@nappels

(It seems my paragraph formatting is being removed due to the length of my comment, so sorry you'll have to deal with the wall of text if you want to read this, haha) Have been in Bangkok for the past 6 months. I've been nomadic for the past 4 years across Europe & the US, and as someone who is used to walking everywhere and greenery, I found it quite difficult living here. I spent my first 5 months living in Airbnbs, which were fine for around $6-800/m, and for the last month decided to live in

It's veryyyy chill (especially compared to Bali, Chiang Mai, Da Nang and Kuala Lumpur). Houses and villas are a bit simpler. There are like 30+ great cafes, restaurants and Thai places to eat and enjoy. There are hardly any hotspots here, so don't expect much exploration and culture. It's mainly relaxing (read: chilling, sunsets, beaches, coconuts, thai food, parties, weed, alcohol, fun people). We got some solid work and gym training in there as well during the day. We are coming back for sure

You could do worse, you could do better. Filthy & stressful, you have to Grab everywhere, even a short walk results in dodging aggressive motorbikes. Locals are super unfriendly, way worse than Hanoi, so not sure why everyone raves about how friendly they are in comparison. Poor quality in everything, even the luxury experiences are a total rip-off. Surprisingly underdeveloped too, not even a bar on their observation deck in Bitexco. Internet is really good, but stay as far from D1 as you can -

The worst place that I've been to in Asia (& I've been to quite a few). Every interaction with a local is a sales pitch for something. Tuk tuk, massage, weed, food, prostitution, you name it. People look at you as a customer and nothing else. This is very different in other countries in South East Asia. I've had plenty of authentic, non-sales-pitchy interactions with locals in Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines or Thailand. None of that here. It feels like this place only exists to extract as much

One of the worst cities in N.America. Insanely expensive, people are awkward and making friends is difficult. Lots of homeless and mentally ill and drug addicts everywhere. Lots of construction. American corpo work culture with zero benefits of American corpo work culture, low salaries. If you want to live in North American city try to go to US instead, NY, Chicago, Miami, all of these are better.

I just came back after 12 years, last time I lived in SF for 3 months in 2012. Back then it was a walkable and clean and fun, pretty safe city. The only place back then that you'd avoid was the Tenderloin. There was homeless but they actually weren't aggressive. There wasn't much robberies either. San Francisco in 2024 is very different, as you've probably seen from social media. The homeless problem has grown a lot since then, and they're not just clustered in the Tenderloin, they're all over

New York is cool. I’ve visited multiple times to see my family throughout my life, and recently came back from my first post-COVID trip there. Yes, it’s very expensive — but there is no city on earth that’s more captivating in my opinion. I used to think that New Yorkers were smug by claiming that NYC was better than everywhere else, but now I totally get it lol. My personal favourite neighbourhood is the Upper East Side, which is where you’ll find the coveted Museum Mile. But I also

I guess if you're a nomad this doesn't matter much, but the long-term job pickings here are slim and among the most underpaid for a US city. There seems to be a tacit rent floor that means you won't find a good deal on housing. A lot of people don't seem very invested in their interpersonal relationships here since their ties to the area are often transient.