@nomadpauline

i stayed in BA for a few months and it firmly wasn't for me. It's a beautiful city and comically cheap for the quality of food / goods / services. People are rude and accomodation is pretty bad. Plus with the inflation of the dollar to peso (3x the buying power for foreigners) it was getting dangerous when I left. (I think someone tried to kill the vice president last week) Excellent to visit, not great to live.

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Canggu has so much energy and excitement. I think that's partly due to the cost of living plus the weather. People are very nice here but expect general life for the locals to revolve around tourism. You're not going to get an authentic Indonesian cultural experience. It's definitely not perfect and not an easy place to live but considering how cheap it is what can you expect? I think the pros outweigh the cons and cons are plentiful (dirty, cash soc

I really liked Chiang Mai but I can't put my finger on why. I'll try to remain unbiased so here goes. Chiang Mai is a dirty place with horrible pollution levels. English speaking is okay. I did really enjoy a balance of simple, risk-free living at low cost and acceptable quality of living. Many places only accept cash but plenty accept card. There's lots to do and it's fun exploring on a moped/motorbike. It feels as easy as Canggu with more modern appointments to get by as a westerner a bit easi

I really enjoyed my first week here, but as I got to know more locals and heard their stories, I was disturbed at the security situation. Almost everyone I met has horror stories about being robbed at gunpoint, robbed by the police, and in one case even drugged and robbed by a taxi driver. It's not even safe to walk a short distance at night (locals told me to just take Uber). Beyond the security issues, scams also abound, and the covid policy is wacky, with hand sanitizer being forced on you ev

I was in Munich for 9 months and couldn't get used to the city. It's actually a small town for old and rich people. The flair is not international, but terribly German-conservative. There is neither an interesting start-up nor a tech community. Many people are unfriendly when you speak English. The leisure activities outside Munich (nature) are nice, unfortunately there is not much going on in the city compared to London, Berlin or Barcelona. In Germany, everyone seems to want to go to Berlin, s

Taxis in Istanbul are a big problem even for locals. Public transport is convenient and comfortable. If you need to call a taxi, I recommend using an app. "Bitaksi" can be used. Agree with the taxi driver using google translate and negotiate in advance if necessary. Always make public transportation your first choice. There are millions of refugees in this city against a registered population of 15 million. A significant number of asylum seekers do not have any registered documents and this cre

Hanoi feels more like a "large village" than a proper city. It's also what I call "unapologetically Vietnamese" given the way most places and shops are occupied and used by locals. English penetration isn't bad, but maybe because I speak Vietnamese I never had much of a problem in Hanoi. Prices for coffee, juice, smoothies, and food are insanely affordable. I wouldn't say the locals are "friendly to a fault" and mostly have left me alone. Yes, the old town city center is dirty, garbage on the

I visited Prague on more than one occasion and tried something new each time. I really wanted to enjoy it, but unfortunately it turned out to be one of my least favourite cities. Perhaps it was just me, but there was an overwhelming sense of distrust and dislike towards foreigners, you have to try pretty hard to blend in if you want to experience the life of a local & avoid the tourism. I met some wonderful people and and there’s some cool communities to be part of, but another extended stay