Reality Check

Sep 9, 2026

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3 min read

You Do Not Buy A Plant For Five Weeks

2 completely different lives out here are sharing one word. One came to move. The other just wants an ordinary life somewhere warmer, and almost everything he needs is the opposite.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

I Like Living Abroad. I Hate The Traveling.

Sep 6, 2026

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3 min read

I Like Living Abroad. I Hate The Traveling.

Living in another country and traveling are 2 different things. Out here you are not really allowed to say you only wanted one of them.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

The Best Desk I Ever Had Was A Drawer Turned Upside Down

Sep 6, 2026

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4 min read

The Best Desk I Ever Had Was A Drawer Turned Upside Down

I carried a 220 dollar monitor across borders for a year. The best work I have done out here was typed on a wardrobe drawer with a 250 baht keyboard on the table underneath it.

Andrew No Refunds

Money

Aug 23, 2026

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4 min read

Nobody Out Here Will Tell You Where The Money Comes From

Ask anyone out here what they do and you get a category. Never a client, never a number. The only people who answer properly are charging you to hear it.

Andrew No Refunds

Business

Aug 12, 2026

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4 min read

Nobody At The Meetup Has Ever Paid Me

Every room I went to for work was full of people selling what I sell. The ones who actually pay have a shop on the street below and no reason to come upstairs.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Aug 2, 2026

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5 min read

Everybody Passes The First Month

Everyone tells you to go for a month and see if it suits you. Month one is a holiday with a laptop in it. The month that decides it is month 4.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Jul 31, 2026

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4 min read

It Took Me Months To Eat Dinner Alone

I spent a year eating standing up, at carts and on the edge of a bed. The problem was never being alone. It was the second set of chopsticks getting taken away.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

I Was Friendly For A Year And Stayed A Stranger

Jul 19, 2026

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3 min read

I Was Friendly For A Year And Stayed A Stranger

I spent a year being friendly and stayed a stranger. What finally let me in was a motorbike and a favor at 6 in the morning.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Jul 6, 2026

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3 min read

The Datacenter Is The New Factory

They told my father to learn a machine that was never his. Now they tell you to learn AI. Same advice, bigger building, colder room.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Jul 2, 2026

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3 min read

You Can't Work From A View

The wifi stopped being the hard part years ago. Quiet is the thing you can't carry in the bag, and it never shows up in the photo.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Your Passport Decides More Than Your Plan

Jun 30, 2026

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3 min read

Your Passport Decides More Than Your Plan

They sell it as a mindset. It's a document. You got handed yours at birth, and the brochure never mentions which one you need.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

They Sold You Smarter. Now They Sell You Cheaper.

Jun 29, 2026

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3 min read

They Sold You Smarter. Now They Sell You Cheaper.

The machine manufactured the spend. Now it's selling you the cure for it. Same room, new product, two invoices.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Jun 27, 2026

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3 min read

Work Was Never Supposed To Be The Dream

"Do what you love" was never permission. It was a quota. And the bar just went up to two million dollars.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

The Job Title Died And Nobody Held A Funeral

Jun 26, 2026

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3 min read

The Job Title Died And Nobody Held A Funeral

Digital nomad was a job description wearing a costume. The machine took the job. What's left is the part that was always yours.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Jun 23, 2026

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4 min read

They Call It A Phase Because They Left

It's not a law of nature. It's an exit report. The good part arrives later than the patience most people packed.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Jun 22, 2026

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4 min read

The Web Is Being Rebuilt. Not For You.

You didn't lose a client. You lost a reader. The web is being rebuilt for the thing that reads the page instead of you.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Kampot Is The Compromise. Most People Can't Handle That Word.

Jun 19, 2026

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5 min read

Kampot Is The Compromise. Most People Can't Handle That Word.

You pick what you're optimising for. Then you live with it.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Finding Clients Is The Job. Code Is The Receipt.

Jun 18, 2026

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5 min read

Finding Clients Is The Job. Code Is The Receipt.

You didn't leave employment to escape the commercial part of the work. You left to do it without anyone helping you.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

The Antenna. You Either Build It Or You Don't.

Jun 17, 2026

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4 min read

The Antenna. You Either Build It Or You Don't.

You either build the antenna or you don't, and the only way to build it is being out here long enough to get it wrong and live through it.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

The Wrong Degree Was Always The Right One.

Jun 16, 2026

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4 min read

The Wrong Degree Was Always The Right One.

She left a medical degree to learn digital marketing.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Retrain. It Takes Weeks Not Years. And You're Already Ahead.

Jun 9, 2026

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4 min read

Retrain. It Takes Weeks Not Years. And You're Already Ahead.

The market changed. The tools are cheap. The retraining is shorter than you think. Move.

Andrew No Refunds

Minimalism

If You Can Live Without It For Three Months, You Can Live Without It Forever

Jun 4, 2026

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4 min read

If You Can Live Without It For Three Months, You Can Live Without It Forever

The storage unit is not a logistics solution. It is an unanswered question, billed monthly.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

Escaping And Chasing A Dream Are Not The Same Thing.

May 31, 2026

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5 min read

Escaping And Chasing A Dream Are Not The Same Thing.

The destination is identical. The architecture underneath is completely different.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

May 26, 2026

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5 min read

The Dark Side Of The Smile.

Thailand smiled at me for two years before I understood what the smile actually was.

Andrew No Refunds

Money

May 20, 2026

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4 min read

The Single Point of Failure.

The fintech worked perfectly until it didn't. This is not a Wise story.

Andrew No Refunds

Reality Check

You Do Not Buy A Plant For Five Weeks

I Like Living Abroad. I Hate The Traveling.

The Best Desk I Ever Had Was A Drawer Turned Upside Down

Nobody Out Here Will Tell You Where The Money Comes From

Nobody At The Meetup Has Ever Paid Me

Everybody Passes The First Month

It Took Me Months To Eat Dinner Alone

I Was Friendly For A Year And Stayed A Stranger

The Datacenter Is The New Factory

You Can't Work From A View

Your Passport Decides More Than Your Plan

They Sold You Smarter. Now They Sell You Cheaper.

Work Was Never Supposed To Be The Dream

The Job Title Died And Nobody Held A Funeral

They Call It A Phase Because They Left

The Web Is Being Rebuilt. Not For You.

Kampot Is The Compromise. Most People Can't Handle That Word.

Finding Clients Is The Job. Code Is The Receipt.

The Antenna. You Either Build It Or You Don't.

The Wrong Degree Was Always The Right One.

Retrain. It Takes Weeks Not Years. And You're Already Ahead.

If You Can Live Without It For Three Months, You Can Live Without It Forever

Escaping And Chasing A Dream Are Not The Same Thing.

The Dark Side Of The Smile.

The Single Point of Failure.

Andrew - No Refunds