Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Europe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | Bulgaria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⏱ Average trip duration | 7 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed | 30 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌥 24°C 76°F + 💦 Humid (84%) + 💨 3km/h = Feels like 26°C79°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 76 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎 51 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | MTel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 10 BGN in USD | USD 5.69 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: BGN 1,000 | USD 569 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 Tipping | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💻 Best coworking space | BeeHive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Costa Coffee Varna | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 🚫 No, contaminated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors returns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 340,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 46% 👱♀️ 54% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💻 Online electronics shop | Emag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Imoti | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Bulgaria Air | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Bulgaria Air | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏥 Best hospital | Universum Medical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| non-schengenno-beachbeachairportmildmild nowfast internetcheap cost of livinglow crimehigh humiditymany womenfriendly people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $1,238 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $803 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,366 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $390 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $228 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $114 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $510 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $24 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (69 listings) | $1,339 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $44 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $4 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $2 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $1 |
Based on Varna's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
Varna is a nice city, specially during spring and summer, great beaches and nightlife on high season
Gets expensive in the summer season
Hidden gem in Eastern Europe - loads of awesome co-working spaces and co-living places popping up all over the place. Plenty of awesome nightlife, cheap, loads of beautiful parks and only 2 hours to the mountains or 3 hours to the sea.
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).
By far, one of the best cities in Bulgaria, located in the center of the country, with good views upon the Balkans + Rila Rodopi mountains. Has good scenery from 2-3 hills + cheap food/drinks and so on! Fully recommend for those who wanna see it!
Brasov should be in top 5 in europe for quality of living. gorgeous city, fresh air, mountains, booming it industry,way ahead, sofia, kiev, krakow, warsaw, minsk
People shoul eat “iskender kebap”
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).
Sofia is a pretty cool city if you know where to go. It's also next to high mountains (ski available) and feels very green. However, Bulgaria has a very strongly marked Soviet past, so it might be a bit of a shock to some.
Gets expensive in the summer season
People and food are just lovely in Greece. Would argue that Greeks are the most friendly and welcoming people in Europe. The city is a disaster. Overrun by migrants, run down by the government, empty buildings and gratifies everywhere. Not far from city center (10min by feet) it feels more like a third world country than Europe.
Hidden gem in Eastern Europe - loads of awesome co-working spaces and co-living places popping up all over the place. Plenty of awesome nightlife, cheap, loads of beautiful parks and only 2 hours to the mountains or 3 hours to the sea.
ATM take out is 20,000 baht
Sofia is a pretty cool city if you know where to go. It's also next to high mountains (ski available) and feels very green. However, Bulgaria has a very strongly marked Soviet past, so it might be a bit of a shock to some.
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.
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)
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
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...)
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.
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.
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.
ATM take out is 20,000 baht
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.
"omagad they like totally stole my iphone", "it's like the worst, everybody is like so aggressive" welcome to the Real World, maybe you now learn to appreciate your cosy first world country and stop bitching about your oppression and your rights. Ho Chi Minh is an awesome upcoming city. It has an original and still traditional look and vibe to it, interesting colors (check out japanese district) not swamped with brand shops (the local coffee shops dominate starbucks in terms of quality and design and some are open 24h !). The nightlife also has plenty of options and be sure to enjoy the view from a the many rooftop bars in the city. You get to see a city full of energetic, young people growing their country after a devastating war and under an authoritarian regime. You get a choice between older buildings in D1 or totally new apartment buildings in D2 all at great value prices. There are a lot of people coming here to work remotely and also to start businesses. Decent sports facilities readily available (check out mach's gym, UFC center). If you don't want to spend money on the gym you can always do a workout on one of the many parks that have bars for chalistenics available. However, beware the pollution and always wear a mask, especially in D1. This is the biggest con here in my opinion.
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,
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).
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