Imagine traveling the world using Uber, booking accommodation through airbnb, capturing moments on SnapChat & Instagram, pinning it up on Pinterest, live streaming awesome events on Periscope, all while posting stories on Facebook, Tweeting moments of joy on Twitter and micro blogging your experiences on Tumblr.
This is the Remote Year coWorking Holiday project, called “coWork the World.” The concept is simple - join a bunch of like-minded people to travel the world and coWork along the way. Travelling the world non-stop for a year sounds like something only for the wealthy or retired, but trans-tasman digital consultant & entrepreneur is convinced that the average person can affordably coWork the World in today’s tech driven environment.
“coWorking and coWorking spaces are a fast growing niche with spaces popping up like crazy all over the world. I was keen on having a holiday and travelling but party tours aren’t my thing and I’m not quite ready for those baby boomer tours yet – maybe in another 40 years!…
…I wanted to travel the world but ideally, I wanted to keep working along the way, as all my work can be done remotely from anywhere in the world. I couldn’t find much out there for people like me, so I decided to set up coWork the World with an open invitation for others to join.”
Many new companies are now 100% remote, including Automattic, the makers of WordPress. The number of people who work from home or work remotely is now sitting at record highs, with Australia citing over half their population as digital workers who use the internet to either work from home or on the go. As more employers continue to incentivise their staff with remote working opportunities, which in turn also reduces overhead costs for businesses, it is expected that we will only continue to see a rise in coWorking spaces and Remote workers.
It’s an ambitious project involving over 20 destinations, 6 continents, 7 legs of the journey, 1 full year and 30 like-minded nomads. Participants can apply for 1 or all 7 legs of the journey, which includes; Europe, Eastern Europe, Canada & USA, South America, Africa, India & Asia, Australia & New Zealand. Each leg goes on for different durations, from as little as 30 days, up to as much as 80 days.
“Getting 30 people to join for the entire year long world trip may be rather ambitious so I split the tour into 7 stages, allowing people to sign up for individual legs. This makes it far more accessible to the average person who may for example, be granted with 30 days remote work leave from their employer, but not necessarily 365 days.”
Nomadic culture is nothing new, with the practice dating back centuries. In today’s modern era however, we have seen a rise in digital nomads and entrepreneur nomads who travel the world and continue to earn money online. Other groups like Remote Year, coBoat and Hacker Paradise are also playing in the space of Remote Working Holidays.
Ideally, the project aims to bring together like-minded people from all over the globe, coming from different backgrounds, ages, gender mix, skills, interests and cultures. Having a dynamic mix of people from different walks of life creates an interesting social experiment of dealing with various cultures not just from within the group, but also from each destination.
“It’s a massive cross cultural change journey, which I’m incredibly excited about.”
Prices for the coWork the World tour start from USD$75 per day for the India & Asia leg of the trip, which goes for 80 days. This covers travel, accommodation & coWorking space within each leg.
The tour kicks off 1st May 2016 in Madrid, Spain with Europe and Eastern Europe being the first 2 of the 7 legs.
Applications are being accepted via Instagram selfies or direct through the coWork the World website. At first, it seemed like a rather odd way to accept applications through Instagram selfies, but when the question was asked the response was simply;
“Well if Mastercard will be accepting selfies for payments soon and they consider it safer than passwords, then I don’t see what’s odd about it.”
To get your application started and be a part of coWork the World, simply take a selfie on Instagram and tag @coworktheworld / #coworktheworld. Those not on Instagram can jump onto http://www.coworktheworld.com/apply-now to apply direct.
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