global roaming
The rise of freelance culture has us yearning for the road, but where do you go once you’re over working from Starbucks?
Attention freelancers: this creative communal working space is the stuff dreams are made of.
It’s not often spoken about, but there’s a catch 22 for those partaking in the boom of freespirited “digital nomads”, making a living while living out of a suitcase. With no desire for a fixed address, these travellers will hit the road, laptop in tow, to work in whatever time zone they land in. It sounds glamorous, but if you’re budget-conscious, the accommodation choices are often limited to Airbnb or (cringe) hostels. The former can start to feel lonely, and the latter? Well, let’s face it, the lack of soft towels and powerful wi-fi is pretty much a deal-breaker for anyone over 20. Still, the pull of living everywhere and nowhere at the same time can be hard to shake, particularly when the alternative reality is a grey cubicle and peak-hour congestion.
Enter the new trend of co-living 2.0 – a techy upgrade from the commune-style living of the ’70s that aims to close the frustrating gap between comfort, necessity and budget, with a Silicon-valley veneer. At the forefront is Roam, which is like Airbnb for design conscious, like-minded professional transients. Boasting chic, global home-office properties with Eames desk chairs, bunk-less private rooms and bullet-proof wi-fi, co-work-life start-ups like Roam blur the lines between a share house, hostel, creative atelier and studio apartment. “We offer a service for those who don’t want to be tied down to a regular lease, saving the hassle of having to find a place to work from when working remotely,” says co-founder Bruno Haid, who has been closely trailing the “share conomy” boom. See also: IKEA’S SPACE10, a collaborative research project looking into how we can adapt to own less and share more, as a response to growing populations, depleting resources and the rise of housing costs.
“Workplace structures will continue to shift over time to reflect the growing need for flexibility by this generation and the generations to come,” says Haid. “Workplaces will become less location dependent, and we’ll [soon] see the growth of remote workers.” Death to the grey cubicle is nigh.