How to find the best budget accommodation in Hanoi?

What are the best places right now in the Caribbean/LatAM? (Also cheapest flights/accommodation?) Asking from the US.

Can anyone recommend a good accommodation website for Chiang Mai?

Hey travellers, how are you doing?

Do you have problems to plan your trip choosing any currency they want? For example, I’m going to the UK but would like to plan my trip (How much will I spend in housing/food/having fun/attending attractions?) in US Dollar or Euro or any other money.
How do you guys do it easily?

Hi all!
I was meant to post this little inquiry for some times, and keep skipping due to tight schedule :v.
First off: The name is Toan. Yes, I’m Vietnamese and non-US/EU citizen
Second: Is it possible for me to become a full digital nomad?

I’m aware that it’s never been an easy road. Just wondering how it’d be for non-US/EU citizens like myself.
I have a +5 years background as IT support analyst, with specialties vary from helpdesk technical, Windows OS and system support, IT infra/service management, business analysis fundamental, software project management, to Linux sysadmin and programming (Java/Ruby).
Recently, along with my aims to become DevOps/IT Project Management, I also target to fully independent location, due to new found passions on exploring the world and growing tired of 9-to-6 days.

From what I have observed so far, mates, you’re all/mostly coming from 1st-class nations, either North America, Japan, or Europe. So you have no issues over choosing your path, work remotely or start your own business. While money isn’t really a problem to me (a.k.a I usually require very little accommodation during my backpack travels, only (wireless) internet and clean room, that’s all), I’m stuck with the whole visa requirements and other paperwork things. Freelance could be a choice, but I find it is almost impossible finding positions even remotely related with my current skills/expertise. I’m a non-American, have no EU permitted working visa… Any other options for me? Any idea/suggestion is welcomed.

I don’t need my own business. I only need to strive as IT professional, be able to work anywhere I want.

Thanks for the attention, mates. My apologize if my English is so bad that you have no idea what I’m writing :v And yes, I understand that all my concerns might sound naive, as I’m a newbie & only targeting recently.

Any recommendations gratefully received! Cheers!

Maybe some of you know good tips ?

Thank you for helping.

Hey all!

I’ve been seeing a lot of budgeting questions floating around lately (not just here, but other nomad forums), so I thought it might be useful to start a thread where anyone who is sharing their nomadic budgets can drop a link (or the budget itself).

I know Betsy and Warren of Married with Luggage share theirs here: http://www.rtwexpenses.com/

My friend Ali isn’t full-time on the road, but she shares real budgets for her trips: http://www.aliadventures.com/category/real-travel-budgets/

Anyone else out there sharing budgets for nomadic life? Please share your links below!

Hey guys,

I’m looking at heading to Cape Town in February/March. I am looking for a long term accomodation for about three months. I checked out GumTree and StayinCapeTown, but I was wondering if you had any more reccomendations on where to look! Airbnb is quite expensive and sparse.

Also, I would love to know your favourite areas in the city and hear about your experiences

Thanks !

I’m planning on 6 weeks in Chiang Mai soon and most of the stuff I’ve read about finding a place there says the best thing to do is to look in person. Considering the short time I’m there, I would prefer to prebook to say a couple of days of apartment hunting.

I was wondering about the options for short(ish) term accommodation and if pre-booking is worthwhile or if I’ll just get fobbed off with the worst room/apartment available.

I’m just looking for something basic - so long as it has air conditioning. Having a work space would be a definite advantage as would closeness to coffee. Other than that, things like a pool, gym, kitchen aren’t that important to me.

Pretty much what the title says, I’ve been trying to find a few good blogs to follow by nomads in the mid-budget range. There seems to be a ton in the budget/backpacker range, trying to do everything as cheaply as possible or, in the mid-budget range but are short-term travellers.

There does seem to be a lack of blogs in the mid-budget, long term travel area that aren’t run by professional bloggers & full of sponsored posts. Am I looking in the wrong places or is it just that people in this niche are too busy making a living doing other work don’t bother blogging?

I follow Making It Anywhere, which is good but not updated much. Any other recommendations?

Hi!
Me and my girlfriend are planning on staying 1-3 months in Santa Teresa, starting in May. Does anybody know how much we can expect to pay in rent, and if there are any good places online to look for apartments? Or is it better to look for a place once we’re there? So far we’ve mostly found more upscale options online but we just need a place that is safe, clean and that has a kitchen. A small studio would be fine.
Any help with this would be appreciated!

Hi there! I will be in Hanoi from 25 March and am looking to rent a room or share an apartment with someone. Probably around the West Lake area. If you have a spot in your place for me or want to team up and look for a place together, send me a message!

Or if anyone wants to grab a beer and show me the ropes that would also be much appreciated.

Cheers!

I am planning to spend 3 months in Da Nang in September and I don’t really mind the rain but it would suck if there were internet connection cuts, which would make it impossible for me to work? Anyone has any experience with this? Also, does it make sense at all to spend three months there during the rain season? Or should I pick a different location?

Headed to Da Nang, Vietnam in my first international digital nomad experiment!

I’m a noob - what’s the best way to set up my phone over there.

• I need to keep my same cell number as I get business calls to it. I can’t afford to miss a call.

• AT & T is my USA carrier, but heir options are very expensive.

• I’ve heard everything from SIM cards to forwarding to a Skype number etc.

Note: If any of you are in Da Nang, I’d love to meet up!!! LMK.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Looking for recommendations on accommodation for a 2-3month stay in Perth Australia any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks!

… or in any modern town (with multi-storey appt buildings).

Hi, I’m going to Alanya, Turkey this October/November (then moving to Goa). My plan for Goa is the following: I rent something via Booking/AirBnB for just 2-3 days so that we could be rested from the road. During these days I’m going to shop around for longer and less expensive accommodation. In India, they say, the best way is to do it “offline”: just go to streets and look for “Rooms to let” signs. It’s Ok, I believe, in rural area with 1-2 story houses, but how would one “shop offline” in a modern town like Alanya? I mean, you won’t go into a multi-storey apartment buildings and knock at the doors, will you? Any advices?

Maybe, there are some boards that locals use to rent flats? I don’t like prices on AirBnB, to be honest… Especially with current Rub-to-Euro conversion rate
Besides, our primary goal on this trip is to try living “like a native”; not interested in touristic attractions.

Hey folks,

Headed to Da Nang airport for a stay in Vietnam. I’d naturally like to get myself a decent SIM card for my phone, and my Googling has revealed some confusion about where and how to buy them. Can anybody share a guide to buying a SIM card at Da Nang airport or somewhere in Hoi An? Ideally a pre-paid SIM with 3G or 4G. Thanks

I’m looking for a good budgeting and expenses tracking software to track my expenses and my income, I don’t mind if it’s free or paid, but I can’t find any with all these characteristics which are fundamental for me. They always lack at least one or two.

• multi-account (for me and my girlfriend)
• multi-currency (of course)
• sync between desktop and multiple mobile devices
• geolocation for each transaction to better track expenses by country and city

What do you use?

After taking lots of small trips around the world as vacations, we’ve fallen in love with Southeast Asia and have decided to go there to teach English. Well, sort of - my wife is certified and will be teaching. I plan to use the time to develop an app that I have been trying to work on during nights and weekends up to this point. I figure I can live modestly and work on it full time for a year and see if I can get it “done” enough to actually launch after a year’s work!

I don’t plan to make any money while there, and I don’t want to get a job (poor me…) just to enable me to stay - I just want to work on my app (unpaid) full time. I plan to try to get a TT visa (http://immigrationservices.com.vn/visas-tt-vr/), and she will hopefully be on the LĐ visa (https://visa.mofa.gov.vn/NewsDetail.aspx?type=Info&id=28#sec1).

Here’s the wrinkle: most advice I find online (admittedly geared toward those travelling solo) tends to recommend going on a tourist Visa and finding a job, housing, neighborhood that you like in person, and then getting your employer to sponsor your work permit, then using that to get the business (LĐ) visa. Indeed, a lot of resources say it can be hard to find a reputable language school to hire you and sponsor your visa before entering the country.

If we both went on tourist visas, and she found work and was able to get a work permit, could I then convert my tourist visa to a TT (dependent spouse) visa? Is there any way to be sure that this is going to work besides just going and hoping?

As a follow up if that plan sounds too sketchy, should I get certified to teach English just in case I need to get my own job? I’d like to avoid it if I can, the certification and training is pretty expensive.

Worst case scenario, how many times can I do a visa run and stay on a DL (tourist) visa? Maybe I’m just bad at researching, but I can’t find a really good resource for this kind of information.

I hope this isn’t asking too much. Even a link to some more in-depth resources online would be greatly appreciated - I can’t seem to find any definitive information on people using the TT visa in Vietnam.

Thanks in advance!