@mdhandcock

Great for tourism, bad for living. The City has a fascinating contrast of old and new. You will never get bored, it’s easy to meet people and have fun. Infrastructure and food are great. Thai people are friendly and welcoming, even when it not always feels genuine. With that said, it’s not a good city for long term living. It’s too hot and humid. Felt air temperature is between 37°C-45°C almost year round during the day. It’s makes all outdoor activity unpleasant. Getting your daily d

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

I don't know exactly how Barcelona is still considered safe but it's far from it. It's probably the most dangerous city to live in Madrid and one of the most dangerous in europe, with constant pick-pocketing and even violent crimes to get your wallet and phone in certain areas. If you like a peaceful life, Barcelona is not the place anymore!!

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

I stayed here for 6 months and I absolutely love Mexico City. The life is comfortable if you stay in the bubbles, namely Roma Norte, Condesa and Polanco, but the living cost has increased 30% since last year, due to the inflation and skyrocketing mexican pesos. Mexican people are so friendly and I never had any safety issues. Definitely will be back in the future.

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

I've been hanging out in Berlin on and off for 30 years. It is very safe for women. It is much friendlier than it used to be. There are loads of vegan restaurants now. The nightlife and specially jazz clubs are amazing! I have an excellent apartment to rent out in Wedding - which used to have a boring reputation but now is very cool.