Digital nomad – The term has gained aspiration value since last year as the world has moved towards a remote work lifestyle. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel to all the amazing places you’ve always wanted to go to while not hampering your work? Well, that’s what digital nomads do. They maintain that balance without the need to take leaves at work. Most countries and industries are embracing a remote work lifestyle which means that coworking and digital nomad coliving are on the rise too! What does this mean? Let’s find out.
What is Coworking and Digital Nomad Coliving?
Coliving is a new age shared accommodation concept that digital nomads are adopting for more flexibility and freedom.
Most jobs are now location-independent because the pandemic has changed not only the way we work but also the way we perceive work. Now, there is more focus on work-life balance. A 9-5 desk job is on the decline, and this means that remote workers are able to choose a lifestyle that they want to as opposed to one that they were forced to stick to before.
With all of these dynamic changes in the way we work, coworking and coliving will be on the rise. But to avoid confusion among both terms, let’s carefully review what each of them are about:
Coworking
Coworking has been around for some time and isn’t a new concept. Coworking is all about different professionals from diverse experiences and fields of work coming to a common space to work.
This could be a cafe or a coworking space meant specifically for this purpose. These dedicated spaces provide all the necessary facilities like WiFi, work desks, etc to professionals at a monthly fee. There are plenty of amazing coworking hubs around the world.
Coliving
Coliving is a newer concept and is all about sharing accommodation between digital nomads. When they’re coliving, besides just sharing living space, digital nomads also share resources and experiences as they continue to explore their individual professional journeys.
After following several steps to rent a shared space, coliving digital nomads start living together. Usually, they have separate bedrooms while they share common areas like living rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms.
Who is the Digital Nomad Coliving Trend for?
If you’re imagining an endless pyjama party that is all fun and games, you must remember that this is not a dorm room shared by college students. Coliving is all about living your usual day to day life which involves work as well; all of this shared with one or more like-minded digital nomads.
Coliving is for working professionals like,
- Freelancers
- Entrepreneurs
- Full-time remote employees
As opposed to the dorm room example, If you’re imagining a dull and serious atmosphere in coliving spaces, you’re going to the other false extreme.
In coliving spaces, common areas are for interaction and to build a connection, while a digital nomad’s private workspace is for productive work. The digital nomads don’t have to live together like complete strangers (they can choose to do so if they want to, though) because it is always more enjoyable to learn from each other’s personal and professional experiences.
It is best to be a little open and interactive in a coliving setting because if you live with this person or a group of persons, it will be challenging if you don’t get along. This is why like-mindedness with fellow digital nomads who will be sharing living space with you is important.
If you’re someone who can work remotely, can work hard and have fun too while making new connections and are looking for newer experiences along your life’s journey, then coliving is for you.
The Benefits of Coliving
Coliving doesn’t have to be boring at all. In fact, coliving can not only be interesting but can also contribute a lot to one’s overall personal development.
- Coliving members may organize meetups and events for other coliving members in the same apartment/building or in the surrounding area! Coliving is not very different from staying in an apartment with roommates.
- The big difference and also a big plus is that you don’t have to sign a year-long lease.
- Your coliving friends and roommates are always changing because as digital nomads, most people are moving places and having no lease restrictions makes it even easier to do so. You don’t have to live alone anymore. You can share the responsibilities and maybe good companionship as well!
- It is all about collaboration and sharing. The newer generation has embraced these qualities. From changing the work trend from traditional offices to coworking spaces, young professionals of today are not only questioning old ways of doing things but also reaping all the benefits that come with this process of evolution – Accessibility, convenience and experience.
Different Types of Coliving
1. Static Coliving (Also called Stationary Coliving)
In this type, an apartment or a house is the coliving space. The location is fixed with a permanent address. Static Coliving has three formats.
- Single residence coliving spaces
Mokrin House in Serbia and Sun and Co. in Spain are some examples of single residence coliving spaces. These coliving spaces offer a single apartment/space for coliving.
- Multiple locations within a city, state or country
WeLive offers coliving spaces in Washington and New York. Common offers residences for coliving in most big cities in the US.
- Coliving spaces around the world
Bigger brands like Outsite and Roam offer multiple coliving spaces to digital nomads across the globe.
2. Nomadic Coliving
Nomadic coliving is the second form of coliving. In this type, digital nomads truly live up to their “nomadic lifestyle” by moving to and settling in new places every few weeks.
- There is no permanent or fixed address/location with nomadic coliving.
The houses or apartments are rented only for a short period of time before the professional or the group of professionals (that are coliving) decide to move to another place to explore!
- With nomadic coliving there is more freedom to choose your destination.
You can move to different parts of the world based on your preferences. You’re not bound by any fixed address. It is more or less like moving from one Airbnb to another every few weeks, but you get to share all the expenditure with your digital nomad group and have even more reasonable options to choose from wherever you go!
- There are some good companies that offer great communal living programs.
Some of them are Hackers Paradise, WiFi Tribe, Unsettled and Remote Year.
Pick the Coliving Type You Want
With both static and nomadic coliving growing fast in the world, you can choose the one that suits you the best. Think more long term. Do you want to move more often for years to come? Or are you comfortable with staying in one place for a long period of time while also enjoying coliving with other digital nomads? Once you decide, there are ample options available for you to choose from!
Whether you stay in Alaska, Venice, Japan, Sydney, Botswana or absolutely anywhere in the whole wide world, make sure you document all your amazing work and life experiences. You surely will want to look back at all the wonderful things you did as a digital nomad while coliving with other digital nomads, won’t you?