Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | South Korea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed (avg) | 17 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌧 32°C 89°F + 💦 Humid (67%) + 💨 3km/h = Feels like 40°C 104°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 43 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 230V60Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | KT Olleh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 10,000 KRW in USD | USD 8.53 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: KRW 100,000 | USD 85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 Tipping | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💳 Cashless society | 💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Starbucks Suwon City Hall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place | Hive Arena | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 👌 Yes, drinkable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors return | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 1,200,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 50% 👱♀️ 50% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💻 Online electronics shop | Gmarket | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Airbnb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Jeju Air | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Jeju Air | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏥 Best hospital | Ajou University Hospital | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| industrial citymain hub of samsung factorieshistorical gatesno-beachwarm nowwarmhotclean airgood air qualityfast internetlow crimehigh humiditymany menfriendly people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $2,441 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,531 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $3,438 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $982 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $677 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $191 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $1,166 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $55 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (126 listings) | $1,337 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $44 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $11 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $2 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $4 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $3 |
Based on Suwon's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
Spend a few hours and learn the Korean alphabet (not that hard) and Google some names of Korean dishes + it's spelling in Korean. It will help a lot as most restaurants only have Korean menu's and often without pictures. As mentioned previously on the reviews, it's a little hard to eat alone, but Gimbab Chonguk (김밥천국) is everywhere and 24/7 - no one will bat an eye. Also look for places that "specialises" in dumplings, They are usually "alone-eating" friendly. And so are ramen places as well as Korean "chinese" restaurants - Jajangmyeon (자장면) is very good and super addictive. Bibimbab restaurant places are fine too. Actually, it's not that hard to eat alone in Korea. The "group" meals are generally quite obvious and will be things like BBQ. You'll figure it out. Do Get used to kimchi and spicy food otherwise you'll end up eating the same thing all the time. Be adventurous. Challenge yourself and eat an octopus alive (산낙지). If you're really brave try 보신탕 before authorities close them all - I haven't but a lot of Weagukins (foreigners) secret do. Cafe's generally have really good wifi, as you would expect from one of the most connected countries in the world. Expect to pay $4-6 for a latte and maybe even more at Starbucks. Best cafe's are usually around Hipster areas and Universities. Indie owned cafe's are awesome. Nightlife is great, probably amongst the best in Asia. Can get very expensive especially at night clubs in Gangnam where it would could be like $10 for a beer - in that case you can still get drunk for $2 with soju just outside at 7Eleven. Winters are stupidly cold and summers can be brutally hot & humid. Go between April and June or September to October. They have cherry blossoms in spring which is beautiful and so are the autumn leaves. Lived here for many years. It's a cool place and vastly underrated. Seoul is continuously becoming more expensive and cost of living will soon be comparable with places like Tokyo.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌦 Feels 40° 104° 32° 89°😷AQI 72✈️30m$2,398 / mo16MbpsVery good, Glorious leader Kim Jong-Un helped me see the true beauty of TRUE KOREA.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 39° 102° 31° 88°😷AQI 82✈️45m$3,527 / moKorea's second biggest city after Seoul. Busan is a nice place to go if you want to see another part of Korea that's still pretty comfortable. It's in the south of South Korea, on the ocean, and that makes it a great place to eat fish. In fact that's where all the fish in Seoul comes from, so you can eat it fresh in Busan! In many ways Busan feels like Seoul but 10 or 20 years ago. It's a bit more grimy and broken down and less futuristic than Seoul, but still very nice. I'd suggest staying in Seomyeon, which is kinda like Seoul's Hongdae. It's a student area with some hipster vibes to it. But take hipster vibes with a grain of salt, this is Busan after all. People are very friendly, even more friendly than Seoul. Where in Seoul as a foreigner they don't really care anymore, in Busan you're still hailed as a curiosity which can be fun! If you want to see the beach, take a taxi to Haeundae Beach. It's especially nice in the evening if you'd like to party. Korean beach culture is a bit different than in the West, so you'll probably see less swimming and sunbathing that you're used to. More like people walking on the beach boulevard. Also nice is to see the Jagalchi fish market, pick some fish you like in the big building and you can ask them to prepare it for you upstairs and cook it. Fish as fresh as you can get in Korea.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 28° 82° 25° 77°AQI 39✈️45m$2,246 / mo23MbpsI have been told it's the vanilla of digital nomads : easy, cheap, risk free. I loved it so much I want to move there ! Great food, great places to see and awesomely polite and nice people.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 55° 131° 39° 101°AQI 33✈️5h$1,105 / mo14MbpsI have been told it's the vanilla of digital nomads : easy, cheap, risk free. I loved it so much I want to move there ! Great food, great places to see and awesomely polite and nice people.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 55° 131° 39° 101°AQI 33✈️5h$1,105 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleIt's funny how 15-20 years ago, KL was almost devoid of travelers - presumably because "Muslim country", 9/11, whatever. THAT was actually a time when not only was everything ridiculously cheap; the locals were happy, friendly, courteous, always giving you a huge smile. I have so many happy memories of back then. Fast-forward to 2019: Yes, KL is now "on the map". Yet the cost of living is exploding; much of the city's heritage has been bulldozed away; a high-rise is going up at every corner; and more and more people are visibly stressed, frustrated, hostile. As a foreigner, I encounter silent treatment every day; have people shut the elevator door in my face; rarely get a Please or Thank You or even Excuse Me; the little annoyances just keep mushrooming. But all in all, and especially for those who never experienced the fun and relaxed KL of yesteryear, it's still a relatively safe and affordable place. Nowhere near as pricey as Singapore, and also not as prone to power cuts and violent crime and accidents as Thailand or Philippines. I see private doctors, and they are excellent, London/Cambridge-trained and yet affordable. Also, phone apps work quite well when it comes to payments, booking a Grab car or ordering food / groceries. And of course, the sky is blue and the sun is shining all year round.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 42° 108° 32° 90°AQI 29✈️7h$1,395 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleBeen 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)
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 27° 81° 26° 79°AQI 13✈️11h$3,137 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleThe old center is ok but the rest is not so great!
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 34° 93° 31° 88°AQI 34✈️12h$2,438 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleAlthough London isn't an ideal 'digital nomad' city due to the cost, it is very much made for working, networking and having a great time while you do it. Rent is silly expensive, but you can find a room in a shared house for around £500-600 per month. One review on here complains about bad food, unsafe and bad banking - sounds like they had a bad time to be honest. I disagree strongly with all those negatives. Food is awesome, with lots of incredible places to eat and reasonable (ish) prices. Head to Brixton, Brick Lane, Hackney/Dalston, Tooting etc for top quality food. For your banking, you'll find Revolut, Monzo, Starling etc all allow you to get set up in a few days. Oh and safety.... I've lived here for 7 years (on and off) and been drunk in 'dodgy' parts of town and can say London is one of the safest cities anywhere. Can't say the same for Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona etc.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 26° 79° 25° 78°AQI 22✈️12h$4,027 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleNot 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...)
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 27° 81° 26° 79°AQI 48✈️12h$4,079 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleAs an expat in Geneva since 5years now, I'll recommend Lausanne or Zurich before Geneva. French Swiss are slow to make business with and have a lot of bureaucracy.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 30° 86° 29° 85°AQI 36✈️13h$5,547 / mo🌇 Also went here1 peopleIts the paradise but getting really expensive! It actually makes sense! I would recomend Fuengirola! Regardles of the fact that is more expensive than Malaga city center. Good luck in la costa del sol. It hepls you if you speak Spanish! You are in Spain! Dont forget that!
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 30° 86° 28° 83°AQI 29✈️14h$2,878 / mo🌇 Also went here1 people Nomad List Nomad List1 Month: $29.99/month
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