If you're going to work whilst travelling, Southeast Asia makes almost everything easier. The cost of living is low, the food is extraordinary, the people are genuinely welcoming, and — this matters more than people admit — the coffee culture is excellent.
I've spent a substantial chunk of the last twelve years in the region. Thailand mostly, but also Vietnam, Bali, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Each place has its own character, its own rhythm, its own version of what working remotely feels like. Here's my honest guide to the three I keep coming back to.
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Chiang Mai is where a lot of digital nomads start, and there's a reason for that. It's affordable without being rough around the edges. The co-working scene is mature — Punspace has been there for years and there are plenty of alternatives. The Old City is beautiful and walkable, the surrounding mountains are extraordinary, and a decent apartment will cost you a fraction of what you'd pay in London.
The internet is, on the whole, very good. I've had faster broadband in a café in Chiang Mai than in my office back home. The time difference to the UK is six hours ahead, which means I can do a full morning of deep work before anyone in Britain has had their first cup of tea.
One honest caveat: it can feel a little like a bubble. You'll meet a lot of other Western nomads. If you want to be embedded in local culture, you have to make more effort here than in some other cities.
Bali, Indonesia
Bali is more expensive than mainland Southeast Asia and the connectivity can be patchy outside of Canggu and Seminyak — but there's something about working here that I've never quite been able to explain. The combination of the landscape, the culture, and the sheer density of creative, entrepreneurial people in a small area creates an energy that's genuinely different.
Canggu in particular has built itself into a proper working-holiday destination. The cafés are set up for laptops. The co-working spaces are good. And at 5pm you can be in the water. Bali is seven hours ahead of the UK — that morning window I rely on is at its best here.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
This is the one that surprises people. Ho Chi Minh City is loud, chaotic, and overwhelming — and once you get past the first few days, it becomes one of the best working cities I've found anywhere in the world. The internet is fast, the street food is remarkable value, and there's a creative business culture here that I find genuinely inspiring.
It's also six hours ahead of the UK. At this point I think I just follow the six-hour timezone around the globe.
Vietnam requires a bit more logistical planning — visas, the language barrier is more pronounced, and the traffic takes some getting used to — but if you can handle the first week, it rewards you with something most tourist-friendly destinations don't: a sense that you're in a place that has its own things going on, entirely independently of you.
The honest summary
Start with Chiang Mai if you've never done this before. It's the most forgiving introduction to long-term travel-working. Then, when you want something with a bit more edge, try Vietnam. Bali is somewhere in between — more expensive, more beautiful, more immediately loveable.
All three will change how you think about work. That's the real reason to go.