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What is coliving?
A quick guide to understanding and navigating the coliving world.
In the past few years the term ”coliving” or “co-living” has become quite popular. New coliving places seem to be popping up like mushrooms after the rain. But what does coliving actually mean? What differs a coliving from a hostel or hotel and what are the different types of coliving?
It is understood that co-living is short for community living and therefore means sharing a place to live with others. Now this is a very broad term and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. This is exactly why the coliving world is very diverse and understanding it is key to finding the right place for yourself.
There have always been creatives, entrepreneurs and freelancers that liked to have a nomadic lifestyle. Since the pandemic more and more people have discovered the pleasure of remote working and use this freedom to travel and explore different places while doing so.
Co-living is usually focused on this crowd. While the installations may be similar to a hostel, hotel, posada or lodge, the main difference is that they are mostly aimed at people that are not on holiday but working during their stay. Most colivings have a co-working space and offer fast and reliable internet. Furthermore they have common areas that make it easy for people to connect, some offer daily or weekly communal meals, excursions, workshops and more.
When looking at colivings, the main differences are in location, size and organization.
They can be located in cities or rural areas. City colivings are easy to get to and allow you to keep your daily routines. You can join organized activities but you can also just step outside and and find the yoga studio, vegan restaurant or art gallery of your choice.
Rural colivings are sometimes a bit harder to get to, there might be a more limited choice of things to buy, do and eat. However, usually it is those places where you find more of a community.
Sticking to location there are permanent colivings and pop-ups. Pop-ups often allow you to stick to one organiser that you like while enjoying different places. Many times pop-ups are centred around a theme like food, yoga or surfing. Usually these are also smaller groups and have a bit of a retreat character. With a lot of scheduled activities and a packed agenda you won’t get bored but probably it’s best to choose those types when you don’t have too much going on at work or you’ll miss out on what you joined for.
In terms of size there is a big range of options too. Anything with a minimum capacity of 6 people can call itself coliving and there is no upper limit to it. While bigger ones are better if you are looking to network, smaller ones are mostly the ones that have more of a community vibe. Bigger ones are usually former hotels or still operate as tourist accommodation in high season and tend to the coliving crowd in low season. There are big ones that are purely colivings, all year round and even chains that have the exact needs figured out and the installations are thought through to provide the digital nomad and remote worker with everything they need. Smaller ones are usually more passion projects where you might need to compromise on a thing or two but they tend to win in charm and character.
The first coliving villages are now popping up too which is bringing co-living to a whole new scale.
There are hosted and self-organized colivings. Hosted spaces are provided by a company or organization, guaranteeing a certain level of quality, a legal structure and a dedicated host that will look after your needs, help you with problems and knowledge about the area amongst other things.
Self-organized colivings are usually short term pop-up experiences organized by a private person or group with the aim to enjoy a destination together.
Last but not least there are the rental apartments that have more than 2 bedrooms and classify themselves as “coliving”. Really though they are your average AirBnB place offering wifi and a discounted monthly rate during low season. They can be a good choice if you are looking for saving on accommodation and don’t mind sharing a kitchen. Don’t expect a community or a host to look after you though.
Hopefully you have more clarity about the different coliving options now. If you are looking for more advice on how to find your perfect coliving, you can find it here.
