3. If you like a place, decide to stay even longer

5. Flying (with a plane) is bad for the environment

6. It's easiest to start in a digital nomad hotspot

We recommend figuring out a reliable income stream before you actually hit the road. It can be much harder to find new work while you travel.

For most people, it's easier to find clients and work when they're at home and close to their network, the local mindset, and the timezone they're in.

If you're a freelancer; water and grow a solid customer base. Do good work, get recurring customers, and be so good that your customers recommend you to their friends.

Or, make sure you have a steady remote job that allows you to work in a different timezone. 

Starting from scratch? Make a mindmap with your skills, potential clients, and business models to make money remotely, and work towards that goal in the next 3 months. Look for recurring skills needed on remote job boards, and pick one core skill to master, like SEO, UX / UI Design, or Web development. Join a specialised bootcamp if needed. (For inspiration, check memorisely.com)

When done right, you'll have the space of mind to enjoy being in this new place, instead of stressing about finances.

Does this all sound like a step too far ahead? Try booking a coliving space for 1 week! You'll meet amazing other remote workers who travel long term, and whom you can ask questions and learn from.

In the beginning, you might feel like you need to 'make as much out of your time abroad as you can'. This can become exhausting, and no one cares about how many countries you've been to. You should do what 

 want to do. If you wanted to, you can have this life on the road forever. There is no need to rush. You will make it happen - like you always do.

If you stay somewhere longer, you can invest in making your home cosier and more comfortable. You will make better friendships, and you will get a much better understanding of the local culture and way of living. You can learn a new language, fall in love, start a new business, or get good at another new skill, like surfing.

You probably have another 50+ years to live. If you make the 

to stay somewhere longer, everything changes. It'll bring a lot of peace. Sure, keeping all options open has its benefit. But, cut yourself some slack. You're not missing out on anything. If it feels good to be here, 

It's not always easy to make new friends on the road. Think of strangers as friends you just still have to meet. You've known everyone for a long time already, all you have to do is connect. They're you, living their life as a different person. They'll be glad you took a chance and reached out to say hi. Wouldn't you?

You don't have time to be too shy to meet someone who could've been an amazing friend. You don't have time to not do or say things you want to, because you worry about what people might think. Be yourself, and your tribe will select itself. Not everyone might like you, just like you might not like everyone either. It's fine. Match? No? Next. Match? Yes. Awesome. You'll miss out on all the amazing relationships and life paths you could have when you don't try because you're scared. Or, when you're always trying to satisfy all other people, and thereby never truly being yourself. Don't hide that magic from the world! Plus, everyone always has something interesting about them if you approach them openly and with curiosity.

We know this isn't easy. But try to not fly a lot. If you can, take a train. Pay your carbon taxes. Stay in places for a long time. It's better for the beautiful natural world that makes this entire experience possible. :)

Starting new travels in a new country is easiest when you join a coliving space. You will instantly make new friends. Living with someone will allow you to really get to know them. After the first month or so, you will have many new friends, and be able to find your own more private accommodation if needed. As many coliving spaces have a coworking space attached - or fast wifi at the least - they also make sure that you can get your work done from day one. 

Having to spend a lot of time and energy worrying about getting your work done will not be fun. Finding cafes, wifi hotspots, topping up local 3G sim cards.. Better to make sure you start at a good workspace to get used to the new place, and then after a month or so, venture out into the wild more and more.

You might stay somewhere for years. You might fall in love. You might make an amazing new friend and start a new business together. Worth a shot, right?

If you look at the world from outer space, there are no borders, there are no rules. 

This modern world you woke up in today, we created ourselves. That's the point. To explore what's possible, and create experiences and relationships in your tiny bit of time alive that make you look back to and smile.

It's about freedom. You create your own game. There is no way to 'be a digital nomad'. It's just you exploring the world and your time. Don't feel like you have to be on the road for a certain amount of time, go specific places, or do things other digital nomads do. 

Some people feel like they 'failed' when they go home earlier than they initially expected. Some couldn't make ends meet for as long as they wished. Going home is not failing. You tried, and you learned something new. You stretched your own possibilities for reality. That's courageous and amazing. You've had a great time. Also; it's fantastic to go home sometimes and be closer to family and friends. 

The whole point: You choose. You create the rules.

Now go, dear! Spread your wings and.. fly!

8 Tips - How to Become a Digital Nomad in 2022

Coworksurf

Community living, or ‘coliving’, is simply a group of people living together in the same place. 

The community often also works and spends their free time together. 

If you travel and work, living in an individual apartment can get lonely, while hostels can have too many distractions and parties going on.

If you're looking for a like-minded community who also works while travelling, a coliving space might give you just that!

The reason people live in coliving spaces is to quickly make new friends in new places. Because everyone works, you can expect a calmer Monday to Friday, and more activities during the weekend. Coliving spaces that are organised around a specific shared interest, like surfing, create a like-minded community of people. 

Coliving spaces have different degrees of social intensity. In some places, you only share the living room, kitchen or garden. In other places you also share rooms. 

Many professional coliving spaces also have a coworking space attached.

Coliving spaces range from shared houses with three rooms, to fully managed camps or apartment buildings with 100+ people.

Some guests need 100% focus to get their work done or grow their business. They connect with the community for surfs and dinners a few times a week, during work breaks and weekends. 

Other guests want 'as much fun as they can', while being able to maintain their work, and are up for a cheeky Tuesday party. As a host, you decide to which kind of guest you cater to, and can set house rules to make sure everyone is happy.

Both guests need excellent wifi. Wifi is considered fast from 25mbps and higher. You can check your internet speed on https://www.speedtest.net/.

Coliving is great for the long term travelling ‘slowmad’, because you get to make friends in new places easily. Since people are not moving every few days, you build better relationships. What better way to get to know someone than to live with them?

In our places, people even found love and started businesses together. (Ourselves included!)

A well hosted coliving space can be more pricey than standard accommodation. A host can usually make more money renting their place out to short-term guests, but prefer to host remote workers. Because remote workers stay for an average of one month, hosts have more time for side projects or other things they want to do. 

Even though a coliving space might cost a little more, for many guests the experience has been life-changing, and allowed them to meet people that stay with them for the rest of their life.

If coliving opens up a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities for you, and helps you see life in a different, more rounded and exciting way, we believe it’s one of the most valuable experiences you can have, and that money can buy.

'I'm still confused about coliving, can you literally live there like a normal hostel?'

Yes! It’s really great to have a “home” away from home. I’ve lived abroad for 5 years and sometimes it can get lonely. It’s really nice to have a built-in community when you’re first landing in a new country. And we all work remotely, so we have the same lifestyle. Highly recommend trying it out. :)

For a full tour of a coliving space, check out this video by our friends John and Britnee!

What is Coliving?

When you research the history of coliving, you will find articles that only go back as far as 'in the 1900's we had boarding houses'.

We believe those forget the point that we humans only exist today because we lived in tribes for 6.000.000 years, since our first ape grandparents with the 'homo' gene.

(Before that, their ape ancestors also lived in tribes for millions of years. You could go back 100's of millions of years to how fish live in schools. But our human gene strain first appeared 6 million years ago.)

We only became more individualistic and non-nomadic since the agricultural revolution 12.000 years ago, and the introduction of capitalism, some 300 years ago.

If you zoom out on the entire timeline of human history, individual living is the trend, not communal living. 

We are wired to live in communities we trust and who support us, which is why coliving can feel so natural, especially if you live in close connection with nature, and in a smaller town vs. living alone in a brick city made of strangers.

This article has been researched and written by Pier from Coworksurf. You can freely use this research. Feel free to use the information, and please mention and link back to us.

- For more than 6 million years since the first 'homo' gene strain, we have relied on each other to survive.

- We used to live in tribes of 100 to 150 'people' for millions of years. If a tribe would reach 200, the group would split into 2 groups of 100 and go their own way.

- We were semi-nomadic. Moving with our food and water, following the seasons and the most fruitful lands.

- We're not super strong, fast, have big teeth or sharp claws. The only reason why we still exist today is because of each other.

- Our social cooperation was our defense against animals with more deadly physiques, and our superpower to thrive in almost any environment.

- Survival of the friendliest: The people with the best social skills had a bigger chance to survive and pass on their genes. (Getting banned from the tribe to survive alone was basically death.)

- If you depict the entire timeline of human history on a 12-hour clock, the modern world in which you woke up today - with cities, supermarkets, suburbs, big buildings, advertising and the Internet - only formed a second before midnight.

- Farming (12.000 yrs ago) made us non-nomadic.

- As we became static, our villages grew into cities and kingdoms far larger than 150 people.

- Capitalism (300 yrs ago) bred specialisation and individualism.

- If you look at the trend timeline over 10+ million years, individual living is the trend - not communal living.

- People do love their privacy and the ability to withdraw from the group. Capitalism and automation allow for a modern life that our anciestors would dream of as 'Walhalla' or 'heaven'.

- We believe we can combine the best of both worlds; to find communities that make you feel

connected and heard, while enjoying all the opportunities that capitalism, automation and the internet have brought.

6 million years, since our first great ape ancestors. (And 

We can't run fast, have big teeth, sharp claws, or a poisonous sting. Instead, we rely on social cooperation to survive. We live in tribes of 100 to 150 people that are semi-nomadic. If our tribe grows to 200 people, it splits into two tribes. We worked an average of 15 hours per week. All generations live and work together.

Agriculture needs us to stop moving to grow our food and protect our harvest. Settlements grow bigger. The first cities and individual housing developed. People start specialising and trade increases. 

First, we barter. Then we use items to make trade easier, like rocks, shells, gold. People don't want to carry their life savings in gold. Too risky. The goldsmith has a safe, so they give the gold they don't need to him. The goldsmith gives them an official piece of paper with the amount of gold he owes them. People start trading pieces of paper. 

To trade more easily, people make the pieces of paper of smaller value, and they remove any ownership names. Now we all trade pieces of paper that promise their value in gold. We believe we can exchange the pieces of paper back for gold with the goldsmith if we want to. 

Nice! Now I don't need to first trade my grain for bricks, to trade my bricks for a new axe. I can sell my grain for pieces of paper, get a new axe, and anything else I need, without having to make any more barter trades.

You live on a king's land and pay 90% tax for the army to have your back. Generations upon generations work on the land in a neverending loop of static hierarchy. Nice.

We introduce capitalism. Capitalism means that everyone can now create and own their own businesses, instead of everything being owned by the state.  Capitalism makes trade and the distribution of work even more effective because of specialisation. 

If I focus on making hammers all day, you focus on turning trees into planks, our friend makes sails, and another friend puts all of these together into the form of a ship, we can create more and better ships faster.

We evolved doing different things in a day. You would forage fruits, nuts and mushrooms, hunt, fish, cook together by the fire, play with family members. Now you just make hammers - day in, day out.

Capitalism, industrialisation, automation and larger companies structures created many jobs around single tasks to be repeatedly performed all day. It works, but it's boring at first, and demoralising after a decade. 

Our modern world offers a life that our ancestors would dream of as heaven; any food you crave is delivered at your doorstep with the press of a button. You are safe, have access to good healthcare, are connected with the rest of the world, and can learn anything from anyone for free on the Internet.

The only reason why we humans still exist today is because of each other. Let's keep bringing back the new things we create to the core of our being: a deep connection with ourselves, each other, and the natural world that is us.

The 6 Million Year History of Coliving

How to set up the ultimate coliving space to host digital nomads and remote workers.

'OK, I want to set up a Coworksurf or make an equally rad coliving space. What do I have to do?'

Coliving Space Bali

Coliving Space Norway

Coliving Space Sri Lanka

Coliving Space Portugal

Let my people go surfing

Surf Norway

Well, we really value our 3 core pillars; community, work, and surf --> Coworksurf. ​

We divided our 30 tips below into those three categories. The first and possibly most important is the community.

Here's a few things we've learned along the way about creating a good community!

Group Surf

Coworking in Bali

Coworking Community Puerto Escondido, Mexico

1. Set out house rules in advance for your space

Here are our example house rules. Feel free to amend for your space.

🌺 ​Be kind - Everything flows when you’re kind.

🤲 Help out - Help and listen to others. Share and include. Do your dishes and clean up after yourself. If we all add to creating the best experiences, everyone benefits. 

Also, as a bonus, we’d love it if you can support the local community where needed, help nature and start / continue on your own social project(s). Most people in the group love giving back as well, so let us know and we'll probably jump in with you :)

📆 ​Respect privacy - It can be intense to live in a house full of people. Take your own space if you need it, and give others theirs. Don’t mind skipping some group plans. Everyone knows we all sometimes need our own space to rest and recharge.

🐙 Be human - If there are any issues you experience or love you want to share, please let us know, or fill out this short feedback form. Thanks for your time and energy!

2. Introduce people and make them feel welcome when they arrive.

Make sure you have someone (maybe you!) in a host role to greet people and introduce them to the other guests. As part of this intro, process let them know that it’s nice to greet the next guests when they arrive too. The quicker you can make your guests feel like a family and answer each other's questions about the best places to get breakfast, coffee, ATMs etc the less work you will have to do as a host and the more your community will self-manage.

3. Physically design your space to be as conducive to community as possible

Plan the coworking space somewhere fairly central to your set up and create some simple rules in the coworking spaces to help, eg quiet area or social area so people feel happy they are not distracting other people by talking.

Perhaps near the kitchen? Or somewhere with a few comfy seats.

5. Put up a weekly schedule whiteboard with group activities 

Allow/encourage people to sign up to certain events so they know something is happening as a group.

6. Play a small intro game or ice breaker 

Any time a new community member arrives it can be fun to get everyone together that evening just for 5 minutes to say hey

Create a Whatsapp group for your location that allows all guests to talk to each other and answer each others questions. As a Coworksurf location guests will automatically receive an email invite to join the relevant Whatsapp group upon booking and are told they can say hello before they arrive so they get a nice soft welcome.

An invite to the coworksurf crew facebook page is also automatically sent for all of our locations.

Our Coworksurf locations try to incorporate some of these. They are naturally good community builders but you might want to think of different ones if you are not near a beach.

This is so important. If there are not many guests to begin with or you are going through a slower phase try and bring in a volunteer or invite some friends with good vibes and introduce your guests to others from the local community or nearby accommodations. We have a facebook page of awesome talented volunteers  our partner locations can tap into.

11. Open up to the wider community by setting up a localized facebook page for your area

If a super established one already exists then start contributing and holding events that encourage guests to mix with the local community and wider digital nomad community. If setting up your own page make sure it's inclusive and not just focused around your own brand. It's great to involve other coliving and coworking spaces because everyone usually enjoys meeting other people in a similar boat.

12. Set up a scheme or partner with a good cause locally 

Encourage your guests to look into it so they feel a part of the local community.

I asked one of our guests, Nick, what was most important to him about a coliving space, and he said the shared workspace. 'That's what separates it from hotels or hostels. Without one I don't think I would have booked.'

Nice fairly big group working tables are cool and so are little mini desks for more private work.

This is a really nice feature which many places forget. But if you're working for 10-12 hours it's nice to have some daylight

Temperature is pretty vital for energy levels and focus. It gets hot in the tropics and cold in the Arctic. Can you keep your space at a nice working temperature? 

This is so important we've found. You don't need them in your space but it is a real reason people book.

This is also important. Plugs, USB extensions etc. The more the merrier. House phone charging stations are always cool too as people lose cables all the time. Make people label their cables! 

Some people want to do undistracted work.

8. Space for calls without waking other people up.

Some people need to Skype at 4am because of their job and timezones being a thing. A space where they can do this is a bonus.

Should go without saying but in some parts of the world this can be more of a challenge than others. So be honest about your current wi-fi speeds.

Many guests who do creative work love having access to a good recording studio to record their podcasts, music, online courses, Youtube videos, etc.

How to Start a Coliving Business

Looking for interior design ideas for your surf house, hostel, coworking space or coliving space?

Sweet! Let's get this baby going - top to bottom.

Modern ○ Calm ○ Creative ○ Aesthetic ○ Welcoming ○ Safe ○ Jungle ○ Warm ○ Beachy ○ Cosy ○ Kind ○ Homey ○ Arty ○ Sexy

We want our house to be calm, cosy and homey. As we'll add colour with our details later, we want our base palette to be simple and clean.

Coliving space interior design

Surf house design

Interior design on a budget

Looking clean! Now, let's ground ourselves by choosing 

Hostel wooden floor

Wooden floor interior design

Cosy wooden floor

If you don't like wooden floors, a lighter grey floor also looks smooth. You can add wood by hanging it!

Or, if you can't lay a wooden floor, because you e.g. need to work with tiles, you can use rugs to ground the space. Rugs are also amazing to improve your space's acoustics - good to work on with a tile floor too. We'll touch on that later as well.

Round brown rug

Light grey floor

Hanging wooden log

Now, the details. Doorposts, window frames, etc. We can choose to go calm with these and use a light colour, but let's make them 

 to add some character and get that modern look.

Black frames

Black door frames

Black shower head

Let's fill this house up with life! We are nature, and being amongst plants is calming. Let's create a modern jungle inside this house.

Dining room plants

Office plants

Living room plants

Aestetic Bedroom plants

Plant corner

Living room plant party

Alright, we've gotten pretty far! Now we have our base colors right, and added some life with plants, we can start sprinkling in  fun, art and colour.

From here, you can basically start adding in as much color as you like! If you're going to paint a wall, it could be calmer to pick one, max two, colours. We love sticking to pastel colours for walls.

Colourful living room

Colorful wall

Colorful posters

Colourful wall

brown orange wall

digital nomad shower

Ah, so you love the poster walls? Us too! Different sizes, different colors.

Here some more prints we found. Link to our Pinterest board at the end of this article.

Home art

Aestetic home art

modern art

modern art poster

poster quote

universe art

woman art

logo art

surf art

nature art

wall art

tropical woman art

Lighting is often overlooked, but very key in setting the vibe.

Do your rooms sound echo-y? Oops! You can fix that by adding soft materials that block the sound waves from bouncing off the walls and floor. Carpets help - especially vale, old, Persian rugs. They make it look a little bit music studio-y, you know? 

A clothing rack, wall trinket, a couch, bed, chair, wall rugs, plants - all of those help to get cosy acoustics in your rooms.

Room acoustics

persian rug living room

wall trinket

Now pop your surf boards by the entrance, get some guitars, a piano, a dog, some books, and you're done!

Surf board interior design

guitars and surf boards

surf dog

For more inspiration, check our Pinterest board:

https://www.pinterest.com/Coworksurf/interior-design/

Aesthetic Surf House Interior Design Ideas (with pictures)

[{"type":"paragraph","children":[{"text":""}]}]

Wijnand Karsens

Surfing, Coliving and Coworking in the Beautiful Central America

[{"children":[{"text":""}],"type":"paragraph"}]