MBA936 Top 5 Cities For Digital Nomads

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Hey O welcome to the the $100 MBA show. The place to go and you want to know how to run a better business every single day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar mba, a complete business training and community online Getting started with your business. Make sure you nail your business idea with our seven part Idea Validation course. These are seven videos and a workbook to make sure that you're going to create something that your customers actually want. Enroll for free over at 100 MBA NET in today's episode you will learn what are the top five cities for digital Nomads? If you run an online business, one of the biggest benefits is that you could be a location independent. As long as you've got your laptop and an Internet connection, you can work from anywhere. But where is anywhere? I did some major research for you to come up with today's list. What are the top five cities around the world that are perfect for those people who run online businesses that want to see the world, want to travel, want to have great experiences, but at the same time have a very good standard of living no matter what your budget is. If you're looking to spend a few months abroad so you can save some money or spend a few months to gain some amazing experiences. I'm going to give you my top five cities with cost of living advantages, disadvantages, and everything you need to know so you can choose the best city to be a digital nomad. Alright, let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Where to, where to if you don't know already. I love traveling, I love seeing the world. I love experiencing new cultures, new foods, new ways of life. It's such a great learning experience. It makes you a better person, a better entrepreneur. And for me, it's really one of those highlights of a lifetime. My best memories are often made when I'm traveling. And one of the advantages of being a digital entrepreneur is that you can run your online business from anywhere. So if you want to spend three months in a city, four months, six months, even a year, this is totally possible. So what I wanted to do in this episode is do all the research for you so you can have a short list of places that you could spend a few months to a year running your business while having great experiences. Now, how did I come up with this list? I have some criteria. Here are the things that every city must have in order to make my list. Number one, it's gotta have great Internet connection. So none of these places will be cities that have problems with Internet. It has to have a minimum of a 10 megabytes per second download speed. And it's gotta be readily available. It's gotta be like super common. And if you're staying in an Airbnb or a rented apartment, it's not a problem for you to have. Or if you want to pop into an Internet cafe, or any kind of cafe for that matter, it should be readily available. All right, so Internet's number one, you can't run your business without Internet.

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Number two, safety. You gotta make sure that this place is safe and you can enjoy life in a level of comfort. Number three is value. So no matter how cheap or expensive the city is, it has to be a great value, meaning that you're getting a whole lot more than what you're paying for. So some of these cities are really on the low end in terms of cost, but the value is huge. And some of them are a little bit more expensive, but for what you're getting, it's a steal. And lastly, I have what I call a fun score. Where there's fun things to do there, there's nightlife, there's sites to see, maybe it's close to other cities around the world. So you can visit other cultures as well easily. You can hop on a, you know, a low cost air flight and see something new over the weekend. Alright, so let's jump into the list. These are in no particular order. I'm going to give you five. And they're kind of varied in different ways and I'll explain. So number one, the first city on my list might surprise you, but when I was doing my research, I found it to be one of the best places for you as a digital nomad and that's Budapest, Hungary. Let's talk about cost of living. If you're single, you can live in Budapest comfortably for $1,200. Yes, that's all inclusive in terms of your rent, your food and your Internet connection, all that kind of stuff. Now obviously you can pay a little bit more and you can pay a little bit less, but that's an average about $1,200 a month. And this is if you're single. If you are a couple, just add 20%. So for every person you're going to add to your group, just add 20%. So if you're a family of four, you're going to add 60% to that 60% of 120 add to it. So you might pay a little bit more or a little bit less, but $1,200 a month is the average and we're talking US dollars here. So what if you're a couple or you're a family? Just add 20% for each person you're going to add. So if you are two people, then add 20% of 1,200 and another 20% if there's a third person and then you get another 20% if there's a fourth person. Now why do I like Budapest? Well, first of all, it's in the eu, it's in Europe, it's a great hub. In about an hour or two you can be in major cities like Rome or Berlin or Paris or Madrid. So weekend getaways to new cities are amazing. It's so simple, so easy and low cost. But you can make Budapest your actual hub. Now Hungary has really developed over the years and Budapest is a booming city, especially in the startup scene. And they have incredible Internet. The minimum is around 30 Mbps. Plus Hungary's got a great culture, lots to see and it's one of my favorite cities that I researched because again, $1200 if you're single, maybe for a couple, about $1600. Not bad, not bad for being in Europe and just a skip away from major cities that you'd love to see all your life. Plus, Budapest is quite modern. You're not going to really miss any of the amenities back home. I really like it. It's kind of different. Most people think of Asia when they think of, you know, digital nomads, and we'll get to that. But I wanted to make sure we talked about Budapest and put it on the list. All right, let's go to number two. And yes, you guessed it, it's Chiang Mai in Thailand. Chiang Mai's all inclusive. Kind of cost on average for a single person is a little under $1,000. Now you could see how much. Budapest is a great value, only about $200 more if you're single and you're in Europe. Now, Chiang Mai's got a very, very robust digital nomad community. A lot of entrepreneurs go there to work and to live. Thailand is a huge hub for travel because you got a lot of different places you can go to. Now, Chiang Mai is inland. It's not on the beach or on the coast, but there's plenty of coastal resorts and cities around Thailand that you can go to within an hour flight or less. So Chiang Mai's got a lot of the startup culture there. A lot of digital nomads are there. So you're going to meet a lot of expats, a lot of expatriates that are doing exactly like what you're doing, you know, working from abroad. So you're going to get kind of a community away from home. So that's kind of cool. Plus, under $1,000, not bad at all. It's a good place to save some money and keep your costs down. If you love eating out and you're a big foodie, Chiang Mai is really, really inexpensive when it comes to eating out. So if you don't like to cook and you just want to eat out every meal, it's a place to be. Chiang Mai's Internet is actually quite good as well. It's around 19Mbps. You can get better and you can get a little bit worse, but it's a good standard. You know, people are used to decent Internet there. It's relatively safe. There's a lot of partying going on there. The one thing I will say is that if you're not, you know, a young person, if you're maybe in your mid-30s, 40s. One thing I got to mention are a couple of things I want to mention about Chiang Mai that may be, let's say a negative one. It's known for a young community. So if you're a little bit older, if you're like me, if you're your mid-30s, getting closer to 40, you're going to be one of the older people there. So it's definitely a young crowd, a lot of partying going on because, hey, it's Thailand. People like to have fun. The other thing is that Thailand's in Southeast Asia, so it's a bit far. If you live in North America or you're in Europe, so you're kind of out there in the world, you're going to have to stay in that region. Unless you're going to travel, you know, 15, 16 hours just to get to Europe or another 20 hours to get to the West coast in the U.S. so it's far. But if you live in Australia or New Zealand, it's probably one of the closer places you can go to as a digital nomad. All right, let's get to number three. Number three was a bit of a surprise for me, and this is not a really inexpensive place to be, but I wanted to put it on the list because I think it's a great value. And that's Barcelona, Spain. Now, Barcelona is becoming an up and coming digital nomad hotspot because it has an amazing culture in Spain. It's coastal, so you are by the beach. There's a lot to see, a lot of history as well as a lot of action, a lot of nightlife. Plus you have the added advantage of being centrally located in Europe as well as the Middle East. So if you're in Spain, you're like really close to Morocco and West Africa. So it's really a great hub for travel within Europe as well as North Africa. You're literally an hour flight from major cities again, like Rome and Paris and maybe a couple hours from Berlin. You'll be in Switzerland in about an hour and a half. Amazing, right? You're going to be able to explore a whole new culture every weekend. But Barcelona is not the cheapest place as a digital nomad. It's about $2,200 a month, still inexpensive compared to some of the major cities around the world. We're talking about $2,200 if you're single, and that includes your rent, your food, all your expenses. Pretty good. If you're a couple, it's going to cost you around 26, $2,700 a month. But hey, not bad for being in a major city in the world. Plus, Barcelona has one of the best Internet connections in Europe. And we have to mention this, the weather. Spain has amazing weather for the most part. The winters don't get too cold, and a lot of the Europeans of the north come to Spain during, you know, the late winter, spring because the weather's so nice. And there's just something about being part of an old culture rich city. You just feel like you're part of history. All right, Barcelona, put it on your list. Let's hit number four. Number four back in Asia. But now we're in Indonesia. Yes, Bali, Indonesia. Now, believe it or not, Bali is a little bit more expensive than Chiang mai. It's about $1,100 a month. But Bali actually has a higher rating when it comes to safety as well as tolerance. And of course, it's an island, so you're going to get that beach culture. Now, Bali is an island, but there's a lot of inland cities as well, like Ubud. Abud is known for some really good nature and yoga culture, as well as a little less expensive than being by the beach. Bali also has incredibly, really good Internet. The standard's pretty high, 25 Mbps. And because Bali and Indonesia are very close to the equator, you're going to get some warm tropical weather throughout the year. So if you hate the cold, this is the place to be. Now, there's plenty of rain as well, so three months out of the year, it's going to be a lot of rain. So you may want to make sure you time your trip or your visit so it's not the rainy season. Very, very inexpensive. Again, just like Thailand, eating out is very inexpensive. Your biggest expense is going to be rent, and even that is not too expensive. Now, with any of these options, you can obviously rent an apartment and furnish it yourself, or you can find a furnished apartment, or you can go Airbnb and just kind of live it up a little. In a lot of these cities, Airbnbs, even if you get the entire place, are pretty inexpensive when you book it for a month or more. And you can negotiate with the actual host, you can send them an email or, you know, contact the host and give them your date, say, hey, I want to stay for three months, four months, whatever it is, can you do it for this price and negotiate with them? They may be able to do it or a little bit more, but you don't have to take the price that's right on the reservation or on the search, you can definitely negotiate.

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All right, city number five, and that's Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Now Vietnam has been trying to recover since the war for the last few decades and they're making some strides in the last few years with really becoming one of those hubs in Asia that people are talking about. Even though they are up and coming, the prices are still low. If you're single, you can live off $774 on average. Great place to save. Vietnam's got some decent Internet, a minimum of 11Mbps and some of the best food in Asia. There's also a lot of coworking spaces that have popped up in Ho Chi Minh and it's really, really inexpensive. The average is 88 USD dollars a month. To be part of a co working space, to have your own desk and to be able to use fast Internet and meet other entrepreneurs. Like a lot of Southeast Asian cities, eating out is quite inexpensive and you're very close to other cities that you want to visit in Southeast Asia, whether that's Bangkok or Phuket or Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong for that matter. Not too far away. At well over $800 a month if you're single and about 1100 if you're a couple, that's pretty good value. Yes, Asia is a bit far, but boy, that's a lot of value for what you're getting. One of the top priorities that they're working on is also safety. So safety has gone up and up and up in the city, so people are really surprised how safe it is when they get there. And of course all my recommendations have a pretty good level of safety. I wouldn't recommend anything that's unsafe. Well, there you have it. Those are my five cities for digital nomads. If you're looking to go away for a few months, work on your business, save some money, have some new experiences. This is the list I recommend. So number one is Budapest, Hungary. Number two, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Number three, Barcelona, Spain. A little expensive but worth it. Number four, Bali, Indonesia. And number five, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Thank you so much for listening to the Hunter MBA show. If you thought this episode was beneficial, helpful. If you love any of our episodes, let us know in an itunes rating and review. By leaving us an itunes rating and review, you let other people know what you think of the show so you help us gain more listeners and grow the show. Thank you so much for that in advance. And everybody who leaves us an itunes rating and review enters our weekly random draw. We call it Free Ride. Friday it's when we give away a lifetime membership to one of our programs. This week we're giving away Easy Course, which is a $500 course over at Easy Course Co. It's a 30 day course on how to create your own online course. This Friday, somebody who loves us in itunes rating and review will win that course. And we do this every Friday, so check it out. Make sure you leave us a review and check us out on Friday to hear who. All right, before I go, I want to leave you with this. One of the biggest advantages of having an online business is being location independent. So take advantage of that. Go and see the world. Go see some new cities. Enrich yourself. Educate yourself. It's going to make you a better person, a better entrepreneur. You're not going to regret it, I guarantee it. Even if it's for a short period of time, even if it's for a few weeks, it's going to be worth it. Alright, I'll check you in tomorrow's episode where we talk about three business rules you should never break. I'll check you then. Take care.

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