Last year I moved to Chiang Mai, a city known for what Thais have termed “slow life”.I’m almost five years living Thailand, and came to the country’s second city for a new teaching job.This northern centre has for long been a mandatory stop on tourist itineraries, and it’s not hard to see why. It contrasts strongly with the metropolis of Bangkok, 700km to the south. Its appeal is in its proximity to nature. (Some days, when stuck in traffic on my way home from school at 5pm on a Tuesday, I question that “slow life” tag, I have to say)But there is certainly a calm here if you seek it. The peak of Doi Suthep mountain sits on the city skyline, while Buddhist temples are everywhere, from little ones down alleys to the gilded Wat Phra Singh. The unique and ancient Lanna culture can be seen in the architecture here, and also heard in the northern dialect on the outskirts of the city.The things I’ve come to love most here in Chiang Mai are the small and the everyday. They add a richness to daily life. There’s the coffee. The north grows its own arabica in the cool highlands. A vibrant cafe culture has built up here that rivals anywhere I’ve been. Then there’s the food. I must give special mention to Khao Soi, the dish the region is known for — a creamy, spicy coconut curry noodle soup. And it’s hard to beat Nam Prik Ong, a dip of minced pork, tomato and chilli, eaten with a plate of boiled cabbage, pumpkin, carrot, cucumber and pork crackle.Increasingly, also, there’s the warmth of the people. The locals in Chiang Mai are incredibly friendly and good to be around. And when I make an effort to speak to them in Thai, they light up and go out of their way to help.I’m in the first semester of my second year teaching in Chiang Mai. But I still miss Tak, the small provincial city near the border with Myanmar from which I moved. Visitors walk around Doi Suthep temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty While Chiang Mai attracts tourists from far and wide, some 12 million per year, Tak barely makes a blip on the foreign-visitor radar.[ Bangkok banquets: discovering the city’s dining pleasures with Thailand’s top chefOpens in new window ]For two years, my evenings in Tak had ended the same way. A bowl of hot fish rice soup, eaten on a plastic chair by the side of the road.Here I taught at a government school by day, exercised with friends in the evening, and ate outside before heading home for the night.Life in Tak was simple and wholesome, which made it all the more difficult to leave.It was my job contract which ultimately pushed my move to Chiang Mai. I started teaching in Thailand the way many do, through a placement agency. I thought this was the safest path for a novice. But I was wrong. I had a great relationship with my school, but the agency would take a hefty cut of my salary.The turning point came when I got sick and needed a CT scan. I discovered the agency had not paid my social security, and it cost me €1,200 out of pocket for a scan that should have been free.It was then I decided that I needed to move on. I had to upskill fast. I did a Cambridge CELTA (the gold standard of English language teaching certificates) and started the DELTA (the equivalent of a postgraduate in English language teaching). I also worked to improve my Thai.Shane Breen in Chiang Mai, Thailand I eventually got lucky. After an intense interview process, I landed a position at a private and international school as 6th class homeroom and ESL (English as a second language) subject teacher. This Chiang Mai facility is in a different league to the government school, with its own pool, iMac and science labs. The favourable contracts (and health insurance) mean the teachers here stay long-term.People sometimes ask me if I miss Ireland – if I miss home. My answer isn’t far off the same calculation that took me from Tak to Chiang Mai: you go where the opportunities are. For me, Thailand simply offers more of them.The thought of going back to Ireland permanently doesn’t really cross my mind. There are things I miss. My family above all. And there are the small things I only noticed once they were gone: good footpaths, rolling green fields, the lights at Christmas-time. But such things aren’t enough to pull me home for any longer than a visit – not just yet. For now, the road goes on and the road stays north.Shane Breen is from Dundalk, Co Louth, and lives with his girlfriend in Chiang Mai. He self-published The Honest Guide to Teaching in Thailand, and writes a weekly Substack, Foreign Teacher Notes.