Indie hacker and entrepreneur Peter Revels built his success from his laptop at home, and by “home” he means 140 cities in 40 countries.
The self-taught developer, who now runs about 40 startups, said his various business ventures are now generating more than $2.2 million in revenue. (Revels regularly writes online about which startups are profitable and which have failed.) And he's been able to launch those startups all over the world as a digital nomad, a remote worker who travels independently.
During a recent episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” Levels revealed that his favorite place is also home to one of his biggest startups, Nomad List.
Revels met other digital nomads while living in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2014. Remote work, which wasn't as popular at the time, “seemed like a cool thing, but the internet was so slow everywhere,” he said.
“I wanted to find other cities where I could work and travel on my laptop, but I needed high-speed internet,” Revels says. “So I thought, 'Let's crowdsource this information using a spreadsheet.'”
That spreadsheet eventually became Nomad List, a site for digital nomads that provides data on cost of living, internet speeds, safety, and more for cities around the world.
A decade later, and with millions of users, Revels said the best cities he's ever visited are still Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
“I think Thailand is very special,” he says. “I've been to Vietnam and South America, but I think Thailand wins out in terms of the kindness of the people and the ease of living there.”
Thailand was ranked 6th overall in InterNations' 2024 Expat Insider Report, a survey of more than 12,500 expatriates representing 175 nationalities living in 174 countries and territories.
The survey looked at several indicators including personal finances, ease of settling down, must-haves for expats (language barrier, affordable housing, digital life and management issues), with Thailand coming in 8th, 6th and 15th in these categories respectively.
Freelance journalist Laura Mendes previously told Business Insider that after visiting 90 countries, Chiang Mai was the only place she wanted to live because of its affordable cost of living and relaxed laws on marijuana use and same-sex marriage.
“In Chiang Mai, rent is $355 a month, $300 less than what I was paying in Puerto Vallarta and four times less than rent in New York City,” she said.
Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai. Shutterstock/Alexander Mazurkevich
Numbeo, a website that crowdsources cost of living data in major cities around the world, estimates that the monthly cost of living for a single person in Bangkok, excluding rent, is about $670, and in Chiang Mai it is about $530.
Revels said Bangkok was becoming more expensive and he still recommended Chiang Mai as a more affordable option.
“I think it's a great place to start,” he said. “The air quality is awful, it's a big problem, and it's pretty hot. But it's a very cool place.”
Revels also expressed affection for Brazil, which was ranked seventh in the Expat Insider report, but said the country's “security issues” remain a problem.
“Just like in the US, it's geographically specific,” he said. “So if you go to the right area, it's great. Brazil is great. If you go to the wrong area, you could die.”
Brazil ranked in the bottom 10 for political stability and personal safety, coming in at 48th and 52nd respectively. However, it came in first in expatriate friendliness, with 92% of respondents rating the country favorably in this area.
