Where To Go This (Us) Winter?

[girlinbrooklyn]

Hi, everyone! This is my first post here. I found the forum through a google search and it seems like a really active place!

I'm a 23-year-old freelance web designer from Brooklyn, NY. I'm researching possibly subletting my apartment and going away for the entire winter (December-March) to be somewhere sunny and escape a bout of SAD. I'm not a drinker or partier, but being from NYC I don't necessarily get upset by loud noise, traffic, bars, etc and I'm not really looking for dead quiet because I'd like there to be a great selection of people to socialize with. I really like cafes and coffee, reading and the internet, and what's most important to me abroad is to be able to make lasting friends from the tourist/expat/local community, so an easygoing English speaking population is important and the kind of atmosphere where I can strike up a conversation with someone I don't know and actually hang out with them if we get along. I tend to socialize with people in their late 20s to late 30s, and again, I don't mean the go out and get drunk kind of friends, but smart, worldly people to get along with, day or night. I'll also need good wifi so that I can continue to freelance while I'm away. I'll start off couch surfing and/or in hostels, but ultimately I'd like to rent a room/cottage/house and spend $400/month at the absolute tops, hopefully a good bit less ($250-300? or even barter my services as a web designer for board?). I'd like to be somewhere safe for a young woman my age, close to/on a beach (not for swimming but for looking/walking), near shops, be somewhere where I could rent a scooter or a bicycle if I wanted to, and not be too out of the way to make side trips and border runs.

I'd love suggestions of specific towns and cities in SE Asia that I ought to consider based on my criteria. The places I've noted so far in Thailand are Ko Lanta, Ao Nang, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Hua Hin and Pattaya. The only other contender outside of Thailand at this point is Bali (Ubud).

I'd love some solid suggestions based on my age and what it is I'm looking to do because it seems like all of these locations are all beautiful! How would I decide? I suppose I could also go to all of these places first and make a decision after that, but it would be less stressful for me on my first long-term solo trip to have a place in mind ahead of time so that I can go there first and get my accommodations.

Thank you all so much!!

[Louie77]

If I were you I'd start out with Chiang Mai. Lots of young people from all over the world there.

Lots of guesthouses offer wifi. You can also buy a DTAC-sim card for your phone with internet hours on (bluetooth to your laptop and off you go). It's a bit slow but decent enough and cheap.

Have a great time.

[craigt3365]

The places I've noted so far in Thailand are Ko Lanta, Ao Nang, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Hua Hin and Pattaya. The only other contender outside of Thailand at this point is Bali (Ubud).

The above recommendation is great. But also, I think you are doing a disservice to yourself by coming this far and not checking out ALL these places. There is so much to do and see...and so many young travelers.

IMHO, 4 months for somebody your age in Koh Lanta, Ao Nang or Hua Hin might be boring. Not sure Pattaya would be for you...same with Phuket, though there are some nicer areas away from the beer/go-go bars.

A few you left out are Bangkok (fantastic city, Khao San Road being the hangout place for younger travelers) and Koh Pha Ngan (full moon party, but many great beaches around the island).

It's so easy to travel around Thailand. Explore! And visit Vietnam and Cambodia if you can. Angkor Wat is amazing.

[wandrinstar]

You wont get better advice than the first 2 replies.All i can add is get the Wanderlust over, and make C.M. your final base If you have been to Miami,give Pattaya a miss.Its mutch worse, in fact ive just insulted Miami.

[girlinbrooklyn]

Mods! -- what happened to all of the replies I had here on this thread? There were half a dozen before at least, like from MissChris and a few others, whose names I needed in case I really do need to take them up on their offers to help me find a place to stay! Can those somehow get restored? Their suggestions were so helpful and now they appear to be missing, and now people are talking about me going to CM! Which I will certainly visit, and stay if I take a liking to it, but who knows. I was really aiming to stay at the beach. I live in Brooklyn, I wasn't planning to base myself out of another city like Bangkok or even CM that doesn't have such a laid back lifestyle that I'm looking for. I'm not saying I am going to rent a scooter, but i spend most of my days fantasizing about riding on them and feeling the air of the beach and my feet in the water! haha

[Tywais]

Mods! -- what happened to all of the replies I had here on this thread?

No replies missing. Believe you are confusing this one with your other topic. Getting A room... where MissCris has responded.

[craigt3365]

I don't see any missing...

Be careful with scooters! #1 reason tourists are hurt in Thailand. Especially on the southern islands...

[girlinbrooklyn]

HAHA What an idiot am I! How, in the span of 24 hours, can I have possibly forgotten I started another thread? Thank you, Tywais! It must be the heat over here... NYC switches from winter to summer with no notice

[craigt3365]

HAHA What an idiot am I! How, in the span of 24 hours, can I have possibly forgotten I started another thread? Thank you, Tywais! It must be the heat over here... NYC switches from winter to summer with no notice

I'm from NYC and first came to Thailand after 9/11 (it's one of the reasons I took a break from work). Another New Yorker did the same and we chatted a bit on lonelyplanet.com/throntree. Her nic is girllrig. You might try to find her as I am sure she will have lots of advise for you...including some things to really watch out for.

[girlinbrooklyn]

I would love to hear your thoughts on Thailand from an NYC perspective. I'm finding more and more that unless you reside in or have lived in NYC that it's often difficult to understand the lifestyle here and what we're used to. For example, at one point in life, I was looking into relocating to Nashville... online people were complaining about "traffic" and "noise," and I'm sitting there thinking, have these people ever been to LA or NYC before, because these things don't bother me at all, heck I may not even notice them. Or when my friend from Orange County (CA) came to visit me when I first moved to NYC, living on the 6th floor on the UES, and she told me the first night she had a hard time sleeping because of the noise from the street, which I could not hear at all! I indeed looked up girllrig and I wrote her an e-mail, so thank you so much for the suggestion. I really appreciate anything like that!

PS Love your signature quote. I've only lived for 3 years longer than the entire 20 years Twain suggests you'll look back on and regret, and already there are plenty of missed moments in there, which is why I'd like to do this in the first place!

[craigt3365]

This is a great source of info....

http://tezza-thailandbeachesandislands.blogspot.com/

[bangkokburning]

Just come and travel. You'd be doing yourself a disservice not seeing Thailand (and surrounding countries). I never liked Chaing Mai and Hua Hin is a waste. I'd also not go to: Samui, Lanta, Lipe, PhaNgan (HadRin).

Leave the laptop at home, buy a small wifi device here or in usa if you must. Cafe's are everywhere.

Do not overanalyze or overthink, its just a country - have fun.

just go