Lanta Life
We first came to Koh Lanta back in February for ten days. It was a super enjoyable time because we were happy to be somewhere for longer than normal, the weather was seemingly perfect, and the island had an overall chilled vibe that we liked.
We keep seeing this motto in Thailand: “you never come, you never know” and I just love that lol.
This time we were there for five weeks and I think I could’ve stayed longer. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE seeing new places because there are so many to see and not enough time to see them all! But we do also have to put in the work time to keep funding our excursions and ensure this lifestyle is a sustainable one. So for five weeks we unpacked our bags, bought a few groceries, joined a gym, joined a co-working space, and lived a great little island life!
The place where we stayed was perfect for a longer stay. It had a full kitchen (well, a full kitchen for Thailand), and a good-sized balcony, and it was a duplex-style house so it felt like we had our own space as opposed to being in a hotel or apartment. I loooooved having coffee on the balcony in the mornings before it got too hot out.
Being able to see the ocean every day is just something that makes me extremely happy.
We stayed at Freedom Estates Seaview Apartments in a popular part of the island called Long Beach. This location was perfect. We were within walking distance of a Seven Eleven (which we visited frequently), a five-minute scooter to the beach, and less than a ten-minute scooter to Kohub.
Shout out to Luke’s gym for keeping us fit.
Since we’re pretty new to the digital nomad thing, Kohub was our first co-working space, and boy was it a good one. The hub organized weekly events and there was a WhatsApp group with everyone in it.
These five weeks made everything we have dreamt about feel entirely possible. There are so many people out there doing exactly what we are doing, both younger and older, and more or less established than us.
The entrance to our tropical co-working space
I’ve realized that when you’re traveling full-time, community is so important. I’m not necessarily outgoing and I normally like to keep to myself honestly. But, it’s important to make friends to make things more fun and expose yourself to networking opportunities as well!
We could tell a difference in the weather this time, it was way hotter and more humid in April than in February. It varies by region in Thailand, but generally in the islands the high season is Decemeber-March, then it starts getting really hot until the rainy season begins to cool things down again.
However, because we were there in April, we actually got to experience the Thai New Year - Songkran, which also typically marks the beginning of the rainy season. This was a very fun and very cultural experience. To celebrate, people throw big parties and throw water at each other, it’s insane! But like I said, it was also super hot so it’s an appropriate way to celebrate.
If you were out in public on Songkran, you weren’t staying dry.
Anthony’s friend and his girlfriend were traveling for 3 months and came to Koh Lanta for two nights. We did a short kayaking trip one morning where we kayaked through mangroves and got up close and personal with some fruit-loving monkeys. We also took our scooters all the way down to the south of the island where Anthony stayed the first time and beach hopped our way back up to Long Beach while they were there.
We had a leisurely pool day one day with some visitors.
We also took a weekend trip to the Phi Phi islands! We went on Friday and came back on Sunday. I’ll be writing a separate post for this excursion.
Some of our favorite restaurants around Long Beach where we stayed were May’s Kitchen, Joe’s BBQ, the Irish Embassy, Papaya Restaurant, Kinburger, the Living Room Cafe, and the Living Tree Cafe. There are loads of good Thai restaurants obviously, but when we ate out it was usually for “date night” and we treated ourselves to Western food.
As far as natural beauty and beaches go, in my opinion, there are better islands to visit in Thailand if you’re on a short holiday and have a higher budget. For us though, this island is very affordable and very livable for extended stays. I reckon we will be back in Lanta in the future.