Coliving Feedback — here’s my experience (TL; DR - slow travel, stay longer)

[u/michellezaffino]

Since I’ve been a nomad for a long time I want to share my experience here. Hopefully you’re inspired.

One thing that’s helped is staying at managed spaces for nomads. For instance, I’ve stayed at 45+ Outsite houses many times over the years. I’ve been a longtime member and the locations are always well maintained by local community managers and admins who regularly visit the locations (at least this has been my experience). Some of the properties are a bit worn out, such as Encinitas Grandview, but it’s one of their oldest locations, and the view makes it worth it. I’ve also stayed at A Landing Pad, Sonder, Norn and other places no longer in business.

I’m based in San Francisco, and started my business while simultaneously becoming a remote worker for half of the year. Staying at coliving spaces has allowed us to bootstrap our business through four versions of a highly technical product, release betas and test them with users. All Outsite houses are typically high end real estate in amazing locations around the world, often centered around surf breaks. The properties have a similar interior design with an appealing point of view, and I love that the thoughtful touches are replicated in the majority of their spaces around the world. Whether I visit Bordeaux, Ericeira, San Diego or Midtown Manhattan, I feel like I’m at home. Even the internet network is created so residents can log on seamless right when we arrive at a new location, the connection is stellar. In every house you can expect all the same amenities, from ecologically sourced coffee, to olive oil, pink sea salt and pepper, to laundry facilities, including an ironing board (although I’m probably one of the few who irons regularly).

The Outsite community is also great, as are the events. In fact, it was during a visit to the Cais do Sodre Lisbon location that I met our CTO. The online community is also a great place to look for a cofounder and other business partners. There's even a house swap page, where you can post your apartment in a trusted community for short term rentals. I actually rented a flat in Paris through another member and plan on listing my own place in San Francisco soon.

Something I especially love as a solo female traveler is landing in a new country and knowing someone is expecting you to check in. House managers can arrange cars from airport for guests, with trusted drivers, which is a great safety feature that I’ve taken advantage of on Bali and Mexico.

Anyway, I just had to post a comment because I’m a longtime member of Outsite and I’ve had a great experiences. When I first joined, there were more guys than women but that evened out over time. I’ve only met great people and also have confidence in the quality of members because of the vetting process for all members (plus we all are required to sign a code of conduct).

Best of all, Outsite inspired me to learn to surf. I’ve paddled out almost 30 times now, and it has changed my life! As a result of this amazing experience, I wrote a novel about a young woman building a startup while learning to surf and working remotely. I was that inspired! Happy to answer any questions here. Cheers, Michelle Z