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Comment by drpancake | Hacker News Reader

You can have the best of both worlds. I started working (iOS consulting) and travelling two months ago and I save more of my earnings here than I did living in San Francisco. Today I signed a lease to rent a shared house in northern Thailand and my rent is $160/month for a place that would cost a small fortune at home.

I found that constantly being on the move is difficult to keep up for weeks at a time. So now I have a base from which to explore the surrounding countries.

There's a surprising number of expat tech workers in the city (Chiang Mai) but now I can sit in a cafe without overhearing social-local-mobile startup pitches.

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I'd think the big problem would be this sort of stuff: finding places willing to let medium-term to tourists.

Have you had any issues? Do you pay cash up front rather than arrears?

I can't see this being a problem in most places. Most places will be a small deposit plus a month up front in places in Asia, Central America etc, however more developed places such as London, Syndey etc will be less tolerant / desperate for bookings.

The two most useful tools I've found when doing this is Tripadvisor and Airbnb, you can usually haggle a room from either of these longer term.

Most landlords here will let you lease a place for 6 months as a minimum. Most have no problem with renting to foreigners. I had to pay a deposit of two months rent and one month rent in advance.

If possible try to avoid English-speaking property agents as they charge a premium. The best approach, at least in this country, is to drive around with a native speaker and spot 'For rent' signs.

Are you on a tourist visa? How are you managing to stay for 6 months?

Yep, a double entry tourist visa. It's probably the largest drawback of being here as I have to leave the country after three months and come back; this literally involves taking a bus to the Burma/Laos border, walking across a bridge then walking straight back to the bus.

There are ways round it though. If you take a 'Learn Thai' course at an accredited institution you get a year long visa. A little more expensive though.

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