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Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

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211–220 of 310 posts

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#211

Great idea, but I can't find any information about healthcare? It might be great to live in Thailand where you have to spent just a little for living but what happens if we compare this with their healthcare system?

I was going to suggest the same feature: healthcare and more generally public services are a very important factor when deciding to settle somewhere. Too bad most of these websites seem to think cost of living is the #1 factor.

I was thinking the same at first, but when you think about, the defining feature of a digital nomad is that he moves from place to place and doesn't permanently settle somewhere, so I can see how this isn't quite as important as cost of living.

After all, if you don't like it in a place (or you're not happy with the public services) you can just up and leave.

Having said that, it'd still be nice and make the data inherently more useful to have additional data such as the quality of/access to healthcare (though I'm not sure how easy it is to quantify that) or crime rates.

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#212

Chiang Mai? You clearly haven't been there! It's nice for a holiday but not for living.

True, but if your budget <$5k month, it's pretty sweet. If more, why live in 3rd world country when you can stay in much sweeter Hong Kong.

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You aren’t a lawyer, and clearly don’t have (much) practical experience as a foreign worker, and yet you still give out legal advice. a) Some countries do require a specific visa even just for a “business meeting”. Often getting that visa will require documentation or an official letter from a company either in your home/resident country or the country you are visiting. b) Some countries do differentiate between a vi…

> You aren’t a lawyer, and clearly don’t have (much) practical experience as a foreign worker, and yet you still give out legal advice. Ah hate to pull this card, but I've been an expat now for almost 14 years :) worked in Japan and Singapore (legally, with correct working visa etc etc), and just for this last year I've been a nomad flitting from country to country. You mention "some countries" - sure some are strict…

The country I have specific knowledge of is Thailand, which expressly states visa-exemption entries are for tourism only, a business visa is required for business trips (e.g. meetings) and a work permit (which also requires a business visa) is required to work in the country legally. (There are different laws covering the many labourers from neighbouring countries)

Please keep in mind I didn't say that every businessman/woman GETS a business visa for meetings etc, I said thats what the law says they should do. Your comment was about the "difference legally" between a business trip and a foreign worker. Legally there is a difference between them, and legally neither should be doing it on a tourism visa exemption.

I apologise for the assumption, as it turns out we were both wrong - I have lived in Thailand coming up on 2 years. To work here legally I created a Thai company. I have clients back in Australia and in Singapore.

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#215

Chiang Mai? You clearly haven't been there! It's nice for a holiday but not for living.

Chiang Mai can be one of the best locations to bootstrap a biz by many many factors. There are hundreds of entrepreneurs in varying stages at any given time. I've met ex-Googlers, ex-Applers, developers, consultants, writers, artists etc. etc.. It's a cheap and convenient place to live and focus. Depending on your budget, you can have whatever you please as far as standards go. A quick search on Google will show you…

One additional plus for Chiang Mai is that you can reach the rest of SE Asia quite easily without having to live in a huge hub city like Bangkok. I have flown from CM into China, to Singapore, Hong Kong, BKK of course, and all over. Getting from the CM Airport to wherever you are staying is soooo easy compared to the long journey from Swampy (as some call BKK).

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#216
Anyone listen to the "Travel Like A Boss" podcast? It's done by a guy living in Chang Mai Thailand. He mainly interviews dropship entrepreneurs. It's crazy because they are making $1500/month running these crappy little niche dropshipping stores but living like someone making $10000/month or more in San Francisco. They have maid service, live in full service buildings with rooftop pools, eat out all the time. It's crazy how cheap things are over there.

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#217

Ho Chi Minh is almost twice as expensive as Hanoi? I didn't make it to Hanoi, but everyone told me it was the more expensive of the two. HCM is really cheap everywhere you go if you just stay out of the financial sector. Keep in mind AirBNB doesn't seem to get sites below the $15 range, and a lot of hotels that are in this range don't list on internet exchanges either. For example in Ho Chi Minh there's a few decent…

Yes, an indicator of ease of renting would be great - lease lengths and bureaucracy.

Re: Show HN: NomadList – The best cities to live and work remotely in

#220
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Renting a decent 1 bedroom apartment is about 350 dollars. 1Gbps costs 20 dollars, and it includes TV subscription (I think it includes HBO too), a fixed phone line and a 3G SIM card and/or USB stick. The cost of living is definitely less than 1000 dollars. After all the average salary in Bucharest is probably less than 1000 dollars per month, so we wouldn't be able to live here if it cost more, would we? :)

Bucharest confuses me. Walking around the city you see more luxury cars (mostly BMWs) per capita than almost any other European capital. But the median wage is 1000 Euros. None of the locals I've asked (friends, family, etc.) ever have a solid answer, so maybe the internet can help.

I would say there are several reasons for that:

* While the median wage is a 1000 euro there are a lot of people that make a lot less than that ( * Expensive cars are the number one status symbol in Bucharest and Romania. People will often still live with their parents or in a run down apartment, as long as they can drive through the streets with an expensive car, so their budgeting priorities are a bit different from what you expect.

* There is a lot of unreported income and tax evasion in Romania as well as criminal activity, so on top of the high income inequality mentioned above, there are also a lot of people with high incomes that never figure into statistics and such but can afford luxurious cars.

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