#chiang-mai

#chiang-mai

Tucked away in the Wat Ket area, a quiet pocket of Chiang Mai well clear of the chaos of the Old Town, at 137 Pillars House you're close enough to dip in when you want to, but far enough out that the noise never follows you back. It's the kind of neighbourhood where mornings start slowly, perhaps with a quick trip to the nearby Lung Khajohn Wat Ket, one of the city's best rice roll spots, or a plate of Neng's Clay Pot Roast Pork (insanely delish!), before retreating back to the calm of the hotel gardens.

One of the first modern coworking spaces, C-Base in Berlin, was launched 30 years ago by a group of computer engineers as a "hacker space" in which to share their tech and techniques. Similarly, many of the people we first encountered in our anthropological research into the emerging world of digital nomadism in the mid-2010s were hackers and computer coders.

I've spent years filling up my passport with stamps from all around the world, from Australia to Latin America to Asia. I was even the first in my family to travel internationally - the only vacations we'd been on were road trips in our home country, Germany. By the end of 2021, I'd travelled full-time for seven and a half years, visited more than 40 countries, and lived in several of them.

Choosing where to stay in Chiang Mai can feel overwhelming, especially with so many neighborhoods offering their unique charm. While the Old City is the historic heart, there's much more to explore-think bustling markets, café-lined streets, tranquil riverside escapes, and leafy residential areas with a more local vibe. Each neighborhood has its own personality, from energetic and vibrant to peaceful and secluded, and the one you pick can really shape your trip.