Anyone who can work remotely from outside their home country for a set amount of time or who can work full-time from anywhere should try a coliving at least once in their life! I visited my first coliving in Tenerife in April 2021 and completely fell in love with the concept. Since then, I’ve explored many more colivings. Click here to read about my coliving experiences around the world. One question I get asked a lot is: How do you choose a coliving? In this blogpost, I’ll share my process on how to find the right coliving for digital nomads and what to consider when choosing one.
Find the right country with Mapmelon
First, decide which country you would like to visit. This very much depends on your employer requirements and your personal preferences. Today, colivings are available in a lot of different locations. Whether it’s the Alps, a tropical jungle, by the ocean, or a mix of everything. If you need to stay within Europe, don’t worry – there are plenty of amazing colivings here!
My favourite way to get inspiration and to find the right coliving is Mapmelon. Mapmelon originally started as an app to connect colivers and share future travel plans. Over the years, it has grown into a platform where you can find, research and book colivings. I personally love using Mapmelon for an overview of available colivings in different countries. The map view shows all available colivings in different locations. This gives a good insight into the local coliving structure and you can find inspiration for your next stop. The more colivings in a country, the higher the chances that there are good quality colivings around.
Why I don’t use coliving.com
There are a few websites listing coliving spaces, one of them: coliving. com. I personally don’t use or recommend using platforms like this – I trust Mapmelon’s approach much more. I met the founders, and know that they have personally visited most of the listed colivings themselves, ensuring they are genuine community-based colivings.
Coliving.com lists a lot of spaces that aren’t true colivings. A real coliving to me isn’t just a beautiful house that can host a bunch of remote workers. A coliving needs a concept, a community manager, and a strong connection to the location. This is also why I don’t love the concept of coliving associations like WiFi Tribe, where you travel with other nomads. The idea is great, but the programs are often way too overpriced for the destinations they choose. There are a lot more reasons why I wouldn’t choose ‘moving colivings’ – to understand them better continue reading below.
Choose local hosts
When choosing a coliving, I look into the person or organization behind it. To me, a coliving is not about living in a fancy villa – it’s about experiencing a destination in a more meaningful way. That’s why I don’t like moving colivings where you simply pass through places. I prefer colivings hosted by locals or people deeply connected to the area.
A local host: A person or organization who has a real connection and care for the place they’re based in.
Choosing a local host gives you the unique opportunity to experience a place from a more local perspective. A local host can introduce you to the culture and everyday life beyond the tourist track. Colivings with local hosts often support sustainable tourism. Many source food locally and engage with small businesses. They usually understand local challenges and try to make the local economy benefit from the coliving’s presence. When browsing through the website of a coliving, you can usually get a feel for how much they care about their location.
Here are two locally hosted colivings in the Canary islands:
Check for a community manager and activities
Work life balance gets a lot better when you are in the right coliving. I usually choose colivings that offer a weekly schedule, and have a community manager. I personally look for activities such as yoga classes, family dinners or breakfasts, and weekend trips. If they only offer a beautiful villa but nothing more, you should probably look somewhere else.
The coliving experience always depends on the people who you’re sharing the space with – BUT, when people come together in a coliving that already offers a range of activities, it gives a structure which helps to create way better community vibes. If the listed activities on a colivings website sound appealing to you, chances are you’ll meet like-minded people and have a much more enjoyable experience.
Research amenities and infrastructure
When I found a few colivings or a specific one that sounds nice to me, I usually also have a quick look on their Google Maps profile. First, I would check their reviews, to get an insight into how other’s experienced the coliving. This also helps to find out, whether a coliving is located in a place with good infrastructure. Some colivings are located right in a city, but others are more remote and you might need a rental car to get around. I usually also check if there are supermarkets or nice coffee shops around (or whatever is important to you, like a gym). In general, looking at the amenities and infrastructure around a coliving can help a lot to evaluate whether it is the right place for you.
Click here to see all my blogposts about nomad life!
Final thoughts
Overall, these are the steps I follow to find the right coliving:
- Get some inspiration on Mapmelon
- Research the host & their connection to the place
- Check if there is a schedule & weekly activities
- Look into the location
- Read reviews from previous colivers
All my coliving experiences have been really nice. To be honest, sometimes I arrived in a coliving and didn’t love it immediately, even wondering why everyone rated it 5 stars. But by the time I left, I understood why. That’s why I find reviews so helpful – if they are good there is something about the coliving that will make you leave feeling the same way.
Final tip: Book a coliving for at least 2-4 weeks. It usually takes about a week to get to know everyone, and to feel at home. By week 2 you will experience the real community feeling and have a fun time exploring.
I hope this guide helps you to find the right coliving! If you need some inspiration and genuine coliving experience reports browse through my posts below. In case you have questions, send me a message on Instagram!
