Andreea Rusu
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Colivings — The place where you can rede ...

Colivings — The place where you can redefine yourself

Jul 23, 2022

Hi guys, nice to meet you!

My name is Andreea, I am a full-time traveller and digital nomad, and I am on a journey of self-discovery.

Last year in June, I decided to give myself a “One Year Off commitment of not knowing where I am heading”, and I started pursuing my scariest and biggest dream: travelling around the world while working as a freelance social media manager and content creator.

Being a freelancer and not having a stable income all the time, I decided to start travelling as a digital nomad by volunteering as a Social Media Manager for some of the places they need.

Soon I discovered the world of Colivings — spaces where digital nomads live together while working on their remote jobs. Whether they are Software Engineers, Digital Marketers, Product Managers, Coaches, Game Creators, and so on, they all live a life of workation.

Right now, I am in France exploring my 3rd coliving experience as a volunteer community builder at Cloud Citadel.

My first experience was last year in June in Spain at Anceu Coliving where I spent five months there where I promoted the place on all social media platforms and the website. I took photos, edited testimonials, wrote content, published, and managed the online community. Throughout the months, I naturally merged into a community manager by becoming a facilitator between 16 people, activities, and the space.

Since Anceu Coliving was opened in July 2020, more than 132 colivers crossed their doors and lived together from a few weeks to a few months.

After Anceu Coliving, I lived and worked remotely at Swiss Escape — I was the main person of contact in the coliving and coworking space. I took care of 8 people by making sure they had everything they needed. In addition, I proposed and organized social and business events for us, from cooking, hiking, and board-gaming to skills share nights.

After spending eight months living in communities with digital nomads worldwide, I understood that a coliving space is neither a hotel nor a home. It’s more than that: it is a place where people live, work, play, and connect.

So that in November last year, I partnered up with a new business that offers a hands-on guide for people who wants to open their coworking and coliving: LivingColiving.

I am in love with this concept: of coliving & coworking, and I want to spread this lifestyle further to build and strengthen the bonds between digital nomads and creative minds worldwide.

So here are some key components I discovered that make a coliving space successful:

  • Community is at the heart

A great community covers a different set of needs: the need for connection and the need for belonging. So it would help if you adapted your coliving to your community, not the other way around. And this is how I learned to set up dynamics and experiences that strengthen the relationships between the colivers.

  • Interior design — how you decorate the coliving

Design is not just pretty. Design solves a problem; it serves a purpose. So don’t just need to be pretty; it should MEAN something, should feel like a home where people want to belong and grow together.

  • Management of the coliving for a smooth running

To have a healthy coexistence between coliver and the place, you must learn how to develop manuals to promote healthy communication.

  • Changemakers

A co-living space is integrated into the social environment of a city, town, or region. One of the essential roles of a coliving space is to encourage the creation of harmonious coexistence between the coliving community and the neighbours and the environment in which the area is located.

  • Alliances — build a network of like-minded people.

People who join a coliving community do so for a variety of reasons. One of the most important ones is that exciting things happen in your space. That means surrounding yourself with interesting and curious people with whom to build new opportunities and possibilities so that your coliving community can also enjoy them and feel inspired by luck. It is essential to learn how to build national and international networks and to discover the importance of an opportunities and collaboration hub, where the colivers want to belong.

  • Communication plan

How to develop a communication strategy online and offline that expresses your values and identity that attracts the colivers community who fits your vision.

Whether you want to open your own coliving or join the network of colivers and digital nomads, let’s keep in touch on my social media platform until I set up a newsletter.

You can check some of my stories and experiences here: YoutubeInstagram, and Facebook.

Hear us soon!

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