As you probably know, the job market has seen a huge increase in remote work setups over the past couple of years. And while work-from-anywhere jobs are becoming more popular, the concept of coliving has also gained traction. For those of you who are unfamiliar with coliving, it’s a lifestyle trend that fosters a sense of community, collaboration, and convenience. If you’re keen to take advantage of your remote working situation, coliving might be an attractive option for you; it’s an easy way to build connections in what can otherwise be an isolating work environment.
What is Coliving?
Coliving is an alternative type of accommodation while travelling that brings individuals with similar values, interests, or goals together into shared living spaces. Coliving often does a good job of balancing solitude and privacy. Most of the time, you’ll find that the setup has a combination of private living spaces, like a single bedroom, with shared communal areas, often kitchens, living rooms, and workspaces. But ultimately, the point of coliving is to foster connection, the spaces are designed to facilitate meaningful interactions and collaboration.
Key Features of Coliving
Shared Spaces:
As we mentioned above, a big part of coliving spaces is shared amenities, like kitchens and co-working areas. The point of these shared areas is to encourage you to engage with the people you’re living and working with.
Community Building:
Something that attracts people to coliving is the emphasis on community-building. It’s not uncommon for a coliving arrangement to have regularly scheduled activities and events for people to get together and socialize outside of work hours.
Longer-term flexible stays:
One key reason why coliving spaces work so well to foster connection is by requiring a minimum stay for guests. This attracts remote workers who embrace a slow-travel mentality and makes people in the coliving get really familiar with each other, as well as the location they're in.
There's still plenty of flexibility within the concept as well. If you’re someone who likes the idea of travelling around and seeing different places, you can opt for a shorter, week-long stay. But if you’re someone who wants to experience living like a local for a month or two, the option to stay longer is also available.
Furnished Living:
It’s pretty much expected that if you’re coliving, you’re going to be travelling from abroad. So rest assured that when you show up to your accommodation, it’ll be fully furnished and ready to go.
Convenience:
Coliving is meant to allow you to focus on living your life the way YOU want with like-minded individuals. Obviously, it’s important to respect the space you’re in and follow any rules, but oftentimes there are services in place for added convenience, like housekeeping for example.
Benefits of Coliving
Community and Networking:
Coliving is pretty much a built-in social network. Working remotely can be kind of isolating at times, but coliving can reduce any feelings of loneliness by fostering a connection with the people you’re surrounded by.
Work-Life Integration:
A huge part of coliving is co-working. Of course, it’s not mandatory that you show up right at 9 a.m. and clock your 8 hours, the space is yours to come and go freely, allowing you to seamlessly integrate your work and personal life.
Cultural Exchange:
It’s common to show up in a coliving space and find yourself surrounded by a diverse group of individuals. People from all over the world are buying into the coliving trend, which provides you with an opportunity to learn about different cultures, and maybe even pick up a new language.
Here's a blog post that will help you when choosing your next coliving community: https://colivevalues.com/blog/things-to-consider-when-choosing-a-place-to-work-remotely/
Challenges of Coliving
Disclaimer… coliving isn’t for everyone. Here are some things to consider before you take the leap.
Privacy Concerns:
If you’re someone who really values privacy, communal living can be a challenge. A lot of people who consider themselves introverted struggle with this aspect of coliving, so it’s definitely something you should really consider.
Community Dynamics:
It’s really easy to glamorize coliving and expect that you’ll walk into this incredibly relaxing oasis, but building a harmonious community requires effort from all residents. You’ll need to do your part in contributing to the community dynamic and be proactive in planning activities like shared dinners or nights out.
Limited Control:
If you’re someone that thrives when things are planned and in order, you may struggle with coliving. Decision-making is often shared, so the lack of complete control over your living environment may not be for you.
The Future of Coliving
The coliving trend shows no signs of slowing and for good reason. With the rise of remote work and the loneliness pandemic, more people than ever are looking to connect with like-minded people and have the remote work lifestyle to do so, anywhere in the world. If you’re mulling over the idea of trying it out, don’t feel like you need to jump in right away, you likely have lots of time.
As far as the future of the spaces themselves, there may be a few things that impact the way they’re designed and managed. For example, advancements in technology may impact security components. And the climate crisis may encourage hosts to adopt more sustainable living practices. It’s hard to predict what these spaces will actually evolve into, but we’re pretty pumped to find out.
To wrap it all up
We hope that this little blog post has shown you that coliving is more than just a housing arrangement; it's really a purposeful choice built around community and collaboration. Coliving definitely has some huge benefits and offers a unique way of living for anyone who’s seeking unique and exciting experiences.
To explore like-minded coliving communities around the world, check out the communities on colive values. We’re all about connecting you to people and places that share your values and interests. Find your community now!
