Hey there I'm Kristin, and you're watching my channel - Traveling with Kristin - where I take you behind the scenes in the digital nomad lifestyle! I'll share with you what I've learned in 15 years of traveling to more than 55 countries Helping thousands of people travel the world and work remotely from their laptops Make sure to subscribe to catch my weekly show Digital Nomad TV where you can find out what it's like to live in different digital nomad Destinations around the world from cost of living to climate housing and even the co-working scene We also have interviews with experienced digital nomads. So you can learn how they went from nine-to-five to location-independent! :) Finally, I also share travel videos and blogs from all around the world to inspire you and help you attain freedom in the laptop lifestyle On today's episode of Digital Nomad Destinations, I'm taking you guys to Bulgaria! - A highly underrated country with a lot to offer. In this video, I'll tell you exactly why it's been attracting so much attention in the digital nomads scene lately First of all, the summary - the four main things that digital nomads really like about Bulgaria are: the low cost of living, the Superfast internet and the various co-working spaces and communities popping up around the country. Also, it's safe! So that's a plus But let's start with the basics Bulgaria is located in southeastern Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. It's boarded by Serbia, Romania, Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey The main destinations within Bulgaria include Sofia, the capital, Plovdiv, which is actually the 2019 European Capital of Culture, Bansko, where I usually hang out - and then Varna and Burgas Bulgaria has a population of about seven million people and a temperate moderate climate with four distinct seasons the currency is the Bulgarian Lev with an exchange rate of about two lev to one euro and Bulgaria is in the European Union, but it's not a Schengen country So the good news is if you're from outside Europe, it doesn't count against your days in the Schengen zone. How to get there: The main airport is in the capital of sofia, which has some amazingly affordable flights to almost anywhere in the world It's ideally situated between east and west if you want some examples - from Bulgaria you can fly to Rome for just 23 euro London or Amsterdam for less than 50 euro Dubai for 51 euro Cape Town for about 350 Bangkok for 300 and to the US and Canada starting at around 150 to 200 euro one way If that sounds cheap to you, it's because it is! But in general Bulgaria is a great place to save money So let's talk about the cost of living Ren is typically only around 150 to 250 euro per month That's right per month! This is for a fully furnished one bedroom apartment utilities including electricity water internet cable, etc are usually less than 50 euro per month and they're usually even included in the rent if you're Staying short term you can get an Airbnb for anywhere from 15 to 35 dollars a night in hotels are anywhere from twenty to a hundred dollars a night a Luxury hotel that would cost $500 somewhere like Amsterdam or Hong Kong might only cost $100 in Sofia! In sum, you're looking at an estimated monthly cost of living of around €1000 to 1500 euro per month but you can definitely Bootstrap and lower that cost of living even more! Next up is internet - So Bulgaria has some of the fastest internet in the world It usually ranks in the top ten for speed and it's super affordable, too you can get high-speed one gigabyte Internet for about €50 per month and then it gets really cheap from there - 100MB is only €12 per month and you can get a 50 megabyte connection for just €4-8 per month Cellphone data is really cheap as well. It's only one lev per gigabyte So, for example, I just bought a 50 gigabyte package good for one month for only 25 euro It's so cheap and so reliable that some people use mobile data as their main internet connection My co-working space, Coworking Bansko, has a solid connection of a hundred up and a hundred down speaking of co-working Let's talk about it digital nomads are always looking for a great place to work and meet other nomads and Bulgaria has a pretty fast growing community of both long-term and Short-term seasonal nomads. I'm actually here for the second time in a year There's co-working spaces around the country, especially in Plovdiv and Sofia There are a lot of different options and in Bansko there are basically three different locations of one co-working space called Coworking Bansko and That's where I work and it's in the lovely mountain town of Bansko where I spend most of my time when i'm in bulgaria Next up, cuisine! So the food is amazing in Bulgaria and While you can find anything you want from sushi to pizza. I really like to just indulge in the local traditional food. Local dishes tend to be whole foods based with Turkish Greek and Arabic influences It kind of reminds me of the Mediterranean diet think, fresh fruit, meat, fish, potatoes grilled veggies Soups and a lot of different types of salads if you're into the whole organic lifestyle - I know I am! It's really easy to eat local and within season in Bulgaria so one of my favorite things to do is to go to some of the outdoor weekend markets and The food and produce there is even cheaper than it is in the grocery store little-known fact - Bulgaria actually has some of the oldest vineyards in Europe which means really good wine people! And Bulgaria actually used to be the world's second largest exporter of wine - who knew!? not me Also, Bulgaria has some of the best yogurt in the world and they actually have their own bacteria called lactobacillus bulgaricus So some average prices: a coffee or a beer will cost you just one or two euro out A meal out anywhere from 2 to 3 euro for breakfast and 2 to 7 euro for lunch regular dinner can cost you anywhere from 6 to 12 euro, but you can have a really nice dinner out for like 10 to 20 euro and I don't think I've ever spent more than 30 euro on dinner here and that's really going all out But you can usually get away with spending like 6 to 12 euro for an appetizer main course and a drink So what are some fun things to do? while Bulgaria has a lot to offer any time of year in the summer You can go to some of the beaches along the Black Sea you can hike in the mountains In the winter, you can go skiing and snowboarding there are tons of nice ski resorts People are also pretty health-conscious around here. You can find plenty of different sports cycling mountain biking spas and state-of-the-art fitness centers with yoga boot camp CrossFit and all sorts of group fitness classes The gyms here are actually some of the best that I've seen in the world Year-round there's always things to do in Bulgaria. There's great nightlife there shopping entertainment culture museums they have a lot of hot springs and thermal baths and Actually a really nice bar and restaurant scene especially in Sofia Bulgaria is also a fun place for a road trip whether you stay inside or outside of the borders I've driven all around the country to check out some of the nine different UNESCO World Heritage Sites There's monasteries and there's annual festivals like the Rose harvest that takes place in Kazanlak in May and June You can also cross the border into some neighboring countries like Serbia Greece Romania Macedonia and Turkey and get there in just a few hours Just a note on taxes in residency as I mentioned Bulgaria is an EU Non-schengen country so citizens of most countries can stay for up to 90 days But there are a lot of digital nomads from Europe and around the world who choose to set up their businesses and home bases in Bulgaria to take advantage of the low 10% flat rate personal and corporate income taxes So that's my quick overview of Bulgaria for digital nomads I hope you liked it! If you've never been to Bulgaria or the Balkans or Eastern Europe before, definitely put it on your list :) I hope to see you guys in Bulgaria soon and to learn more about Bulgaria for digital nomads Check out one of my other videos in the playlist or thumbnail shown here Thanks for watching! If you like this video make sure to give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and subscribe for more weekly travel videos vlogs and episodes of Digital Nomad TV 👩💻 👨💻
