Had a chat with a hostel owner in Chiang Mai that made me rethink the whole nomad grind

I was staying at this place in Chiang Mai for a month last winter, and the owner sat me down after I complained about the wifi being slow. He said something like "you guys come here to work, but you never actually live here." At first I brushed it off, but it hit different after a few days. I realized I was spending 10 hours a day in coffee shops chasing deadlines, not even seeing the temples or trying the street food. Now I'm wondering if we all get too obsessed with the productivity side of things and miss the whole point of being able to move around. Does anyone else feel like they're just working from a different desk instead of actually experiencing new places?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary6141d agoMost Upvoted

10 hours a day in coffee shops? Ngl that's wild. Honestly I've seen that a lot in places like Bali too, people set up shop at a coworking spot and just stare at their screens from sunrise to sunset. Tbh it makes me kinda sad because you can work from anywhere in the world and still end up in the same grind mindset. I get that deadlines matter but missing out on temples and street food in Chiang Mai of all places feels like a waste. Not judging you specifically but that hostel owner had a point for sure.

pat_perry1d ago

Missing out on temples and street food in Chiang Mai" really hit me. I mean I went there for a month and spent half my time in this one coffee shop that had amazing iced coffee but terrible wifi. Idk, it’s like you forget you’re even in Thailand after a while. I actually ended up at a night market once and realized I’d been ordering the same Pad Thai from the same stall for two weeks straight because I was too focused on deadlines to try anything new. Maybe it’s just me but that hostel owner wasn’t wrong, you can be anywhere and still miss it if you’re not careful.