Coliving as The Key To Slow Travel

You might have heard of slow travel, maybe you might have even dreamed of it.

Traveling and spending long stretches of time in one place, immersing yourself in the local culture and never in a rush to make it to the next destination.

For the average traveler this concept makes no sense at all. The classical idea of traveling is to explore as much as possible in as little time as possible or – the stark alternative – not explore at all, stay in the hotel and chill next to the pool.

Chances are, you are not the average traveler. You might even be a remote worker or an aspiring digital nomad, curious about alternative ways of traveling.

While slow travel is one concept that might appeal to you, coliving might be another and they actually fit perfectly together. I would even go as far as saying that to a lot of people coliving has become the gateway to Slow Travel.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

(If you want to learn more about the evolution of coliving, read our article here).

What Is Slow Travel? 

Slow travel is a mode of traveling that prioritizes staying in the places you’re visiting over seeking out the next destination as soon as possible.

Slow Travel is really what it says: traveling slowly.

How slow? 

That depends.

You can of course take everything to the extreme and basically move to the next country only every five years. But the more average pace of slow travel will be something around one to six months of staying in one place or region.

While one month might seem very little to some experienced travelers, for others it might be just enough. Personally, I think around 3 months is a good time to become more familiar with a place and get a decent overview of the destination.

Slow Travel is actually less about exploring and more about living in a place. Technically you can explore every day, but that’s usually not realistic nor feasible in the long term.

You could say: Slow Travel is a lifestyle.

And it is usually chosen by the more conscious travelers or by modern nomads, who have grown tired of the endless and relentless hunt for new experiences.

I will acknowledge that there is a chance that this might sound … well, lame.

Hanging around in a place and just living, instead of surfing, hiking, diving and dancing?

When it comes to slow travel you can do all of those things. Probably even more and better than on a regular holiday trip.

Why Slow Travel? 

Slow Travel allows you on the one hand to start growing into a place. 

Usually when you visit a new decision you spend most of your time in a wide eyed honey moon phase: Everything is amazing! You want to go everywhere and do everything!

Just like meeting new people it takes a bit of time to become more accustomed to a place and get a realistic and more wholesome picture of it.

Once you get out of the honeymoon phase and you still enjoy the place, chances are high you found some gold on your search for destinations you genuinely connect with. 

Most people just dream of maybe one day living in a place they traveled, too.

Slow Travel actually commits to doing a few more steps into that direction, while taking away many of the regular major stressors and issues like:

• FOMO (fear of missing out)
• Time Pressure (even two weeks are often too little time)
• Weather reliance (god forbid it rains even one day!)
• Exhaustion (from the constant exploring and activities)
• Overeating (because you want to try everything)
• Overspending (because who knows if you ever come back)
• Planning Pressure (if you are a full time nomad that’s constantly on the go)

 

When you stay longer in a place, you can do one or two of the activities you desperately want to try every week. That way you will do as much as you would have normally squeezed into one week. And if you might not feel like doing whatever you have planned on a given day, no problem – You got time, anyway.

If the weather happens to be bad, no biggie. You just wait a few days, since you are not in a rush and you probably have work to do or chores to take care of. 

You want to try all those different restaurants people have recommended to you? I’m sure you’ll be able to afford eating out once or twice a week. Even in just a month that should be enough to try most of the recommendations you get in one place.

You can do all the things you enjoy, while working and while exploring the expat version of the local life  – all without a rush. And when you slowly get settled or even start feeling a little bit bored, you can start fantasizing about the next place you want to go to.

Some people actually end up so satisfied that they stay in one place for a few years.

Sometimes they find a home. Sometimes they find a challenge.

The Dark Side Of Slow Travel

While Slow Travel sounds great, it also poses unique and very often unspoken challenges.

The most common: Loneliness.

Slow Travel is a lifestyle not too many people share. Most people that actually engage in this mode of exploring, will probably start traveling by themselves.

While some people connect fast and well with other travelers or even locals, others have a hard time. Many travelers actually consciously choose a destination as their new home, only to realise two or three years later that while they love the place, the place does not love them back.

You might live in a lively town or even in a mega city like Kuala Lumpur, yet you can still feel isolated and alone, if you are the only expat and nomad around or at least the only one you know.

Many people might find it hard to connect with you, since they can not imagine to live like you do. They might be envious of or simply overwhelmed by the idea of it – that goes for locals and for other travelers as well.

And while slow travel is becoming more and more common, the most common mode of traveling remains to visit places only once and to travel a lot in a short period of time.

That usually means that the people you can relate to and the people that can relate to you, will in most cases leave you.

Eventually you might feel stuck and even return back home. Just to feel stuck as well.

And just like this, slow travel might have become another failed experiment in the search of a fulfilling life … if only there were places that would allow you to connect to the local culture and other long term travelers.

Coliving as Perfect Addition

This is where coliving comes into play. Coliving spaces host a mix of digital nomads, remote workers and travelers in an environment that’s usually located a bit off the beaten track.

These spaces facilitate in the first place a community environment.

The priority of a descendant coliving space is not to make people feel comfortable in their rooms, but to integrate them into a meaningful community experience. A lot of coliving spaces are also founded and led by locals or by people with a strong connection to the place they are embedded in. 

As a slow traveler you will meet people that live a similar lifestyle like you and that might have visited the same or many other places. Normally the community is eager to meet new people and to get to know each other openly.

While this might sound like the stuff nightmares are made of for every introvert, it might surprise you that most travelers that frequent coliving spaces are actually rather introverted.

Unlike the cliche, most introverts know that they neither hate people nor do they hate talking. And they definitely don’t hate making friends and having meaningful experiences together. Introverts are simply protective of their time, space and needs. Which is something the facilitation of a healthy community space entails.

Connecting with people usually happens naturally, effortlessly and inclusively. 

So if you want to take your time to explore a new place and meet new people, without the pressure of partaking in every social event and in every conversation – coliving is probably the perfect addition to slow living.

And if you are lucky it might be your ticket into finally connecting to the local culture as well.

Coliving As Gateway to Slow Travel

Not only is coliving a valuable addition to slow travel, but it’s also a very effective and encouraging enabler.

Some coliving spaces have rather long-ish minimum stay periods – sometimes one month is the minimum. For people who are still playing with the idea of becoming a full time nomad or simply curious about coliving, this might be too much.

Nonetheless the progression I have seen in many cases tends to be the same:

1. People join a coliving for a few weeks and they realise how fast time flies.
2. The next time they visit a coliving they stay longer. The next time even longer.
3. Staying for one month in a coliving space becomes the norm.
4. Some people start to hop from coliving spaces to coliving spaces.
5. They start staying longer and longer.
6. Some day “staying longer” becomes the norm and what used to be unthinkable is now only reasonable.

Without realising and often without having come across the label, they have progressively become slow travelers. They live – in a sense – on the go, without a base, yet with many bases. The social circle quickly spreads across Europe and sometimes beyond.

And suddenly you have a friend in almost every European country – at least that’s what happened for me.

Sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? 

Is This Lifestyle Realistic? 

While this lifestyle comes with a unique set of challenges, it is absolutely realistic.

Once you start joining community spaces and colivings you will realise how many people actually engage in a form of modern nomadism paired with remote working.

“Is it for everyone?”

No. Definitely not. Some people still enjoy visiting for a week or two and that’s all they need. Some people are simply happy to go home and remain in a familiar environment.

“Is it super expensive?”

Not really. Colivings are not always cheap, but the prices are – compared with airbnbs and hotels – not crazy. The only thing that’s more price worthy is renting apartments long(er) term or permanently – so yes, this flexible lifestyle comes with a bit of a cost.

“Not everybody can do this!”

It’s true. If you don’t work fully remotely, you might not have the chance to live like this all year around. Some people feel encouraged to eventually make the step towards freelancing or entrepreneurship to enjoy maximum flexibility. Others find an agreement with their employer that at least allows them to live like this for a few months a year. Other again take sabbatical to explore this kind of lifestyle.

“Do you need to be brave for this?”

Not really. Maybe a little bit. Usually people have to take a step out of their comfort zone and try something new. Most of us are not used to sharing a living space and oftentimes we are also not used to meeting strangers, let alone making new friends, as adults.

If I’m really honest, I was not so sure about joining a coliving for the first time myself.

I thought it would be an interesting and nice experience, but I was not expecting it to push me in the most comforting way into a new era of my life, in which I would start to value community over everything.

Slow travel might be nice, but traveling and flexibility usually introduce some form of instability. For so long I did not know that the missing piece to the puzzle of the modern nomad’s life was a community that would make me feel safe, grounded and at home.

And I can only hope that when you join a coliving, it will make you feel the same.

 

Thoughts by a coliver: Wojtek