@dougkillmer

Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w

Once you figure out housing (not an easy thing but doable, especially once you stop looking in the touristic areas), Lisbon is a very charming, safe (even though I'll admit this is getting worse in certain areas), and fun city to live in. In most neighbourhoods you have the feeling of living in a small town instead of an urban area. There's aways something to do or see so it's hard to be bored living here. I still find Lisbon (and Portugal in general), to be one of the most attractive places in

Very nice city, but as everyone says, a bit boring after awhile. It's comfortable and feels like the suburbs, with conveniences that you don't always find in SE Asian countries. Luxury shopping malls, excellent hospitals, and infrastructure, are all things that are not as common in other SE Asian countries, (although Bangkok, TH, has good malls and hospitals). KLCC is safe, from a solo female traveler, if you're careful. I stayed in the KLCC area and was advised by other KL nomads, to stay ins

Pros: Weather is great and apartments are excellent. Cons: City is dirty including the beaches. Locals are extremely hostile, unfriendly and confrontational. There isn't a huge amount of good things to do in the city - most things are mediocre. People constantly bash into you in the street. Food and coffee is very average. Crime is awful - my apartment was broken into and my suitcase got stolen from the baggage belt at the airport. Air quality is terrible.

We used to live in Canggu back in 2017, it felt back then like the perfect balance between western development and local culture. You used to have enough cafés and restaurants and stays were mainly affordable villas. Coming back in 2023 I have to say this place is unrecognizable. Only now I realize how much damage influencers did to Canggu, telling everyone to come here and invest and overdevelop with little to no regard to the local culture. Also the pandemic played its part, you used to nee

Athens is a fantastic city. Locals are friendly and food is fantastic. There isn't a huge amount to do, but for a short stay it's definitely worth the visit.

Hong Kong is a great city with dense urban areas but also nature and hiking routes only 15 minutes away. There are restaurants for every taste and budget, from the best US fast casual chains to high end Michelin star restaurants. It's also extremely safe, despite recent political instability.

I absolutely love Istanbul! My biggest recommendation would be to stay in Cihangir or Nişantaşı and avoid the main centre. Cihangir has so many beautiful cafes to work from and there are a lot of people working remotely so it's a really nice vibe. I agree with the comments about taxis, we just caught ubers but mostly walked everywhere which I would recommend. If you stay in Cihangir you can easily walk to Taxim square and through Galata. The food scene here is great once you know where to go