Touristing Ko Lanta

We’ve had two and a half lovely lazy weeks on Ko Lanta. Okay, they weren’t lazy, we were working. We just weren’t running all over the island ticking off the tourist bucket list.

We were running and walking the beach every day, sometimes a quick dip in the sea, avoiding sea lice as much as we could. Definitely spending longer than necessary reading books in a hammock.

By our second weekend, I was ready to explore a bit more. I was also ready to spend a day in water that didn’t try to sting me. At one of our regular restaurants, the staff convinced us that a snorkel trip would be worth it so we booked a day out to Ko Rok and Ko Ha. I’m not sure why they print prices in the brochures. Every booking agent will give you a better price.

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Ko Lanta Coworking Life

Family and work events have taken Barry and I directly between Australia and the UK in recent years, without exploring any of the many places in between. This year we were lucky to have a bit more time on our hands. I finished my contract at the University of Edinburgh in September. With the deadline for Australia set at Christmas 2019, it meant we had a few weeks between leaving Edinburgh at the end of November (after some work and Barry’s family things).

We were last in Thailand in 2014 so it made sense as our ‘on the way to Australia’ destination. As you know, I love a tropical island. As you know, Barry stresses about the quality of the internet, especially on tropical islands. Luckily, Kohub on Ko Lanta takes all those worries away. It didn’t take us long to agree on our 3 week tropical working destination.

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Tips for Cafe Working in Chiang Mai

There are a lot of travellers working on the road these days. They are juggling the desire to see and experience everything with the need to make enough money to support the travels. Their needs are simple. A safe and secure place to stay where they feel comfortable leaving their electronics when they’re out and about with their camera and a descent internet connection, preferably wifi to easily connect mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.

If they’re lucky their hostel, hotel, guesthouse or B&B will provide this for them. If not, they have to search further afield. Even if it is possible to work from a bunk bed, a lot of working travellers prefer to head to coffee shops. It’s more comfortable and they can enjoy watching the world go by as they do it. It’s a very different local cultural experience to wielding a camera and visiting temples.

Chiang Mai is known for having workable coffee shops with decent wifi. The majority of them don’t seem to mind how long you sit over a cup of coffee or iced chocolate and some serve free drinking water. All of the ones we worked from have proper tables and chairs (sometimes sofas and low coffee tables as well). Most are located north of the Old Town, around Nimmenhaemin Road. Here’s our thoughts on just a few.

Bitter Sweet

Chiang Mai 002

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The Costs – a Week Travelling From Chiang Mai to Laos

I thought it might be useful to give a breakdown on what we’re spending our money on so that you can plan and save for your own travels. We’re on a pretty tight budget and watching the pennies so you can easily spend more than this. We’re travelling as a couple so things like accommodation can be cheaper than travelling alone. We do, however, require our hotels to have halfway descent wifi and a working space. We’re also working on the road so we’re not necessarily having as many of the ‘tourist experiences’ as others might.

Although we’ve since moved on from Chiang Mai, it was only a few weeks ago so the figures are still relevant and useful.

Money

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The Costs – Another Week in Chiang Mai

I thought it might be useful to give a breakdown on what we’re spending our money on so that you can plan and save for your own travels. We’re on a pretty tight budget and watching the pennies so you can easily spend more than this. We’re travelling as a couple so things like accommodation can be cheaper than travelling alone. We do, however, require our hotels to have halfway descent wifi and a working space. We’re also working on the road so we’re not necessarily having as many of the ‘tourist experiences’ as others might.

Although we’ve since moved on from Chiang Mai, it was only a few weeks ago so the figures are still relevant and useful.

Money

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