The Best Way to Get Connected Overseas

By Tamar Goldstein

My husband Jack and I have been traveling every winter for the last 10 years. We are fortunate that we have a business we can run from anywhere there's an internet connection. I don't like cold weather and we both love traveling, so it works out well.

We pick a place to stay for three months and sink into life there. The only downside is that it can get lonely. You're living in a new place and don't know anyone. Sure, you have your favorite restaurants and cafés where the staff get to know you and fellow regulars will greet you, but it's not the same as being part of the community.

That's why, when the chance to attend an International Living conference came up, we jumped at it. We wanted to meet like-minded souls and connect with people who were already living in the places we were thinking about visiting.

We've been building our network of in-country correspondents and contributors for decades.

At the conference we heard from Rachel Devlin, an expat living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She gave presentations on her life there, was fun to talk to, and full of enthusiasm. We had many conversations with her and decided our next winter escape would be to Chiang Mai.

On our first day in the northern Thai city, we met up with Rachel and her husband, Mick, at a favorite eatery of theirs. Together, we drank cocktails and ate khao soi—a local dish of coconut curry noodle soup. It was a wonderful welcome.

After dinner, Rachel led us through the bustling, noisy, night market to a funky rooftop blues bar. It quickly became one of our regular haunts during our stay in Chiang Mai. One night I even got up and sang with the band at an open mic night. Such fun.

Rachel told us about her favorite restaurants and, for accommodation, pointed us in the direction of the Smith Residences, an eight-story condo block centrally located just south of the Old City that did month-to-month rental, which was exactly what we were after.

We rented a modern, one-bedroom, furnished apartment there. Some local expats said it was too expensive, at $630 per month, but we thought that we were doing well—especially as we were renting our place back home while we were gone for $1,500 per month. And the staff came and cleaned, washed our dishes, and changed the bedding twice a week.

Rachel also sent us a local newsletter with all the weekly goings-on in Chiang Mai. From that, I enrolled in a six-week qigong (similar to tai chi) class held at one of the local universities—Payap—and enjoyed it immensely. It proved a great way to connect with other expats.

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Jack is writing a novel and there was a writers' group that met every Friday night mentioned in the newsletter. So we went along to that too. It was so good to meet fellow writers and exchange opinions about pieces of writing that had been submitted during the week, including our own. This was done over dinner and became the event we looked forward to every Friday night.

There was also a day tour advertised there, also run from the Payap University, of a historic neighboring town, Lamphun. There, the guide, a professor from the university, told us about its history. She showed us around various temples and a very modern museum, before moving on to a local coffee shop (always a must). The tour finished up at a nearby restaurant eating delicious local food.

We did our own exploring too and found a wonderful café, Coco's, close to where we lived. Apart from the great coffee there, the couple who run it are warm and friendly and we looked forward to our daily coffees with them. We went out for dinner with them one night and they gave us good advice about where to go and what to see. There's nothing like local knowledge. We discovered other live music bars that Rachel didn't know about and we were delighted to repay her kindness with some insider tips of our own.

Thanks to our International Living connection, getting settled in Chiang Mai was a breeze. Knowing just one person can make a world of difference, and if they're a like-minded soul who's just as excited about traveling and living abroad as you, well, so much the better.