On August 26th 2014, after traveling from the east coast to west coast and selling pretty much everything I owned including my car I bought a one way ticket to Bangkok Thailand.

The purpose of this post is to show you how you can do the same. Remember you have 1 life, and you need to be happy. Nobody else is going to look out for your happiness so make sure you look out for you first.

To be honest I had no idea where I was going to stay, I met Tyler Bibbins on the plane and he suggested the Smile Society, at around $13 a night it was expensive in Thai regards but a fantastic hostel.

We split a cab and made it out to the hostel where I would spend my first 3 nights in Thailand at.

Bangkok was a bit much for me. I knew I wanted to go to a smaller city and from my research Chiang Mai was the ex pat oasis in Thailand. With hundreds of drop shippers, email marketers, SEO consultants, digital marketing strategists, game developers, copywriters, and pretty much any sweet gig you can dream up was being done remotely in Chiang Mai.

I cut my trip in BKK a day short and booked a $30 flight to Chiang Mai. When I arrived I was ecstatic to meet with my fraternity brother Austin Drake.

We posted up at Deejai Backpackers for 3 days, 170 baht per night for a shared dorm. Now I’m not your average backpacker I need to get shit done and the hostel life isn’t much my style.

After the first day I rented a scooter for 180 baht a day and found myself an apartment at MP Place on Nimman.

• Rent – 6,000 baht a month
• Wifi – 400 baht per device
• Water – 25 baht per unit
• Electricity 7 baht per unit
• Blanket – 300 baht to rent

All of this added up to 8,572 baht for the month, just under $300 at the current exchange rate of 30 to 1.

Such a prime location, in a new building walking distance to coffee shops, bars, food, Punspace for under $300 a month. (Freaking incredible)

So many digital nomads move to Thailand because of the cost of living.

My original plan was to pay for Punspace and work out of the co working spot next to MP Place.

I tried it out 1 day and it wasn’t bad but there were hundreds of coffee shops to be discovered and at $100/month the instant coffee form the co working space wasn’t too appetizing when you had award winning cafe’s including Ristro8 a rock throw away.

So I worked from 30+ different coffee shops. My favorites were Kaweh Cafe and Play Cafe both walking distance from MP Place but I made sure to try every cafe I passed by. (FOMO)

You’ll usually find 1 or 2 favorites that have reliable internet, a good amount of outlets, food and of course..cafe. Remember it’s good to switch it up and not become a coffee shop hermit, make sure you practice your coffee shop etiquette.

If coffee isn’t your thing, not to worry there are plenty of juice bars.

During these 3 months I accomplished a TON, documented on my reflections of 2014. Along with exceeding my goals I made sure to leave room for adventure. If you know me you know I work harder than anyone but I also have an adrenaline fix.

So I participated in Loi Krathong

Jumped Off Cliffs

Hung Hammocks

Learned to Scuba Dive

Chased Waterfalls, Hiked Mountains, Played With Monkeys.

Enjoyed some terrific Thai Food. (Only got sick once :D)

There are thousands of jobs you can work remotely, find what works for you. Wether it’s copywriting, developing, or designing find something that gets you out of bed and excites you every morning. Work from fun places, make new friends and enjoy new experiences.

You can do all of this for less than $1000 a month, if you live frugally for $500 a month.

Typical Costs

• 2GB of data and a sim card is about $12/month – (You can get this at any 7-11)
• Food costs between $1 to $3 (Eat where the locals are eating)
• Rent $200-$300 for your own place
• Motorbike $80 a month. Gas $3 bucks to fill the motorbike
• Scuba – 12,000 baht – $400 2 nights with ocean front views, dives $30.00 per day
• Flights $30-$60.00
• Overnight Train $20.00
• Tuk Tuk 100 baht – $3.00 (Private taxis that try to take you places even when you aren’t trying to go)
• Song Tao 20 baht-  $1.00 (Public red taxis taking you across the city)