My last trip came to an early end, when I suddenly packed up and went home. After 4 months in Sydney, I’m now in Thailand… But where to from here?
I don’t mean my physical location – I mean life, work, business.
Thailand was my country of choice due to the low cost of living, the relative closeness to home and the thriving ‘Digital Nomad‘ community. To start with, I was going to go the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai which has the reputation of being the digital nomad capital of the world and with a very low cost of living, even for Thailand. However, at this time of year all the farmers burn their crops and it makes the area very smokey and unpleasant.
So, I did a bit of research and found that Koh Lanta – an island in the south of the country, not far from Phuket and Ko Phi Phi – sounded perfect. There are a lot of tourists, expats, digital nomads – but NOTHING like the craziness of the other Thai islands. I’m on the main tourist beach, and although there are a lot of Westerners, there is also still plenty of space. The beach doesn’t feel crowded, and neither do the streets. There are plenty of bars and restaurants – but it’s not the trashy scene that many other places in Thailand seem to have become.
There is a coworking space on Ko Lanta called KoHub, and I’ve signed up for a 1 month membership for 6000 baht ($230 AUD or $7.60 AUD per day). I’m here now, as I write this. At first I wasn’t sure about spending the money, as I’m trying to stick to a tight budget… But then I realised that if I sit in a cafe and use free WiFi then I have to buy things to stay there – and this cost is about the same as 2 coffees per day. And the atmosphere is much better – people going about their work, running remote businesses – hopefully I’ll make some new friends, and learn some tips on running an online business as well.
So… What’s the plan from here?
A couple of things that I’ve just brainstormed this morning over breakfast:
- Finish the Travel Blog Success course & put learnings into practice
- Start & finish the TBS Facebook Marketing course & put learnings into practice
- Learn about travel hacking/earning frequent flyer points in the Aussie market and write about it (and put into practice for myself)
- Write lots of blog posts – aim to publish twice a week, but write every day. Have draft posts ready to publish in the future
- Upload all photos to Google Photos, then clean up & organise them
- Learn about email newsletters and create a regular one for my blog – and build email list
- Create a social media plan – schedule posts & increase engagement
- Continuously learn & improve blog & build a business
I’ll also research & build skills that will increase my employability when (or if) I return to Sydney to get some ‘real work’. I have no intentions of getting permanent full time work – I want contract work. This will allow me to continue having the freedom to travel, work on my own business etc. while being at home earning some good money and catching up with friends & family.
Of course, there is also the need to enjoy myself on a personal level too!
- Read some novels
- Relax
- Make new friends & socialise
- Focus on my health – exercise, food, mental health etc
- Maybe take a Thai language course, or do more DuoLingo Spanish
- Explore Koh Lanta – hire a motorbike and explore the island
So… Here I am.
Unlike last year, when I “accidentally” spent more time travelling than working… This time I’m going to force myself to stay here in Koh Lanta for at least the month and focus on work. How will I know if I can do this (or if I even actually enjoy it!) if I don’t give it a proper shot?