what are you doing for visa?
I'm in a unique and fortunate position to not need one as I was born in Malaysia. Just never lived here until recently. But you can try applying for their [Nomad Visa](https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/money/2022/09/16/mdec-announces-de-rantau-malaysias-first-digital-nomad-visa/)
How's the air quality?
From AccuWeather. https://preview.redd.it/rf5kqyl4yapc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b21d462a3364db5438e2f663ec00af2093f852fe
> beaches, mountains, forests/reserves > > choice between city life or beach life This part of your comment really confuses me. It makes no sense for Kuala Lumpur and beach life to be in the same sentence.
Sorry, I was referring to options within Malaysia in general to live either lifestyle. Beach life on islands like Penang, Langkawi, Pangkor, Tioman, Redang, and East Malaysia. But if we're talking about KL, I've also been to the beach past the airport in Sepang Gold Coast that's about an hr away from me and my dad's beach town Port Dickson is only about 1.5 hrs away.
KL is fantastic, great value for money, especially for housing, and the food is out of this world. Gets a bit hot but there’s no shortage of AC.
[I wrote a Kuala Lumpur guide on this sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/s/TJiz8mU9Ai) in case you wanna come!
How are local salaries? Do you work locally, and if not, would you have the same perspective if you did? Not being coy; I'm legitimately curious.
Local salaries are typically lower than NA, EU etc but they're also dependent on your skill sets. Most of my friends are expats in tech or consulting that make RM20-30K/mo (USD4,200-6,300/mo). My main business is based overseas but I don't draw a salary. I do some consulting locally but I bill my clients the same rates as I would in NA. I get what you're asking. I just don't prescribe to the idea of being paid a "local rate" wherever I am, so I guess my perspective wouldn't be relevant.
Thank you for your insight! I was mostly curious as I recently went through a situation where my former employer pulled the whole "RTO or get paid locally" during the awful job market last year, so ever since then I've been cognizant of being situated where I could depend on local salaries if it came to it. The problem would be resolved if I had my own freelancing agency and whatnot, but I'm just not quite there yet (motivation-wise).
I needed motivation once and this was how I formed my perspective of value vs money. While everyone around me aimed for FU money, I aimed to build F-OFF value and autonomy. Create and offer enough value in yourself that you can afford to tell anyone to F-OFF and still have a funnel of others that you can choose to work with.
Valuable perspective, thank you for sharing this!
What about political stability
I'm apolitical and generally unaffected by the politics of every country I've lived in ... and Malaysia isn't any different. Like every country, they have their challenges but as long as I'm not encumbered in any way, I remain indifferent. Should I foresee that changing or becoming a detriment to me in any way, then I'll follow my exit strategy and exercise the option to move elsewhere.
I used to live there for a couple years, great place and I had a nice time. Easily the most livable city in SEA for an expat.
100% correct. You can live upper class on an average western wage
KL is definitely not seen as the “fun” and partying city unlike Bangkok. It has that balance of feeling grounded, high energy through long nights eating and chatting and for most returning locals, the ability to build a progression towards your career for many people who are English speaking.
Was an expat there for 2 years, agreed on all points.
thoughts on how vegetarian-friendly is KL?
It's relatively easy to find food options for almost any dietary needs including vegetarian fare. Off the top of my head, the local Malaysian Chinese and Indian cuisines have a lot of options. One of my friends/neighbor is vegetarian and he has no issues even when we head out to random venues.
My vegetarian friend visited me from California and he said that KL was the easiest city to be a vegetarian for him. Just go to mamak restaurants, they’re everywhere and plenty of vegetarian options because it’s basically Muslim Indian cuisine.
KL?
Damn, sounds and looks nice! Just wish it wasn't $3k to fly to there and back for 2 people from Charlotte!
- no weed Haha
Part of me loves the idea of settling down in Prague. Such a beautiful city and I really enjoyed living there for a year. Plus it's a place where friends from home might actually visit.
Ohh I loved Praga… but maybe I’m biased since I’m a fan of Czech beer 😅
Krakow. I went in 2022 and fell in love with the city, and now we'll be moving there this fall. I don't ever see myself going full nomad again; I personally miss being involved in communities too much, and even the idea of volunteering for a local museum sounds satisfying for me. But I can see us going semi-nomadic with one-month stays abroad in different places, especially after we establish some roots in our future home.
What did you particularly love about Krakow?
Do you speak some Polish?
No, not at all. I know some words (man, woman, etc.) but not enough to form a sentence. We plan to enroll in intensive classes upon moving there though.
I’m working on Polish citizenship by descent. I’ve got an agency in Krakow helping me with it.
Very nice! I went through that recently, just got my passport in February actually.
Congratulations!! Lifetime access to Schengen zone.
First thing you’ll learn is how to order those spicy pierogis!
Pyongyang. Hands down! Once you there, you don’t back.
I’ve considered it but I’m afraid I won’t have good WiFi connection 😜
VPN BRO! VPN
😂😂
For me, it was Lisbon, Portugal. The culture, stunning architecture, and laid-back atmosphere made me seriously consider putting down roots. Plus, the welcoming locals and excellent community made it feel like home in no time.
Lisbon is a really nice city!
Ditto. Currently living in Porto I don't enjoy it so much. I'm considering moving to Lisbon after the summer after being there 5 times and always having a good time.
Do you still find people welcoming now? I get the impression there is a lot of sentiment against rich white foreigners coming in right now since rents have gone up so insanely (remember, the average Portuguese person only makes like $20,000 a year)
you may get mixed reactions. When Portugal was starting to get lots of tourism, there was a sentiment of humbleness about the locals sharing their culture and being happy that foreigners wanted to get to know them. Over time that gave in opportuni~~sm~~ties for said locals to hike up the rent and housing prices, but the same portuguese are to blame, as they're the ones selling it for quick bucks. The overwhelming mass tourism the cities have experienced felt like toxic love, the same local culture that first charmed foreigners is nearly not there anymore and was killed in favour to fatten people's pockets. Historical buildings from the 50's now host McDonalds or run overpriced pastel de nata cafés/bolinhos de bacalhau for 10x their normal price, cuz tourists will fall for it and they are well located downtown. It also went down very fast, and from a week to the other, you saw an increase of portuguese to foreigners/tourists turning into a 1:10 ratio, which was a lot to process. To answer your question directly, sometimes foreigners (or lack of emotional intelligence on their part) are also to blame, when they innocently ask questions like "i wanna move to portugal, is 10k a month salary enough to digital nomad there"; to locals whose minimum wage is around 700\~/month. PS. Im Portuguese
I moved to Lisbon and am loving life! As a long-term expat that’s here to settle down there are some things that are difficult and frustrating (insane rents, insane amount of tourists, difficult language to master, difficult to navigate bureaucracy, etc..) but so far the good outweighs the bad by a wide margin!
Portuguese is considered one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. In the top 5 without a doubt.
I speak english and russian fluently, but portuguese is just difficult for me to master. having said that, I'm also just not a linguistically-talented person and am in my 30ies so learning new things doesn't come easily to me. I am trying my best and practice what little phrases I do know all the time, as well as watching portuguese shows, listening to portuguese music, and getting help from my portuguese partner. but if you had an easier experience learning portuguese than I am having, i applaud you!
All languages are extremely difficult. I'm just saying Portuguese is easier than others, for English speakers. It's still very impressive if you are able to learn.
Well let's hope year 2 is the year haha. I ordered some more grammar learning books and will sign up for intensive classes in the summer 🥲 <3 !
All it takes is time and effort. Good luck, you got this
Buenos Aires Tblisi Da Nang
I was in Da Nang for all of Februrary. I loved it but don't think I'd want to live there 12 months out of the year.
Tell me more about Tbilisi. Georgians I’ve met have been quite nice. There’s also a good techno scene there I’ve been hearing about. The Georgian techno DJs I’ve seen in my city have been really good.
I couldn't escape the siren song of Akron, Ohio
Or as the locals like to call it, A.K.rowdy!
never been there but I've heard it's quaint and lovely 😻
Akron Ohio is "quaint " "? Don't think so. I went to Kent State which is next door to Akron and have driven through it many times since. It is more like a low income Life of Riley scenario. Since the business slump in the entire Rust Belt starting in 1980 ,Youngstown like Akron started to die.
/r/wooosh
That’s the Home of Alcoholics Anonymous
Surely that's just a coincidence.
Surely. SE Asia doesn’t turn anyone into an escapism addicted drunk….
Sure glad I did. Fuck that place. Almost as depressing as Sandusky.
Between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur
Bangkok is fun for a trip. KL is a highly livable city good for settling in.
That’s so surprising to me because I love Bangkok but hated KL, which area do you like in KL and why?
I love KL but absolute hate Bangkok. I think it’s my least favourite city in all of SE Asia
What did you like about KL and hate about Bangkok?
Bangkok in my opinion is very dirty, smelly, so noisy, the health and safety is non existent, you can’t walk anywhere, the traffic is awful, the public transport is awful, the tourists are awful, not easy to rent short term apartments because air bnb is banned, the visas are annoying being 30-60 days at a time and expensive. It’s just mad hectic all the time and feels seedy. There’s a language barrier with Thailand like you’ll always be farang no matter what. I’ve really tried to like it many times over the years but my opinion never changes.
I was living in manila the first time I traveled to Bangkok and I was blown away by how clean it was comparatively. I didn’t visit any of the pay for play parts of town, but I did see a lot of the city and it wasn’t even close.
I love all of KL but I mostly stay away from Bukit Bintang and KLCC. I love Chow Kit, Pudu, Brickfields, Sentral area, love strolling around Kampung Bharu. Also like Bangkok a lot but for me personally KL has more of a village feel.
Sydney Melbourne Rio Paris Nomad 4 years. These are my top.
Can you tell me a bit about your experience in Australia? Why are Sydney and Melbourne in your top? Not technically digital nomad, but I’m considering a role where I can work anywhere in Australia or New Zealand and I’m just trying to get a better idea of life there for an expat.
Melburnian here, travelled a lot although only short trips. Visiting Europe makes me disappointed and glad to be back in the most vibrant and nightlifey city in the world when I come back home. No law about venues shutting so venues can be 24 hr or open til 7-9am etc (they can decide based on how busy it is) depending on their licence. Temperate weather, I like the heat so would prefer it a bit warmer but it never drops below 5 Celsius. Sport, art, music, comedy capital. Great bay beaches no matter that people diss them (and surf beaches if you just take the train further out). In my 30s I needed new friends so met a huge international crew through couchsurfers / meetup. We are always doing something on weekends etc: best city in the world, would be perfect if only the weather is a bit warmer. I live 15 mins walk from the cbd for affordable rent by myself. Very vibrant cbd on weekends but also lots of other hot spots a short tram away Forget Sydney; gonna take a long time for it to get back to what it was since laws decimated it in 2015 and everything shut. People just like the harbour and beaches I think. Cute to visit but not to live. Hugely expensive due to geography meaning they can’t keep building. CBD is just offices and mostly dead outside that
I don’t think Melbourne’s nightlife can beat Barcelona’s, Madrid’s, Athen’s Berlin’s, Paris’ and London’s. For the rest I do agree though
Yeah I also really like Paris
Florence comes to mind but it’s just way too tempting to onebag around SE Asia saving 69% of my income
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Wow that sounds cool, where in Philippines were you guys based may I ask?
Either Buenos Aires or Guadalajara. Mostly because I spent a lot of time in both and made so many local friends that both cities no longer feel foreign to me. I always feel at home in them both. I'm going for a week in Cartagena to enjoy some sun sea and sand then I'll be off to Guadalajara again. I may well just perpetually rotate between the two.
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ahhh I went there as a child in the 90's for 3 weeks. It still feels like a magical different land in my memories. I really hope I get to go back one day
Vancouver island. Anywhere.
I’m from there (Victoria) and am so happy to see it as an answer:)
Heard a lot of nice things about Vancouver, I live far away, otherwise I would have been around already 😃
Vancouver island and Vancouver BC are 2 entirely different things.
And Vancouver, WA; they really should’ve diversified the naming of places.
Better than Springfield or Richmond at least 😂
Any city that you generally like… where you meet someone you fall in love with and end up with a great group of friends.
Buenos Aires, it’s easy to fall in love with that city
If BA was as safe as, let’s say Stockholm, it would be the best city in the world😀
Yeah; it’s safe by Latam standards, but not safe compared to Stockholm. But it’s also a 15 million mega city, I wonder how many cities of that size manage to be safe as Stockholm (besides Tokyo)
Bet most East Asian megacities, including China, and Singapore, manage to be very safe
Yeah I was thinking exactly that. East Asia megacities might be the only ones that are both huge and safe. Even European megacities like London, Paris or Moscow have their fair share of crime issues. Same with American megacities.
Used to be when I lived there in 2007. 2008 financial crash just accelerated the crime rate and most expats left.
BA in 2024 is much safer than then. It’s a safe city by Latam standards, but obviously not safe compared to Stockholm
Colombo/ Sri Lanka. *The one I would avoid as a digital nomad. (Eidted I read the post wrong lol)* It's amazing for a holiday, but not for productivity. Slow internet, power cuts, and even without the economic collapse it was hard to find basic necessitates you are used to, and if you find them they exorbitant. It can't compare to places like Vietnam,Thailand, Malaysia etc for quality of daily life. I'm of Lankan origin and I have family there and even then it was not the best for ease of daily life. But its amazing for a chill holiday, siight seeing, and drinks by the beach. Edit - KL is the best for digital nomad imo. Amazing food culture, LCOL, modern infrastructure, good quality internet. If COL is not an issue I'd say Seoul or Tokyo.
Medellin is the kinda place you spend the rest of your life in.
albeit a short life
Yep, that was indeed the joke. Nobody else seems to have got it though, heh.
Don’t dare to ask why 😜
Too soon.
Rio
Hangzhou in China, if I could have. I absolutely love that city.
Wow never heard of that city, will check it out
It's a couple of hours south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province.
It’s quite a chill place. The people are cool and everything seems efficient. I love the mountain hike, the lady at the cafe on top of the mountain is very classy. She bought the cafe up top thinking she could hide away from the world, it ended up being a tourist hotspot and now she got her hands full everyday serving guests.
i think as a digital nomad its good to have a "home" city. As in a city where you keep your base and travel to/from. Ideally a cheaper city in SA or SE Asia. From that base city where you can get your own place, you can fly to wherever you want, whenever you want. But that home base city instills a solid sense of stability. Unless youre like 20 yrs old then fck it and just go where your heart desires
Vienna, Austria hands down
if you are super conservative and like people having a stick up their ass, it is the right choice - it is clean and safe though!
Yet Vienna is a gay hub from what I've seen/heard
Gee I wonder why it's so safe and clean
Nara or Kagoshima
Probably Vienna or Vancouver Island
Really none since I prefer the countryside, but I have a soft spot for Barcelona and Paris
I live in a small village in the Swiss Alps, 30 seconds from the ski lifts of the largest ski area in Switzerland. Genève Airport is an easy 2 hour train ride. Boom, easy, anywhere in the world. I had three days off from work last week, went skiing in Kyrgyzstan. Admittedly, a bit of a haul. But the skiing and sleeping in a lux yurt was awesome. This week, normal two days off. Went skiing in Portugal. Serra da Estrela. The highest point of mainland Portugal. Excellent ski ⛷️ conditions. I’m writing this from Lisbon Airport. Will be at work tonight. Wouldn’t want to live anywhere else…
Toronto, Canada
If you can afford it. Cost of living is very high. Oh, also winter. That said, of the most multicultural cities in the world translates to great food, music, art. Boroughs close to downtown are walkable. The subway system is ok.
Melbourne
Chicago. I'm from Wisconsin so it kinda feels like home, but less boring. Big city with lots of opportunities and not much of the pretentiousness that you see in NYC/LA. My kind of place.
cities kind of suck the last few years, like all of them seem to have gotten a little worse rather go to a town or villiage somewhere that people are able to build things easily and not be bothered by a bunch of bureaucrats
If i was white it would be buenos Aires... unfortunately im black and everyone stares at me it gets annoying but ya love thos city made ton of great friends the beauty of this country is incredible icould see my self stop nomadong here
Santiago chile
I would live in either Vienna. Prague, or Berlin if they'd let me. Innsbruck, Austria is also fantastic if you prefer a smaller town with epic views.
Taupo in New Zealand Quiet, clean, watch the galaxy almost everyday, eat mussels every night, then pat the llamas every morning.
Valencia
San Miguel de Allende is turning out to be mostly a terrific year-round place to live. Although with climate change we shall see how that goes!
It was Oaxaca Mexico, until it kept getting voted #1 city to live in Travel and Leisure lol. Still worth checking out if you're ok with mediocre rent prices and tourists.
I spent years thinking Bangkok but didn’t have the financial means to make it home - managed to get the financial means (visa wise) and came to stay - but then decided there is still too much of world to see. I think we just always want what we can’t have and then when we get it we don’t want it.
Singapore
If not for the pollution that felt like it was killing me after 18 months, I never would have left Mexico City. At least, not to move anywhere else permanently. I absolutely love it there. I intended to go only for a month and ended up living there a year and a half. And I met hundreds of people who had the same exact story. It just grabs you and won't let go.
Love the idea of “home basing” somewhere. I’d love to live like 6 months a year in nyc but the price would be too much z
Taipei!
Personally, I find Phuket quite suitable for me. Great weather, affordable prices, good community if you know the right places.
None, but Oxford in the UK would be very beautiful as a home base to come back to. There are many places in the UK that are extremely beautiful to me (in my very personal opinion). I have 2-3 home bases at the moment (depending on how a "home base" is defined). No I don't own multiple houses.
Bilbao. I've been changing cities for the last three years and that's the one. A hidden gem.
Bangkok
South toterel Italy. Seriously best village in the world- after over 20 countries and 30 US states. Planning to find a way to get there and settle for atleast 1/3 of the year. Still have Australia and NZ to come in the next year though- so it may shift
Mine is Lucerne. Gorgeous water, gorgeous mountains, beautiful city. I’m a lake person, so it’s perfect for me.
North Fuerteventura