After this pandemic, most of us moved back home or stayed in one place. When you are a digital nomad, you are used to traveling around and explore different cultures while working. Because of restrictions, meeting new people was challenging, and sometimes, it was even harder to find someone who shares your same lifestyle. Suddenly, you start to miss your old life in the office, when you were stuck with annoying colleagues but at least had some human contacts.
Rather than going back to office life, finding your community of digital nomads is a better solution. Maybe your lifetime friends have kids or a traditional career, and simply can’t help you with your challenges as a digital nomad.
The good thing about being a digital nomad is that you aren’t alone. You aren’t the first person in the world that decided to travel and work or launch a new remote business to have more flexibility. Other people faced these challenges before you, and created amazing communities for digital nomads to meet!
What is a Digital Nomad Community?
As the name suggests, a digital nomad community is where digital nomads can meet, share ideas, and work together. These communities aren’t necessarily in a physical space. Some of them are long-term co-living spaces; others travel around or meet up online. Digital nomad communities are safe spaces to find other folks working together and sharing ideas, learning more about the nomad culture.
Because that’s the whole point, isn’t it? When you got into the nomad culture, you looked for something more than a remote solution to travel. You want to make real connections and make your job an excuse to live and share life experiences with other people walking the same avenue.
So, why is it important to find a community? Finding a community doesn’t just mean having good company in a new city. Especially if you are new to this lifestyle, sharing your challenges and goals with others will help you keep focus and fully enjoy your experience.
It means finding an environment where you are free to share your fears and ambitions, getting inspired by other people’s mistakes and achievements. It pushes you out of your usual comfort zone with new experiences in a safe place. You can test your ideas or simply have a good companion while traveling. And grow as a person and professional.
As Jean Vanier said, “One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals.”
Benefits of Being Part Of a Community For Digital Nomads
#1: Networking
The digital nomad life is all about networking. To be fair, every industry survives thanks to networking. Building a network for digital nomads, however, means something more.
When you choose this lifestyle it is because you want more than a good job and stability. You want to work with people sharing that same life vision and willing to challenge themselves to build a new business or try new projects. The point isn’t just finding work-related collaboration but also sharing struggles and ideas for new projects and life experiences.
Joining a community means meeting people working in your industry with different degrees of experience. Attending masterclasses and events, you can professionalize your role and be updated on the latest trends for your positions – while having fun, you can learn from others’ backgrounds, new tools or make partnerships.
So, you go around to meet new people, and who knows what will come out!
#2: Sharing Practices
Constantly moving to new places can be challenging and sometimes overwhelming. Maybe the cafe you found on the Internet isn’t that good for working, or the accommodation you booked is too noisy. As a part of a digital nomad community, you can ask people living there about local accommodations and advice on where to eat or work.
Also, don’t forget that some places have Visa restrictions or tax legislation for remote workers. Being part of a community gives easy access to the handy tips and information you will need when planning the next move. Especially after the pandemic, many cities will be opening up to digital nomads and remote workers. Members of nomad communities always share new updates and help with the application form, saving you hours of research time.
Last but not least, sharing co-working spaces or co-living means sharing practices and resources. Working with people from different backgrounds is the best way to learn about new businesses and entrepreneur strategies. Also, joining a community will give you new ideas on the next place or the best tips on apps and internet connection.
#3: Good Company
When you are busy at work or going through a difficult moment, the easier reaction is isolating to recover some energy. And in the long run, you forget how important good company is. Going out to have a laugh after a working day can be more effective than a holiday to relax.
Yet, when you become an adult, you soon realize that finding good company it’s quite hard. Now, you are a grownup, you got more selective over time, and you don’t want to waste time with useless conversation – especially after a busy day at work!
That’s why communities are so important! You can join a coworking space or attend an event to meet people in your same city and a similar vision of life. Now that things are slowly reopening, it’s the right time to surround yourself with inspirational and creative people. Joining a community, you can find a travel buddy, a new partner, or simply a good friend.
#4: Experience a New Culture
The beauty of being a digital nomad is being exposed to different cultures. Whether you are traveling or based in the same town, you don’t only meet the local entourage. You will also get in contact with an international tribe. Moving around gives you the fantastic opportunity of challenging your beliefs just by being in touch with people coming from another part of the world. Networking doesn’t only mean finding new collaborations. It also means enriching your background with new cultures and experiences.
How to Find Digital Nomad Communities?
I don’t need to convince you more about the importance of finding a digital nomad community. The point is where to find yours? You won’t be surprised to hear that the Internet is the best place to start.
Here are a few ideas to start researching the best community of digital nomads to join:
Facebook Groups
Old and reliable, Facebook groups are one of the easiest ways to find everything, from meetups to coworking events. You can start by simply typing on the search Facebook bar the city you are in + digital nomads and find thousands of related groups.
Here are some of the most popular groups to start your research:
- General Info: Groups like the Digital Nomads Forum and Global Digital Nomad Network are great sources of inspiration to read about other experiences and digital nomad journeys.
- Traveling Advice: Digital Nomads Around the World and Wandering Community encourage nomads worldwide to share tips on their experiences. Finally, Digital Nomads Hub shares tips and advice about coworking opportunities.
- Grow Your Remote Business: The Female Digital Nomads inspire women living the digital nomad lifestyle, and Digital Nomad Entrepreneurs focuses on independent-location entrepreneurs.
Co-living & Coworking Spaces
Most of these places aim to build a community among their members. You get your job done and enjoy your free time in good company. Bali and Thailand are the most popular destinations for digital nomads.
In Canggu, for example, DOJO co-living has awesome facilities and one of the biggest communities of digital nomads. In Europe, Spain and Portugal have always been hot destinations for nomads. Madeira island is now one of the biggest co-living in Europe, full of activities and spots to meet other people. Budapest is also a great destination, especially for tech experts. Finally, South America offers amazing culture, nature, and co-working spaces! Cities like Medellin or Buenos Aires have dynamic and active communities of digital nomads and travelers ready to welcome new members.
Apps
Out there, there are more apps for digital nomads than you could think of. For example, Nomad Projects is for digital nomads looking for side projects or collaborations. It is a great place to find new partnerships and connections. Another app is EatWith. This app is perfect for finding dinner parties, cooking classes, and food tours in a new city. Finally, the Croissant app gives an overview of the city’s coworking spaces and the available seats.
Learn more: Best Coworking Space Apps
Blogs
Reading other digital nomads’ experiences is another good way to learn how to move around the world. These are some great blogs that can help you start with your digital nomad journey:
- Nomadic Matt is one of the best travel bloggers;
- James Clark’s Nomadic Notes is a blog on nomadic travel;
- Tropical MBA Podcast by Dan Andrews is an interesting program about remote businesses;
- Digital Nomad News is an online newspaper with all the latest digital nomad trends.
Best Digital Nomad Community Groups
There is one last thing that is worth mentioning about digital nomads communities. They are all different. As we said initially, they can be virtual or in a physical place. But, most importantly, they can give diverse experiences and inspiration.
Perhaps, you don’t feel like traveling at the moment because you didn’t get vaccinated, and COVID restrictions are still on in most places. Or maybe you can’t stand sitting in front of a screen anymore and want to pack your stuff and travel around with other people like you.
Wherever you feel, you have a community of people out there to discover!
Online Digital Nomad Communities
Websites
- The Nomad List is one of the largest online communities for digital nomads around the globe. The platform can filter your next destination, connect you to Slack channels, and give you many opportunities to match with friends and dates while traveling.
- Slofile is a website to help users find Slack channels.
- Nomads Talk chat keeps updated on all upcoming events and has location-specific channels.
- The Digital Nomad Subreddit is a channel to discuss any topic related to digital nomads.
- And when you are looking to meet people in your free time, Nomad Soulmates is a digital dating page only for digital nomads!
Online Conferences
Virtual conferences are one of the best ways to build a network and find an international community of professionals. The Virtual Working Summit is one of the best digital nomad conferences that you can attend from home. Speakers cover any type of topic on the digital nomad culture and share tips and advice with participants to grow their businesses. Usually held in October, this informative conference is a way to connect with other remote workers without leaving your current location.
In-Person Digital Nomad Communities
Conferences & Events
- 7in7 is the event you’re looking for. It is a series of conferences hosted in a different continent each year. The last summit will take place in Antarctica in 2022, with a rich panel of speakers and activities to meet like-minded people.
- Freedom x Fest is an annual conference focussing on all the angles of digital nomads’ lifestyles, from family life to personal development.
- The annual conferences Nomad City (Gran Canaria, Spain) and Nomad Summit (Tbilisi, Georgia) bring together professionals worldwide to speak about remote working and entrepreneurship.
- Running Remote is the best conference for remote business owners.
Nomads Retreats
- The WiFi Tribe invites people to a different chapter each month. Whenever you want, you can join a group of people traveling and working together.
- The Nomad Escape combines nine like-minded people to travel for 21 days to 12 destinations, balancing work and adventure.
- The Digital Nomad Girls Retreat moves through different locations, focusing specifically on women.
Travel With Other Nomads
- The Nomad Cruise, since 2015, has taken 120 digital nomads on a sea-bound adventure full of activities and networking opportunities.
- Nomad Train moves on the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia while working remotely and meeting new people.
- More exotic and adventurous, Coworking Safari is either digital detox or two weeks with other remote professionals in South Africa.
- If you are looking for long-term experience, a Remote Year brings remote workers to 12 cities for 12 months.
Nomad Hubs
There is another good (old-school) way to meet other digital nomads and create your community. Especially after this global crisis, big cities and small towns are getting ready to welcome digital nomads and remote workers from all over the world. Cities like Chiang Mai (Thailand) or Bali (Indonesia) were already a center for digital nomads with thousands of meetups and co-working spaces. Tbilisi (Georgia) is home to the Nomad Summit 2020, and it’s one of the fastest-growing communities for digital nomads.
In Europe, Lisbon (Portugal) and Gran Canaria (Spain) are home to large and lively digital nomads communities. Groups like Lisbon Digital Nomads host weekly coworking days and meetups, making accessible the local network for travelers. The Spanish island is also full of meet-ups, and it hosts the Nomad City’s annual conference. Finally, of course, Mexico, Argentina, and Columbia are the best spots in South America.
Learn more about Digital Nomad Hub: HERE.
Time To Find Your Community!
To recap, what you need to do to find your community is starting the research. It might sound weird hearing that the best advice we can give you is to work it out by yourself.
But that’s the point of being a digital nomad, right? You want to find your path, create your business and unique life, and have special memories to tell your grandchildren. You want a job that could give you more than a paycheck and partners that aren’t just colleagues. That’s why finding your nomad community is up to you. You know what you like – or at least you know how to find out what you like.
There are thousands of channels and opportunities to find business partners, like-minded people, and other travelers. You can find your community online or just pack your staff and fly somewhere. Now that boundaries are slowly opening back, the power is in your hands.
