Well, it's January, you know what that means.
It's the time for reflecting on the past year,
creating those new year's resolutions,
and talking about Chiang Mai burning season, again.
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Hi and welcome to my channel.
My name is Megan and in today's video I'm going to be answering
all of your questions about Chiang Mai burning season
as well as counting down my top-four digital nomad destinations
that are not Chiang Mai, for you to visit in 2019.
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Every year from March to mid-April, Chiang Mai becomes covered in a smoky haze
and the air quality index rises to hazardous levels.
This happens for a number of reasons.
Being the end of the dry season there's natural forest fires,
there's pollution that plays a part,
but mainly it's from farmers burning their land
to prepare for the next season.
Because Chiang Mai is a city in a valley surrounded by mountains,
all of the smoke from this ends up kind of hovering right over the city.
It becomes so bad you can't even see the mountains in the distance.
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Yes, the Thai government says burning is illegal.
It was illegal last year through burning season
and the year before that and the year before that.
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It really depends on who you ask.
I know quite a few people that stay right through the burning season
and claim it doesn't affect them.
They also think that burning season is quite overhyped
and they talk about it as ridiculous,
which I'm sure I will hear about in the comments below
but, personally, I stayed until mid-March last year
and that last week I ended up moving my flights up
because my eyes were burning red, my skin was breaking out,
I couldn't sleep at night, I had a constant headache,
and I'd come home and I would just be washing off black from my face
and underneath my nails.
I guess I'm one of those people that is sensitive
and was affected, so I would not stay.
I also would never recommend a friend or a family member to go there because,
even if you don't feel the effects when the air quality index
is that such a hazardous level, it's affecting you on the inside.
If you are fortunate enough to be able to leave
for the six weeks that's the worst of it,
from beginning of March to mid-April, when there's the water festival,
which this year is April 13 to April 15, 2019,
or whenever the rains come,
because that's when the pollution is going to be kind of washed away,
leave.
If you do decide to stay in Chiang Mai, or if you have to stay in Chiang Mai,
consider getting filters put on your vents
as well as investing in an N95-grade - or higher - mask.
Everyone else will be wearing them too.
There's the rundown on Chiang Mai burning season and,
if you decide to leave, you're probably thinking,
“well, where should I go?”
These are my top-four destinations from the last two years of travel
and the four that I'm kind of considering right now
for 2019 Chiang Mai burning season.
Let's get into it.
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Number four on my list is Koh Lanta, in southern Thailand.
Koh Lanta has a number of beautiful stretches of beach
with breathtaking sunsets and sunrises every single day.
There's every water sport you could possibly imagine
as well as the very famous Four Islands Tour.
If you love animals like me,
you'll have to check out the Lanta Animal Welfare Center.
It's a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all animals.
They offer daily tours of the facility,
and you can volunteer to work at the shelter
as well as drop-in mornings and evenings to take the dogs for a walk on the beach.
It was my favorite place and I was there every day.
I was mainly drawn to Koh Lanta because I'd heard so much
about the co-working space there, KoHub,
and was blown away by the space, the people in it,
the management running it,
and the number of events that they had going on
every single day of the week.
Koh Lanta would be a great choice for a six-week getaway
to have some island time and connect with a like-minded community,
but don't expect the amenities of a big city like Chiang Mai
and also, you probably will need a scooter
or at least a bicycle rental to get around.
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I am in love with Costa Rica as a country, as a digital nomad destination,
and a general travel destination.
It's considered to be one of the happiest countries in the world,
there's a great transportation system that can get you from coast to coast,
little pollution because the government invests back in the environment,
low crime, and so many things to do.
I spent my time on the beaches,
going on hikes, exploring the national parks,
all sorts of water sports, including amazing waves for surfing,
and my favorite was the ziplining.
Costa Rica has incredible ziplining.
I stayed at Selina hostels
and spent three weeks working from their co-working space.
The space was beautiful
and the internet was both reliable and fast.
There's plenty of natural light
and you have a view of the jungle on one side
and a view of the ocean on the other.
The only downside was probably that I was the only one in the space.
Would I consider Manuel Antonio, or Costa Rica in general,
to be a digital nomad destination?
No, but there are a lot of volunteer programs
and work-away programs,
so I met many people that were staying there for six months or longer,
which meant it wasn't just travellers moving through every couple days
and that was quite nice.
Where I was staying at Selina hostels also had events going on every evening,
so they were movie nights and yoga and kickboxing…
There was always something to do.
Selina has since added co-working spaces
to many of their locations across Central America and South America.
So, if you ever wanted to explore that area of the world,
they actually offer a shuttle between their locations
so you can go, explore, enjoy them,
while also knowing that you'll have a high-quality work space to work from.
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Las Palmas is part of Spain
but it's actually located off the coast of Africa.
It has some of the best weather in all of Europe,
as well as some of the cheapest prices.
Las Palmas is often referred to as being an entire continent on one tiny island
because of the sheer diversity of the landscapes around.
From adventure sports to history to fashion…
there really is something for everyone.
You'll also find quite a prominent digital nomad scene,
and the city has probably a dozen co-working spaces.
I have a post written about all the different co-working spaces
if you're interested in more details on those,
and co-working is generally something you will need to do
to do if you go to Las Palmas, as there isn't much of a cafe scene.
I mean, it would be very uncomfortable to be working on a laptop in a cafe there
because people just don't do it, it's not part of the culture.
It's also home to prominent nomad events, like Nomad City,
and offers a weekly Friday coffee club meet-up
similar to that in Chiang Mai.
The city is already very walkable but there's also a shared bike system
that's free to use for both locals and expats.
I spent two months living in Las Palmas last October
and I had a blast.
I met so many new people, went on a ton of different adventures,
and I would definitely stay longer and consider going back next year.
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My number one destination for 2019,
and where I'll probably be heading this burning season,
is Da Nang Vietnam.
I headed to Da Nang for the first time during 2018 burning season
and was blown away by, number one:
how challenging the first week was
and, number two: how much I ended up loving it.
I struggled with the language barrier, didn't recognize any of the food,
and had no idea how to get around the city with the transportation system.
By the second week I was in love.
I discovered the crazy cheap vegetable markets,
became a pho addict and made many new friends.
Da Nang is the perfect combination of a beach destination and a big city.
Data coverage is excellent, there's large shopping malls,
big grocery stores, a movie theater, an amusement park,
and even a a bridge that breathes fire on the weekends.
I love it. There's something about living by the ocean
that just makes me happy.
There’s options for all types of water activities
and popular day trips like Marble Mountain
and the Hai Van Pass, which was featured on Top Gear.
A short bus ride away is the ancient city of Hoi An.
If you do plan a visit there, which most people do,
aim to go around the lantern festival that is held each month.
Da Nang is a city on the rise,
which is evident in the construction that you'll see,
but it still has a much more relaxed pace of life than, say Ho Chi Minh
or Hanoi would.
Finding an apartment in Da Nang is pretty easy
as long as you stay for at least a month.
I was in love with my apartment,
one minute walking away from the beach, with everything included.
I paid about USD 500 a month.
There's a small but growing expat community,
and just like with Chiang Mai and Las Palmas
there's a Friday meet-up that has not only expats,
but also local entrepreneurs from the Vietnamese community.
Da Nang is only going to grow in popularity for digital nomads
and I have a feeling that, within the next five years,
it's going to be an alternative for Chiang Mai and for Bali.
I hope this video was helpful to spike some ideas
on where to go for the 2019 burning season
or just where to go to work online in 2019 in general.
A few other destinations that may be worth checking out are Bali,
in Indonesia,
another one is Medellín, in Colombia,
and then Playa del Carmen and Playa Escondida, both in Mexico.
I'm dying to check out all four of these locations.
So, if you have been to them, please leave in the comments below
what your experience was like or any tips on going.
Thank you for watching and, as always, I appreciate the support
and can't wait to bring you another video next week.
Have a good one and happy new year! Bye!
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