I used to think any city with a beach and cheap coffee would work.
Spoiler: it doesn’t.
The best nomad cities share a few quiet things in common — good infrastructure, a culture that doesn’t make you feel like an outsider, walkability, and a community of other people doing the same weird thing you’re doing.
You don’t realize how much that last one matters until 8 PM on a Tuesday when you’re losing your mind over a project and you just want to grab a beer with someone who gets it.
The best nomad cities have that.
They have co-working spaces that are actually good.
They have neighborhoods that feel like home after two weeks.
They have a pace of life that doesn’t grind you down.
And honestly?
They have food that makes Monday mornings a little more bearable.
When I started making a list of my favorite places, I realized they all had that warm, functional, livable quality that’s hard to describe but you know it the second you arrive.
Lisbon, Portugal — The City That Spoiled Me For Everywhere Else
I landed in Lisbon on a gray October afternoon and left four months later wondering if I’d made a mistake leaving.
That’s the Lisbon effect.
The city is old and beautiful in a way that feels earned, not curated.
The tiles, the light, the hills — it’s all just kind of effortlessly good-looking.
But what made it work for me as a nomad was the combination of strong internet, a massive international community, and a cost of living that felt generous compared to Western Europe.
You can get a beautiful apartment in Mouraria or Príncipe Real for a fraction of what you’d pay in Paris.
The co-working scene is solid.
There are neighborhoods that feel like a village inside a city — which, if you work alone all day, matters more than you’d think.
My personal tip: stay away from the super-touristy areas for your accommodation.
The further you live from the main squares, the more you feel like you actually live there.
And you want to feel like you live there.
That’s the whole point.
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Medellín, Colombia — The City That Rewired How I Think About “Base”
I almost didn’t go to Medellín.
And that would have been a massive mistake.
The city has transformed itself in a way that’s genuinely stunning — and the energy you feel there is unlike anywhere else in South America.
It’s creative, young, warm (literally and figuratively), and surprisingly affordable.
El Poblado is the main nomad hub, and it’s comfortable almost to a fault.
But I’d actually recommend spending some time in Laureles too — it’s more local, a little calmer, and the coffee shops there are world-class.
Because Colombia, you know.
The internet in most co-working spaces and cafés is fast and reliable.
The weather in Medellín is nicknamed “eternal spring” for a reason — it’s around 70°F / 22°C basically year-round.
No humidity spikes.
No brutal winters.
Just perfect working-outside-with-a-hoodie weather, pretty much always.
My hack: rent a furnished apartment through local platforms instead of short-term rental apps.
You’ll save a significant amount and actually get a kitchen.
Which, when you’re trying to not spend every meal eating out, is kind of essential.
Chiang Mai, Thailand — The OG Nomad Hub That Still Earns Its Reputation
Chiang Mai has been on the nomad radar for years.
And I know some people roll their eyes at it now.
But honestly?
It earns the reputation every single time.
The cost of living is absurdly low.
The food is incredible — I’m talking some of the best meals I’ve had anywhere in the world, for a few dollars.
The co-working scene is mature, well-established, and genuinely good.
The old city has this calm, moat-surrounded energy that makes waking up and going to work feel almost peaceful.
Almost.
I stayed in the Nimman area during my first visit and it was probably the most productive three months of my freelance career, just because everything was easy.
If something broke, it was cheap to fix.
If I needed a break, a temple or a mountain was always close by.
My personal tip: Chiang Mai works best on a medium-length stay — a few months minimum.
It takes a week or two to find your rhythm and your spots.
Once you do though?
You’re going to find yourself extending that flight home more than once.
🗼 I Wrote a Book About My Japan Travel Catastrophes!
Before I landed in Tokyo, I thought I was the “Final Boss” of international travel. Spoiler alert: I WASN’T. 😅
🚅 I boarded the wrong Shinkansen and ended up in THE WRONG CITY. I confused locals with my “expert” bowing that was more awkward than accurate. I accidentally stumbled into a high-stakes Kendo practice thinking it was a tourist show. Sound like something you’d do?
“Things I Wish I Knew Before Going to Japan” is your shortcut to avoiding ALL my cringe-worthy mistakes. ✨ Inside, you’ll find practical, LIFE-SAVING tips on etiquette, transport, money, and hidden gems that will save you time, money, and a whole lot of confusion.
Tbilisi, Georgia — The Wild Card I Tell Everyone About
Most people look at me blankly when I say Tbilisi.
That’s exactly why I love recommending it.
Georgia (the country, not the state) sits at this fascinating crossroads of Europe and the Middle East, and its capital city is one of the most interesting, weird, beautiful places I’ve ever worked from.
The architecture alone is worth the trip.
Old Tbilisi is this mix of crumbling balconies, Orthodox churches, and sulfur bath houses that shouldn’t work together but absolutely does.
For nomads, Georgia has also made it incredibly easy to stay long-term — you can stay for a full year without a visa if you’re from most Western countries.
The internet is solid.
The cost of living is genuinely low.
Wine is cheap and excellent (Georgia is one of the oldest wine regions in the world).
And the people are — I don’t know how else to say this — just really warm.
I’ve had strangers invite me to their homes for dinner after 20-minute conversations.
That doesn’t happen everywhere.
If you want somewhere that feels like a discovery, this is it.
Bali, Indonesia — Yes, It’s Still Worth It (With a Few Caveats)
I know.
Everyone’s been to Bali.
Everyone has a Bali era.
But here’s the thing — Bali actually works.
And Canggu specifically has built itself into one of the most nomad-functional places on the planet.
The infrastructure has improved massively.
The co-working spaces are excellent — some of the nicest setups I’ve ever worked in, actually.
The food scene is incredible for the price.
You can rent a beautiful villa with a private pool for less than a basic apartment in most American cities.
That part still gets me every time I do the math.
My honest caveat: Bali can be crowded and the traffic in Canggu is genuinely bad.
If you rent a scooter (which I’d recommend), build extra time into every commute.
Also — the tourist infrastructure is great, but you have to be intentional about actually connecting with Balinese culture if you want more than a resort-with-laptops experience.
Get out to Ubud.
Visit the rice terraces.
Eat at the warungs, not just the Instagram brunch spots.
Bali rewards the people who slow down enough to actually see it.
Mexico City, Mexico — My Current Favorite and I’ll Fight You On It
Ask me right now where I’d move tomorrow if I had to pick one city and I’d say Mexico City without hesitating.
CDMX — as people who’ve spent real time there call it — is enormous, electric, and layered in a way that takes months to even scratch the surface of.
The food culture alone puts it in a category of its own.
Tacos at 2 AM after a long work sprint is not just possible, it is a lifestyle.
The neighborhoods — Condesa, Roma Norte, Coyoacán — are beautiful, walkable, and genuinely pleasant to live in.
The creative and tech community there has exploded.
You will meet interesting, ambitious people constantly.
The time zone for US-based work is a massive, underrated advantage too.
If most of your clients or colleagues are on the East or West Coast, you’re in a compatible zone.
No 3 AM calls.
No “I’m sorry, I’m in Asia” emails.
My tip: start in Roma Norte or Condesa for your first few weeks.
Find the café you like.
Find the taco spot you’ll go to three times a week.
Then slowly let the city expand outward from there.
That’s how CDMX works.
Budapest, Hungary — Europe, But Make It Affordable
Budapest is one of those cities that makes you feel vaguely sophisticated just by being there.
The architecture is extraordinary.
The thermal baths are real and they are wonderful.
The ruin bars are exactly as cool as the photos suggest.
And compared to Western European capitals, the cost of living feels almost generous.
For nomads specifically, Budapest has a well-developed co-working ecosystem and a large expat community that makes it easy to meet people quickly.
The internet infrastructure is excellent — some of the fastest speeds I’ve had anywhere in Europe.
Hungarian food is hearty, warming, and often very cheap.
Goulash in a Budapest market in the middle of winter?
I don’t know, there’s something about it that makes a hard work week feel almost romantic.
My personal recommendation: stay in the 7th district (the Jewish Quarter) for your first stint.
It puts you right in the middle of the city’s energy without being too touristy.
One thing to know: Hungarian is a genuinely difficult language and most locals in service industry settings speak English well, but learning a few words goes a long way toward people treating you warmly.
It always does.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — Fast, Cheap, and Fully Alive
Ho Chi Minh City — or Saigon, as locals still often call it — is not a slow city.
It is loud.
It is fast.
The traffic is a kind of organized chaos that you just have to surrender to.
And I mean that in the best possible way.
There’s a life force to this city that I haven’t felt anywhere else.
For nomads, the value proposition is hard to beat.
Your money goes absurdly far.
A great apartment in District 1 or District 3 costs a fraction of what you’d expect.
The food — the pho, the bánh mì, the endless street food — is some of the best I’ve ever had, full stop.
The café culture is thriving and specifically nomad-friendly.
You can sit in a Vietnamese coffee shop with your laptop for hours and nobody blinks.
The iced coffee alone is worth the flight.
My one honest note: HCMC rewards people who lean into the chaos rather than resist it.
If you need perfect quiet and structure to work, this might not be your first pick.
But if you can find your flow in the middle of noise and movement and constant stimulation?
This city will energize you in a way that’s hard to explain until you’ve felt it.
Cape Town, South Africa — The Most Underrated Nomad City on This List
Cape Town doesn’t come up enough in nomad conversations and I genuinely don’t understand why.
This city is stunning.
Table Mountain hovering above the city like it owns the place.
The ocean on what feels like every side.
Neighborhoods like De Waterkant and Woodstock that have this creative, gritty, stylish energy that I found completely addictive.
For nomads, the English-speaking environment makes the practical stuff easy.
The food and wine scene is world-class — and the wine, specifically, is remarkable for the price.
The co-working infrastructure has grown significantly, and the tech and startup community is active and welcoming.
The one real challenge with Cape Town is load shedding — scheduled power outages that are still a reality in South Africa.
You have to plan around it.
Invest in a good power bank.
Know which cafés and co-working spaces have generator backup.
It’s manageable, but it’s something to go in knowing.
My strong recommendation: don’t just stay in the city.
Rent a car at least once and drive the Cape Peninsula.
That drive is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced on this planet, and I don’t say that lightly.
🗼 I Wrote a Book About My Japan Travel Catastrophes!
Before I landed in Tokyo, I thought I was the “Final Boss” of international travel. Spoiler alert: I WASN’T. 😅
🚅 I boarded the wrong Shinkansen and ended up in THE WRONG CITY. I confused locals with my “expert” bowing that was more awkward than accurate. I accidentally stumbled into a high-stakes Kendo practice thinking it was a tourist show. Sound like something you’d do?
“Things I Wish I Knew Before Going to Japan” is your shortcut to avoiding ALL my cringe-worthy mistakes. ✨ Inside, you’ll find practical, LIFE-SAVING tips on etiquette, transport, money, and hidden gems that will save you time, money, and a whole lot of confusion.
What I Actually Look For Before Choosing My Next Base
After enough time doing this, I’ve developed a kind of internal checklist that I run through before committing to a place.
First: internet.
Not “pretty good” internet.
Reliable, fast, consistent internet — because one bad connection on a video call can cost you a client.
Second: cost of living relative to quality of life.
Cheap is great, but cheap-and-miserable isn’t a deal.
I want to feel like the city is giving me something for what I’m spending.
Third: community.
This one surprises people, but after a few months alone in a beautiful city, you realize that human connection is not optional.
It’s essential.
The best nomad cities have built-in communities — Facebook groups, co-working events, meetups — that make it easy to find your people fast.
Fourth: ease of daily life.
Groceries.
Transport.
Healthcare access.
The boring stuff.
When the boring stuff is hard, it slowly drains your energy in ways you don’t notice until you’re exhausted.
And fifth — honestly the most personal one — does the city inspire me?
Does walking around make me feel something?
The best places I’ve ever worked were the ones where even a 20-minute coffee break felt like an adventure.
The Gear and Mindset That Actually Makes This Lifestyle Work
People always ask me what gear I travel with.
And yes, the gear matters — a solid laptop, a reliable hotspot backup, a good pair of noise-canceling headphones.
Those things are real.
But honestly?
The bigger thing is mindset.
The nomad life looks effortless in photos.
In reality, it requires a kind of flexible discipline that takes time to develop.
You have to be okay with things being imperfect.
The Wi-Fi will drop at the worst moment.
The apartment will have a quirk you didn’t expect.
The co-working space will be full on the day you needed a quiet room.
The people who thrive long-term at this aren’t the ones who found the perfect setup.
They’re the ones who got good at adapting without spiraling.
My practical gear tip: always travel with a local SIM card from the first day and a portable battery pack that can charge your laptop at least once.
Those two things have saved me more times than I can count.
And mentally?
Give yourself the first week of any new city just to settle.
Don’t try to be fully productive on day two.
Walk around.
Eat things.
Figure out where the good coffee is.
Then work.
The nomad life is genuinely good.
I’m not going to pretend it isn’t.
But it has a shadow side that the highlight reels don’t show.
The loneliness is real, especially in the first year.
Moving somewhere new is exciting, but building actual friendships takes time you don’t always have before you move again.
The lack of routine can quietly erode your productivity if you’re not intentional about structure.
And the romanticized version of “work from anywhere” often collides with the reality of deadlines, time zone math, and spotty connections.
The people I know who’ve been doing this for years — and who are genuinely happy — have all figured out the same thing eventually.
They stopped trying to be in constant motion.
They picked a few places they loved and kept returning.
They built anchors — people, rituals, neighborhoods they knew — in two or three cities instead of trying to conquer twenty.
The goal isn’t to collect passport stamps.
The goal is to build a life that feels expansive and intentional at the same time.
And when you find those cities — the ones that feel like they were made for the way you work and live?
You’ll know.
