I just finished 2 months in Thailand.

I loved it more than expected. Let me tell you why—starting with where I went.

Place 1: Bangkok

One word to describe Bangkok: chaos.

When I arrived, I thought I could stay for weeks. After 5 days, I was glad to be leaving.

But despite the busyness, Bangkok has its own beauty. Royal temples, lunatic tuk-tuks, brilliant Muay Thai, mad markets, crazy Chinatown, and far too many late nights on Khaosan Road.

Place 2: Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a city nestled near mountains in north Thailand.

It’s a digital nomad hotspot for good reason. Food is amazing but cheap. As is the cost/quality of living. You have great infrastructure, gyms, and whatever else you need (whilst maintaining an authentic Thai vibe).

The Coffee is meant to be quality, but I was less than impressed with the lack of Yorkshire Tea.

The nightlife is good fun and you have beautiful hikes in the mountains.

I was sad to leave after 5 weeks. I definitely would come back (and stay longer).

Place 3: Pai

Drive 3 hours north of Chiang Mai through beautiful winding mountain roads and you land in Pai, a remote paradise.

I wasn't sure what to expect, so I only booked three days. Reading Reddit, it seemed like marmite—people loved or hated it.

Me? I loved it.

Sure, it's far removed from normal society. Some of the hippies looked like they could do with more showers and less drugs. But I loved the free spirit of the place. I spent two nights with people who lived there, and I found it interesting how creative and happy they were.

I guess because in ‘normal’ life we are so wrapped up in fear of judgement and the desire to impress others we don’t explore our curiosity like we should.

I’d love to spend a month here. Maybe when writing a book sometime.

Place 4: Koh Phangan

My initial impressions weren’t great.

I arrived to a week of heavy rain (tough after Chiang Mai’s beautiful weather). And you can’t get anywhere without a scooter. Like a normal British tourist, I crashed mine on day 2—leaving a decent chunk of elbow and knee skin on the road.

But once I got the hang of things, I fell in love.

There’s something special about zipping around on a tropical island. The beaches, sunsets, bars, clubs, and restaurants were great. The range of people was fascinating: yoga-loving hippies, crazy partygoers, digital nomads, backpackers, and super chilled locals.

I even did a 4 day walking meditation retreat, which I wrote about last week.

As you can guess, I’d recommend Thailand.

Let me give you four reasons why (and one thing I didn't enjoy).

The people

Thais have an expression, ‘sabai sabai’.

It means ‘take it easy’ or ‘all good’. The locals seemed to embrace this philosophy. Importantly, the country felt safe. You didn’t have to worry when out late at night and could leave possessions on tables.

Hell, when I crashed my scooter, I accidentally left my laptop and wallet at the crash site because my adrenaline was firing.

When I came back, someone had tidied it up for me.

In the UK I’d be lucky if they left a note.

The food

Aside from cooking class, I haven't cooked a meal since September.

Apparently many Thai people don't have kitchens, so everyone eats out. The food is fast and tasty. Even the non-Thai restaurants felt better than home.

And for what you get…

Everything is so cheap

You pay $10-15 for a decent ‘Western’ dinner.

Eat at markets (which I prefer), it's more like $2-3. My Airbnbs were cheaper than my flat back home. I even managed to stay in a five-star hotel for 50 bucks a night.

Working online is a quality-of-life cheat code.

It's like getting a 3-5x pay rise to enjoy paradise. Yes please.

The weather/scenery

Aside from some rain, the weather has been beautiful.

People say you get used to this stuff. But every morning I wrote, I had a smile on my face. Be it staring at lush green mountains in Chiang Mai or pristine still waters in Koh Phanang. I haven't felt cold since the UK. And the vitamin D from sun is important—weather is overlooked for wellbeing and happiness.

The major downside…

Walking sucks

I went on a few good hikes. But I didn't realise how much I took paths and parks for granted. You can't just stroll out from your home for an hour—usually you’d end up walking on roads (which were either rammed with cars or had more craters than the moon).

It’s a small thing, but I miss walks as part of my routine.

I used to walk 2 hours a day in the UK. I’m bringing that back now I’m South Africa.

I’m here for 3 months and made sure my place is next to a park.

Being a nomad has been great fun.

Will share more about the experience toward the end of my trip.

Cheers,

Kieran