Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | Kazakhstan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⏱ Average trip duration | 8 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed | 7 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌧 19°C 65°F + 💦 Humid (88%) + 💨 2km/h = Feels like 19°C66°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 59 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | Kcell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 1,000 KZT in USD | USD 2.64 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: KZT 100,000 | USD 264 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Veloyedov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best alt. coffee place | Nedelka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 🚫 No, contaminated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors returns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 1,500,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 41% 👱♀️ 59% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Krisha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Air Astana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Air Astana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏥 Best hospital | IMC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
🕌 It is now Ramadan in Kazakhstan, which can make it less easy to travel, more info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| no-beachairportmildmild nowslow internetcheap cost of livinghigh humiditymany womenfriendly people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $1,337 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $773 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,598 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $457 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $251 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $215 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $458 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $21 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (55 listings) | $871 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $29 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $5 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $3 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $2 |
Based on Almaty's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
+ Very small hipster scene but nice... techno place, hipster cocktail, hipster café, tattoo scene... its not that indie though, like organised hipster. still too small, you always go to same places + Really good service, fast, they come and pour you water while drinking cokctail and stuff, cray + Young people who can speak english are friendly, come speak to you easily and are all like "wtf are u doing here" + Not a busy city, you feel you can take your time here, go to ice rink, walk in park + Nature and mountain not too far, its common to take car 30 min to go iceskating in mountain +/- Everyone with a car is a taxi driver, so u rarely use Uber/YandexTaxi, just go on the road, show your hand and people stop, you tell destination and it costs 1$. Problem you need to speak russian, im not good enough yet +/- People are mixed friendly. They are very nice and give you stuff and all when you are introduced, but people who dont speak english and dont know you, they are not helpful and a bit rude +/- city safety idk, I feel safe but every local tells me it's not a safe city - No one speak english ffs - city is bullshit communist wide street for car, shitty to walk, everything is far, cars everywhere, city center is not a city center, 4-lane in city center wtf fix this - Police is corrupt and not your friend. My only encounter with them was ok tho - People behavior is oldschool, men harrassing girls, men buying big car or iphone has status symbol, men trying to fight, girls expecting guys to be alpha male - Always fog in city and pollution
Best place for solo travellers. The people here are awesome. Almost no crime against foreigners according to statistics. Give this paradise on earth a try :)
Not a very "freelance/artist" friendly city. The look of someone working inside a coffeeshop is still unusual and unappreciated. Extremely not accessible and not disable friendly (Metro, bus, building, coffeeshops and restaurants...)
Surprisingly expensive compared to many other places and there is a major language barrier for most western folks. You often end up hanging out with other nomads or expats for sanity. It's expensive to drink, and it's not really to make many local friends and very few speak English or any western languages. The internet is the killer for most folks and China is slowly closing down all the VPN connections from the commercial services, so it's getting harder and harder to find a way out for things like Gmail or even Google searches and even when it does work, it's really unpredictable. Some of the hotels and workspaces have always-on VPN connections to Hong Kong for your internet handoff which eliminates the blocking and is a big help, but this is usually at a cost that is passed on to you. I like Shanghai, but I find it very "showy". People want to make it clear if they have money, so you see lots of flashy cars, expensive clothes and "be seen" places. It's also amazing that you can go to a great restaurant and the table next to you will have six people sitting in complete silence because they are all on their phones. As others have said, you need to figure out a way to get Alipay or Wechat pay money on your account so you can pay for things. Even people selling vegetables in the market have a QR code so you can pay them with your phone. Didi is the local uber-like take service, and you can use western credit cards with it on your phone, and it's pretty cheap by western standards. Public transportation is good and cheap, too. Cool place, but not inexpensive unless you are out a way and a serious language barrier and a bit of indifference to customer service or dealing with westerners in general.
Privet! I think Moscow is much cheaper then on scores and internet is much faster and if you spend summer time there then it is an amazing place!
Budapest + hungary has the pro-s of a tropical digital nomad hideaway, if you go there in the warmer months: the climate is like in Bali between June and September, however mornings can be refreshing. And there s a plethora of spas, thermal baths and swallow lakes with waterskiing and boarding amenities throughout the country which is easily and quickly accessible by the grid of well-maintained highways. The street scenery and style spans somewhere between Barcelona and Berlin so as the plentiful nightlife programs and the scope of culture and art ! Almost the entire younger generation speaks pretty good english however with the elders you might have language barriers.
I've lived in Pattaya for 10 of my 19 years in Thailand. I am an old guy not paying sex workers for sex. If you don't want to see the nasty bits, don't go to those places. If you want to chillout, eat fresh seafood and enjoy blistering internet speeds, then welcome. Every morning when I wake up Pattaya is better than it was when I went to sleep. If you want to have some real city life, BKK is just 2 hours away. Some of you youngsters sure are prudes.
Great place. You can avoid the dropshipper, FBA and MLM webinar course people who have infested the coworkings here for years, by, well, just not visiting the coworking spaces here.
Spent six months in Istanbul in 1993 when Turkey was really exotic. Didn't return till 2007, when I made mostly Kurdish friends in Sultanahmet, whom I'd see on frequent visits thereafter. Otherwise, I'd skip the city as like throughout Turkey bar the Kurdish areas there's anti Western feeling and targeting of visitors (I noticed that after a meal with alcohol, I'd nearly always be approached by a single male in the street near the restaurant inviting me to a bar certain. I'd suggest going to the first busy café instead, at which point they'd excuse themselves. I suspect some waiters were part of a scam targeting single males).
Bangkok has some of the best private hospitals in the world. Which is interesting if you're in Asia a lot and you want medical care better than you can get in your home country. Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok is ranked #7 in the world. I did an executive health checkup there and it was great. Prices range from $250 to $750 depending on how many checks you want. You can get blood count, X Ray, ultrasound, hormone check, etc. They also have most other medical disciplines. I also got vaccinations renewed. The hospital is private so it's so much better than the overloaded public healthcare systems of Europe, Canada and UK where everyone tries to avoid helping you, is overworked and angry. In Bangkok they're super nice and helpful and you can make appointments straight with a specialist. Not blocked by a GP like in your home country.
It's possible to live in Hong Kong on the cheap. You've got to live far out in the New Territories, or on an outlying island. I spent a summer living happily on Lamma Island for ~$500USD/month in rent for one bedroom in a shared flat. Rent is really the only tricky part--everything else is relatively cheap.
Krakow is my favorite city ! Cheap - you can buy a lunch in around 4$, and rent apartments in the center in around 600EUR. take an uber in less than 3 EUR Friendly - The locals are very friendly and cool and easy to connect with. there is a lot of expats there so there is enough things to do. also i never had problem with language.. they all know english well Beautiful - its one of the most beautiful cities i've been at - even more than prague.. everything here maintained like hundreds years ago and be in the old town is magical Clean - the city is extremely clean
Budapest + hungary has the pro-s of a tropical digital nomad hideaway, if you go there in the warmer months: the climate is like in Bali between June and September, however mornings can be refreshing. And there s a plethora of spas, thermal baths and swallow lakes with waterskiing and boarding amenities throughout the country which is easily and quickly accessible by the grid of well-maintained highways. The street scenery and style spans somewhere between Barcelona and Berlin so as the plentiful nightlife programs and the scope of culture and art ! Almost the entire younger generation speaks pretty good english however with the elders you might have language barriers.
Really friendly and social people, laid back, easy to get around, food is good, 4g is great. Heavy clouds for the 4 days I was here in December, which was depressing as hell.
Been there in January. Like Schonbrunn more than the old center of VIENNA. Honestly, I wouldn't go there during the winter, but in the summer will definitely return for a good look upon the stuff over there.
Been there twice. I love Prague
Been living in 3 different centrally located airbnb in Berlin (2018), each between 800 and 900€ per month for 40-45 sqm (we're two, so 400-450€ each). Each time a full flat and not a shared airbnb, legal now since some months (though it was always possible to get a full flat before as well). Internet was always between 15 and 50 mbps. I spend 100€ per week on food, including restaurants (pretty cheap here), check for Turkish market on Maybachufer and Turkish stores in Neukölln (I spend less on food here than in Chiang Mai!). Berlin is such an awesome place to live, very multicultural, very tolerant, many different neighborhoods, quite relaxed feeling, many parks, lakes all around. No need to speak German at all. Come over here, probably one one of the best place on earth ;) (written in Sept 2018)
Mostly great weather year round and some of the best food in the world at cheap prices. Probably the best standard of living for the cost in an international city. Good but not excellent public transport. Some questionable reviews being left here by people who possibly never visited,
Getting a place to stay is a challenge, and renting an apartment might be a challenge unless you can show proof on stable income job. most leases are 6-12mths minium
Really fun city. I think the easiest big city in Asia for westerners to feel comfortable in. People are generally pretty friendly on a superficial level, quick to smile, laugh, and help. Unfortunately, becoming real friends with Japanese is much more difficult and most cannot speak English. Store staff are mechanically polite like robots, which is better than rude, but also a bit weird. A bit pricey and gets more expensive after a year of residence (after you get taxed based on previous year's salary, same for health insurance fees). You can drink in public at any time, though it's not really a drinker city like some European cities are known for. Clubs and music events are expensive unfortunately, though quite a few options. Great public transport system, can just be a bit confusing with all of the different names. The street layout is completely chaotic, which can be fun but also disorienting. You will often have no idea which direction you are facing, like you are in a giant maze. You can find most major international food options but not in great numbers. Obviously, Japanese food is everywhere though. It's technically on the water, though odds are you will live more inland. Still, you can reach the bay within an hour or so and an actual beach further south in Kanagawa within 90min. Japan itself has a lot of cool things to check out as well. Best time of year are spring (cherry blossoms) and fall (cooler, leaves changing cooler), though there are a series of summer festivals that start in August that are incredible (people dress in traditional clothes, food vendors all over, tons of fireworks, etc.) and they have a lot of Christmas lights and displays in December. Dating for men is not bad, just don't come expecting every woman wants you. As mentioned before, most cannot speak English and they're somewhat conservative overall, not big on casual sex. You may have an advantage in the dating pool if you're not an English teacher, since most western foreign guys there are and that job is known for not paying that well, and definitely do if you can speak Japanese near fluently. Some negatives besides those already mentioned: it's really humid and mold develops quickly, there are A LOT of crows that creeped me out and cicadas that are VERY noisy in the summer, finding the right specialist doctor that also speaks English can be tricky, the friends you make from other countries come and go constantly, a lot of guys with issues come here (socially awkward, major womanizers, right wing nuts, escaping something from their home country, stereotypical anime fanatics, etc.), Japanese men are not anywhere near as friendly as the women are and are more likely to be xenophobic (pretty much like every other country), living space is really small for the price, vegetable selection is pretty limited and expensive, a lot of food products contain soy, subways get really overcrowded during rush hour, popular areas get really overcrowded on weekends, it's not that English friendly especially dealing with contracts and anything government related (there is a free foreigner help service that can help you via phone and usually whatever government stuff you're dealing with will have at least one person on hand who understands English and can help you).
Nomad-ed here for a month. A totally ok place if you have the budget for it. Coworking spaces are good, 4g everywhere, transportation is effective. Lots of things to do. I was able to find friends. Lots of international people, very few digital nomads. If you're there, consider not renting in the center (as it gets expensive fast) and being creative with places to eat to find cheap options. Be prepared to use cash unless you live in a luxury.
I do not recommend London for nomads. It's very hard to find places to work in London. Cafes don't like people with laptops, there won't be any power outlets and you'll get funny stares from staff. That's because London is expensive, and it's a loss for cafes to have you. Flexible coworking is hard to come by and day passes are very expensive. That makes it practically impossible to work properly in London as a nomad.
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