Thoughts on Moving Country

I mentioned recently that Agi and I were leaving Bangkok and moving to Poland. Working remotely is great because we don't need to worry about our income but it's not all easy. Here are a few thoughts about what to consider when moving country.

Finding Accommodation

Unless you are the kind of remote worker who travels constantly you will need to find somewhere more permanent. Of course, you could opt to stay in hostels or Airbnb places but you're going to get a much better place at a lower price if you can find somewhere to rent for a while.

This is one of the big differences between Thailand and Poland so far. When we arrived in Bangkok and wanted to find somewhere to live we called a few agents. The next day we saw 5 apartments. We liked one and the deposit was paid, contract signed and keys handed over within a week. This is a symptom of the fact that Bangkok is a buyer's market. There are more apartments than people to rent them. As a result, a lot of apartments are sitting empty, meaning you can move in quicker and also negotiate a discounted rent.

Poznan on the other hand is a seller's market. When we arrived we found a decent number of apartments advertised for rent. Not as many as Bangkok but still a pretty good selection. We arranged viewings and found one we liked very quickly. However, there are not lots of apartments sitting empty waiting for you to saunter up and take your pick. Also the landlord would not budge on the price.

The apartment we chose was still occupied and would come available a month later. It's not that unusual but, if you have just moved to a new country, then you will need to pay for a hotel or something. If you work for a large company then they usually pay for your accommodation during this period. As a remote worker, and especially a freelancer, no one is going to cover this cost for you. This wasn't a huge problem for us because we were able to stay with Agi's parents until the moving date.

Take a look at where you want to move before you do so and find out about the rental market there. Are there a lot of apartments available? How long will you have to wait? Where can you stay in the meantime?

Moving Money

I talked in my Brexit post about the best ways to access your money when you are travelling. I would like to add a point about opening bank accounts. I have experience opening, or attempting to open, bank accounts in Thailand and Poland.

Thailand was extremely confusing because the information available online was... what's the word for it? Wrong. The staff in the bank itself had no idea what was and wasn't possible. I was told foreigners cannot open bank accounts, I was told you need this piece of paper, that piece of paper. In the end it was really easy. I took my passport to the bank and they opened the account. They didn't think they could... there was confusion and hand waving... they had to check with a manager... but it turned out they could!

Poland is actually a lot easier but you need to have a Polish ID number. Everyone has to register their residence in Poland. Foreigners automatically get an ID when you register. I am going through the process of this at the moment and I will get my number eventually but I can't get a bank account until I do.

Again, do some research before you move and find out what the requirements are. There may be things you can do up front to make the process smoother.

We've Worked in... Pai

Part 3 of our grand farewell tour of Thailand. We went south to Phuket for a month, then our SCUBA trip, and after that we took ourselves up north. Neither Agi nor I had ever been to Pai in Northern Thailand but we constantly heard nice things about it. Was it as nice as people say?

We've Worked in... Pai

After our diving trip we flew up to Chiang Mai and stayed there for a couple of days. If you are ever there you should go to Blue Diamond The Breakfast Club. We went there for breakfast twice and dinner once. Their breakfast food is amazing and they have a range of baked goods, pastries and cakes with vegan and gluten free options. (There are also meat based options for carnivores like me).

From Chiang Mai we took the bus up to Pai. The road twists up and down through the hills and 762 sharp turns. I rarely get motion sickness but this journey almost got me. The views are great if you can concentrate on them!

Don't let this deter you though because Pai is a lovely town. When we arrived we went to the guesthouse we booked online. Agi really wanted a swimming pool and we had chosen our guesthouse for that reason. It turned out though that the swimming pool was actually 2.5km away on the other side of town and guests had access for free. Always read the small print!

The guesthouse owner was very understanding and helped us find replacement accommodation. We moved over to The Countryside Resort on the edge of town. It was absolutely beautiful; small houses spread out and surrounded by fields. They gave us a 20% discount because we wanted to stay for 3 weeks which was a great result. The cute little houses had sunroofs on top and most importantly, there was a swimming pool!

I don't know why Pai started to become popular but it is a major destination for backpackers. As a result two things have happened, one good and one bad depending on your point of view:

1. Most aspects of traditional Thai life have disappeared.
2. The town is small but has a ridiculous number of options for food and drink.

I have read some blogs that criticise the place but we loved our time in Pai. We were staying a little distance outside of the town which meant that it was very quiet. I get the impression that the bars in town get very busy and noisy in the evening. We rented a scooter so we could nip into town when we were hungry and then head back out to our quiet country residence! Lasagne, curry, noodles, whatever you want, it's there.

On a few days we went riding around the countryside on our scooter. The views were wonderful. Our accommodation had an open seating area where we worked most of the time. It was really nice to be surrounded by nature. On a few calls clients commented that it sounded like I was in a forest they could hear so many birds.

A few times we went to Fluid Swimming Pool (the pool we could have had access to with our original guest house!). We went there at 9am when it opened and we had the whole thing to ourselves. We would do some lengths and then work in their cafe for the rest of the day. They do really great coffee and sandwiches. Working there was a hell of a lot better than working in a factory or warehouse like I used to!

Pai was a lovely place to spend a few weeks. Another great trip enabled by freelancing. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

Our First Proper Holiday

Part 2 of our grand farewell tour of Thailand. I've talked a lot about how we travel and work. I wrote a post about what it's really like. Agi and I feel that we don't miss out on anything by working while we travel. However, we both felt that we needed to take a real break. We decided to do a 4 day liveaboard diving trip in the Similan Islands. We booked our diving trip with Khao Lak Scuba Adventures. The company was recommended by one of Agi's friends and they were amazing. At the end of our month in Phuket they picked us up and took us to their centre in Khao Lak. After picking up our diving equipment we got on board Manta Queen 1.

We were given a briefing and met our shipmates. We would be spending our trip with people from England, Sweden, France, Germany, Ukraine and America. A nice multicultural mix. The boat left dock and while we slept the captain took us out to the Similan Islands. We woke up in the morning to see small islands out of our cabin window.

We had told our clients that we would not be available for the duration of our trip so we felt free to relax and enjoy. The next 4 days were amazing. Our routine was:

• Wake up and have coffee
• Dive
• Eat breakfast
• Relax for 2 hours
• Dive
• Eat lunch
• Relax for 2 hours
• Dive
• Eat a snack
• Relax for 2 hours
• Dive
• Eat dinner
• Relax until bed time

Nice!

The diving was excellent and we saw tons of things: barracuda, mantis shrimp, grouper, reef sharks, moray eels. There were 3 highlights:

• On a night dive I saw another diver shining a light on something. I went over to see what was happening. All of a sudden, a lobster came running over the coral towards me. I have seen lobster in tanks in shops and hiding in crevices while diving but I had never seen one free swimming before. It was amazing, it looked like an insectoid horse galloping across the coral!

• We spent most of our time on the boat but on one day they dropped us off at one of the islands so we could climb up to the view point for a look around. Tourist boats come every day from the mainland but they don't arrive until mid morning so we had the island to ourselves. The view from the top of the hill was spectacular, the photo is at the top of this post. The beach was one of the most amazing I have ever seen:

• Perhaps the main highlight was the first dive on which we saw Manta Rays. We had been told to look out for them so everyone was constantly scanning the area. We heard a diver banging on their tank which usually signifies something worth seeing. I looked to my left and saw a dark shape emerging out of the blue. The Manta was about 4m across and swam slowly towards me before angling upwards and swimming directly over my head. I saw its silhouette against the sun shining down through the water. After that, 2 more Mantas appeared and the 3 of them swam around us for the duration of the dive. Spectacular!

This was our first proper holiday since freelancing. We did no work whatsoever and loved it. How do you spend your holidays while freelancing? Get in touch and give me some tips!

We've Worked in... Phuket

We are planning to leave Thailand in May so we decided to get out of Bangkok for our final weeks. We found a nice place in Phuket on AirBnB and decided to live the (sort of) island lifestyle for a while.  This is one of the things I love about having a non location specific job!

We've Worked in... Phuket

We came to Phuket with our friends Nick and Ging. Nick and I came to Phuket in 2011 and studied Muay Thai for a month. I had a fight at the end of our training as you can see here:

With a record of 1-0, I retired undefeated from Muay Thai. Not wanting to put that at risk and with absolutely no demand from fans to see me return to the ring I decided to try something new. Agi and I signed up for Crossfit at a new gym in Phuket called Unit 27.

Our new routine during our time in Phuket has been going to Morning Glory sessions, coming home and recovering then starting work. I have heard that doing a workout in the morning gives you energy for the rest of the day. That is not the case in my experience! I feel better for doing more exercise and I am happy to have done it but I generally feel knackered for the rest of the day.

During our time in Phuket we have had a revolving cast of guest stars. 3 different groups of friends came to catch up with us which has been amazing. Eating out and going to the beach has been a real treat. It makes it difficult to fit work in sometimes but it's totally worth it.

We have friends with a young kid so going out partying wasn't an option with them. What's the next best thing after raving? Dinosaur themed mini golf!

I wish we had done more of this sort of thing during our time in Thailand but I'm not complaining. We had a great time in Bangkok but I sometimes forgot that there are other places to go. Today we are leaving for a 4 day liveaboard diving trip in the Similan islands. After that we are going up north to Pai to spend our last few weeks in the mountains. Agi has been begging for mountains for months. Life is good.

Another great trip enabled by freelancing. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

Living in Thailand & Japan

During our recent trip to Japan it was difficult not to compare things to Thailand. I lived in Japan from 2004 - 2006 and I have been living in Thailand for a year and a half. I thought I would share some of the differences and similarities.

Noise

Bangkok is noisy. There's no escaping it. The traffic never stops and it is frequently poorly maintained so motorbike and lorry engines deafen you. For all that I love it, there is a vibrancy to the streets that makes you feel alive.

Japan is quiet... to paraphrase every horror/action movie... maybe a little too quiet. If you enjoy peace and time to think then Japan is a great place to be. The only downside is that sometimes it really is too quiet. I only realised this when I found myself whispering to talk to people in public. It gets to you eventually.

Price

This is going to be no surprise but the price difference between living in Bangkok and Tokyo is huge! Here is the average differential according to numbeo.com:

When I was living in Japan I had a full time job so my earnings were proportional, as shown by the local purchasing power index. However, visiting there after living in Thailand was a real gut punch! That said, being a tourist in Japan isn't too bad. Similar to Thailand, people eat out a lot more often than Europeans, especially Britons. As a result, restaurants are cheaper relative to other costs. According to numbeo.com restaurants in the UK are 85% more expensive than Japan while other costs are more similar. This is great for me because I LOVE to eat out. During our trip to Japan we ate our way around the country and it was great!

Attitude

Thai people and Japanese people are both great but in completely different ways.

Japanese people will go out of their way to help you any time. I and others have asked for directions to somewhere and received a lift to our destination instead. Even for basic enquiries they really want to make sure you get a positive result. Japanese people are famously reserved but will be delighted and break into huge smiles if you attempt to speak the language.

There is also a completely different aesthetic. When I was in Japan I worked for Nova - at the time the largest English school in the country. I was hired in the UK and Nova's international branding on their correspondence was a conservative yellow lotus on navy blue. When I got to Japan I realised that the local branding was a maniac pink bunny rabbit. Check out the commercial... there are no words.

Thai people love to laugh and smile... which can be disconcerting at times. I have felt like I was being laughed at, only to realise that the Thai person was laughing to defuse a nervous situation. That probably says more about my own mental state than Thai culture! Thai people love to have fun and it's great to see so many smiles. Everybody from taxi drivers to shop owners will try to joke with you. This contributes to a great atmosphere.

These are just a few of my observations from having lived in both countries. I love them both and I hope I get the chance to live in other places too. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.