Yi Peng, Loy Krathong & Taiwan | Issue #0011

A warm (or chilly!) welcome to November. Depending where you are in the world, it is a great month for perfect sunny weather, wrap-up-warm-and-brown-leaves feels, or even ski conditions in some parts.

The main motivation behind The Digital Nomad - other than sharing news and stories that might have passed you by - was to give you a platform if you have a service, products or knowledge that will benefit other DNs. If you want to feature for free in some form in a future issue and reach a new audience, then hit us up at [email protected].

This week:

 🇪🇸 More devastating flooding in another digital nomad hotspot
  📆 Startups, assemble…
 🏮 It’s festival time if you are in town next week
#️⃣ Numbers, numbers, numbers in our quiz

Go well this week!

NEWS
Another DN destination in Asia in making moves

Taiwan’s new digital nomad visa is anticipated to be launched in the near future, and will allow remote workers to stay for up to a year.

The new initiative is going to be similar to programs in Japan and South Korea and aims to attract global professionals - particularly in innovation and tech.

Taiwan hopes to welcome 100,000 nomads and offer a route to the Employment Gold Card, which offers options to gain permanent residency. Collaborative efforts with Japan and South Korea will simplify travel across East Asia for remote workers too, in the hope it will compete with SE Asia’s current stronghold.

Taiwan is not a stranger to regular travellers around Asia, and we get rave reviews about the livability, food and landscapes from nomads who’ve visited.

For many of them, being able to stay a year in a country that offers such an attractive lifestyle - affordable cities, coworking spaces, nature spots, and vibrant culture - will make Taiwan a seriously viable option.

WHAT ELSE…

🇪🇸 A nod to a nomad destination: After struggles with flooding in Chiang Mai, it is devastating to hear of the plight of those in Valencia. It's an up-and-coming digital nomad destination, so we hope everyone managed to stay safe.

🌆 Cities fight back: Prague is the latest European city to put in place restrictions on visitors. Amsterdam has curbed visits from groups of younger people in the last year, and the protests around to over-tourism in Barcelona and Lisbon are well documented. Digital nomads aren’t the targets, but stay aware of the new rules if you visit.

✈️ Long, romantic airport farewells are out ⛔️: Dunedin, in New Zealand, has placed restrictions on where and for how long you can see off your loved ones. Now, as a digital nomad, there is a good chance you’re being dropped off by a burly taxi driver. But even so - you can dream, no?

👨‍🍳 Eating local: One of the joys of digital nomadism is the local food and hospitality different countries and cultures offer. However, as with a lot of industries, AI is having its say. Miso’s “Flippy” has been around a while - and they are expanding their range - but would you be happy to rock up to a foodie destination and be served by a robotic arm instead of a smiley server?

CHIANG MAI EVENTS
Yellow hosting a Devcon kickoff event for startups

Connect with VCs in person, meet Yellow Capital, and learn about the Yellow Network over food and drinks - and there’ll be some beats thrown in too. Or, just meet some fellow digital nomads over some great free food!

If you have a startup or are just curious about Yellow beyond the coworking facility, then find out more and register to attend tomorrow evening here.

SPREAD THE WORD

Do you have friends who are digital nomads roaming the world? If you think they could use a quick weekly fix of what’s happening in their world, then share this link so they can get The Digital Nomad each week too.

Or, share it on your socials with the links at the top of this newsletter.

LANTERN FESTIVAL
November brings Yi Peng and Loy Krathong to Chiang Mai

If you’re in Chiang Mai in November, then Northern Thailand’s Yi Peng festival is a must-see. Plenty of tourists (and digital nomads) plan their trip to take in the spectacular lantern release.

These days there are some key restrictions on what you can and can’t do, which means knowing the best way to take it in is crucial to getting the best experience.

Firstly, there are bans on lanterns being released in urban Chiang Mai, in part to avoid the flight path that - if you know the city - runs close to the city centre. Yes, people will try to break this ruling, but if you’re expecting to see scenes like the one above, then you’ll be in the wrong place anyway.

The city - mostly around Thae Phae gate and the river - IS the place, though, to see the main parade, local competitions, a huge lantern display, and get involved in Loy Krathong.

Loy Krathong is a separate festival that runs alongside Yi Peng, and is the release along the Ping River of the same-named religious offerings. This is a Thailand-wide festival but adds to the magic of the festival period in Chiang Mai.

To see a mass lantern release, you’ll need to get to one of the organised events outside of the city. Lamphun and Lampang - towns south of the city - hold their own and offer a more local experience. For more convenient releases, you can visit Doi Saket or Mae Jo.

A Google search will result in dozens of tour companies offering full-service tours for several hundred dollars, but the organized releases are free to enter. If you choose to light and release a lantern into the wild, one will likely set you back around 50 baht.

To get there, find some friends and book a Songthaew for a few thousand baht between you, or join this WhatsApp group and try and join others with the same idea.

The festivities run over several days from 14th to 18th November this year, but you’ll see lanterns hanging around the city well before then.

TELL US A STORY

You all have stories to tell. This week, we want to hear about your air travel horror stories.

Have you sat beside someone who talked the whole flight, been detained for no reason at immigration, or just missed a flight chatting to a fellow nomad? Don’t worry, we can keep them anonymous, but here’s your chance to entertain or educate a few nomads!

Drop them at [email protected].

BRAIN FOOD
What we’ve been recommended this week

Book - Well, books. Here’s Esquire’s new books to read for fall and the rest of 2024.

TV - If you missed the first season of Silo - an unexpected hit at the time - then now is the time to catchup. Season 2 starts up next week, so get up to speed before it lands.

Fun - You unanimously voted that hot dogs are NOT sandwiches last week. This was the first of a fun feed on the food debate here, in case you need a chuckle for the next couple of minutes.

Podcast - It’s US election day so we couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening at all. Here’s an episode from Radiolab explaining why the Electoral College is still used if you needed a little explainer on what is happening throughout the day.

Podcast - Traveling With Kristin (formerly Badass Digital Nomads) is a seasoned podcaster and digital nomad, and still talks a lot about digital nomadism despite her rebrand. Here are her top places to stay for under $1000 a month.

Drop us an email at [email protected] if you have any recommendations we should share!

CONNECT TO CHIANG MAI
Fill your social calendar in Chiang Mai

Steve’s Email: A weekly resource and email for events around the city. Steve’s away for a couple of weeks, but bookmark it for next week!

Digital Nomad WhatsApp: A long-standing group that spawned a range of sub-groups for almost any niche and interest in the city.

For up-to-date events in the city join this Activities/Events WhatsApp group.

ChiangMai Fit WhatsApp: If you want to do something active (trust us, being fit isn’t a prerequisite!) then find wholesome activities throughout the week in here.

Yellow Coworking Telegram: For more about what is happening at Yellow, and to be part of their conversation, join here.

COWORKING IN CHIANG MAI

If you are in the city, or heading over soon, then check out the current packages - from day passes to monthly or annual memberships - here.

Or, just get in touch with Mickey or the team at Yellow Coworking at [email protected].

THE DIGITAL RESOURCE

We’ve shared some useful resources over the first few weeks, and while you can access back issues here, several have asked us to share them again. So, to save lots of email back-and-forths, or searching through previous newsletters, here are the most asked for resources:

• Safety Wing, who also offer digital nomad insurance, have started running community events in various locations around the world. A few participants in a Chiang Mai one even won a meal out at a top restaurant in the city!

• Genki also do worldwide digital nomad insurance.

• Healthy Junk is the go-to for healthy food near Yellow. Dine in, out or get it delivered.

• Get your meal prep from Chef Fuji. Healthy, macro-focussed food delivered in Chiang Mai.

• Contact Liselle for a LinkedIn or resume revamp.

• If decision-making is not your forte, get in touch with Hannah Wang - a decision-making coach for entrepreneurs, business owners and big corporates.

• Stay safe online - and get TV from any country! - using NordVPN.

• Airalo - a marketplace for eSIM data packs for more than 200 countries. Get 15% off if you are new and use this link and the code NEWTOAIRALO15, or 10% off if you are an existing user using AIRALOESIM10.

QUIZ
Higher or lower?
Which of these represents the highest number?

1. President Joe Biden’s age or the number of days Phileas Fogg took to circumnavigate the globe.

2. The population of Indonesia or Pakistan.

3. The length of the Mekong River or Yellow River in China.

4. Is Earth or Venus larger, by radius?

5. Which country has the most islands? Indonesia or the USA?

6. Who sold the most phones in 2023? Apple or Samsung?

WHAT DID YOU MISS?

If you are new to The Digital Nomad, or just want to go back and read a previous issue, then you can find them all here.

COMMUNITY
Get seen by digital nomads everywhere

We would love to hear from you if you have some valuable knowledge, products or services, information, or just a fun or crazy digital nomad story.

This is an opportunity to get some extra eyes on your thing, or if you just like to write or provide information to other nomads.

Drop us an email at [email protected] if you:

• have a product or service that could help other digital nomads

• have a travel blog, channel or platform that we can spotlight

• took a photo worthy we could feature along with your portfolio or IG

• know a great event or place in Chiang Mai we might have missed

• …just have a great digital nomad story!

ANSWERS

1. Joe Biden is 82; Phil Fogg went around the world in 80 days.

2. Indonesia have 283 million people; Pakistan 251 million (as of 2024)

3. The Mekong is 4350 km long; the Yellow River is 5464 km long

4. Earth is 6371km (yes, it’s round); Venus is 6052 km

5. Indonesia has 17,508; The USA has 18,617

6. Apple sold 234.6m; Samsung 226.6m. It’s the first time in 12 years Apple outsold the Korean company.