From Thailand to Iowa, a surprising find.

A bit over a year ago, I quit my job to focus on my site. While doing so, I spent one month in each of the places listed below.

Here's what I paid (USD) for an Airbnb in each location:

Barcelona: $1,152.20 (shared apartment)
Lisbon: $1,272.68 (shared apartment)
Paris: $1,246.43 (shared apartment)
Taipei: $1,110.08 (entire apartment)
Hanoi: $656.70 (entire apartment)
Da Nang: $529.20 (entire apartment)
Saigon: $711.18 (entire apartment)
Bangkok: $601.50 (entire apartment)

I'm originally from a small river city called Dubuque, Iowa. I completed my undergrad in Chicago, a masters in SF, and then worked mostly abroad. Although I usually came home once a year, I didn't live in my hometown for 19 years.

Three months ago, I flew from Bangkok to Dubuque for a family party, and to my complete surprise, I wanted to stay.

I quickly found a nice one-bedroom apartment for $600/mn, including wifi, garbage, and heat. I also found a nice little Honda CRV for $5,200, altho I don't actually seem to drive it very often. My apartment is a 10 minute walk away from a YMCA, where I workout nearly each morning. I'm also a five minute walk to both my public library and the entire downtown bar/restaurant/cafe scene.

I absolutely love living abroad in general, and that last year of nomading was an incredible experience.

We all know about the cities I listed above, but I don't hear much about IH's exploring/living in small cities (~50k - 150k population).

From the perspective of an IH who wants to focus on an online business and live affordably, I think the Midwest is completely undervalued and overlooked.

I'm wondering if anyone else has a similar (or different) experience, and your thoughts on this at all?

Thank you for reading.
Elliott