CHIANG MAI

Before travelling to Thailand, I had never really travelled properly before and had never even been to Asia. After going through a rough period in my life following the death of my dad, I decided I needed a complete change of environment, so I packed my bags and flew to Thailand to start backpacking.

I started in Phuket and travelled around the southern islands before eventually arriving in Chiang Mai for a week. What was supposed to be a short stop quickly became one of the most important parts of my trip. During that week I met my now Thai partner, explored the city, visited cafés, markets, temples, and realised it felt very different from anywhere else I had been in Thailand.

After leaving Chiang Mai, I travelled to Pai, Vietnam, and Cambodia, but I stayed in contact with her the whole time. Eventually I decided to return for Songkran before heading back home to England. By that point I had started to realise I was tired of constantly moving around and backpacking every few days. Chiang Mai felt like somewhere I could slow down and actually enjoy day-to-day life.

During that trip I met her family in Lamphun, spent more time exploring northern Thailand, and completely fell in love with the lifestyle here.

Since then, Chiang Mai has become the place I return to most and where I now spend most of my time living. What I love most is the balance of life here. It’s affordable, relaxed, surrounded by mountains, and has an amazing café and food culture. Most mornings I go to Muay Thai training, then spend the rest of the day working online either from home, cafés around Nimman, or coworking spaces across the city.

For me, Chiang Mai feels less like a holiday destination and more like a place you can genuinely build a life around, which is something I never expected when I first arrived here as a backpacker.