Building a Coliving Takes Time - Azores

2 years ago I was in Chiang Mai. I was staying in an awesome coliving space. I got to Thailand from the Azores. After spending the whole summer of 2022 on the island of São Miguel in a cool coliving space over there.

Those were the first times I thought that "it would be kinda cool to run one of these funky houses." Not every digital nomad lives in a coliving space. However, of those that do, probably every one of them has had the idea of "having their own coliving."

Yet there is still only a "handful" of coliving spaces compared to the number of remote workers and digital nomads out there. Why is that? Simple - because it's frustrating, takes a very long time, and is quite simply hard.

From Idea To Execution Phase - 2 years

This paragraph is not meant to discourage any future/potential coliving operators, founders, or investors - quite the contrary - there is a need for more people in the industry.

The harsh truth, though, is that it does take lots of time, frustration, nerves, and money to even get started.

If you want to get it done properly, build from scratch and design it not only as per your vision and dreams - but as per what digital nomads need.

I started my journey as a digital nomad almost 4 years ago.

Here is my own story in time & milestones 👇

As mentioned above, my first idea of running my own coliving space appeared after my initial experiences in such houses. First, I spent a couple of months using coliving products at Selina. Back in 2022, this was functioning well. In certain places in Latin America, they had launched the community program, and the hubs were managed by skilled and trained community residents. Back then, I didn't know much about the industry but started getting interested in it more and more.

During the summer of the same year, I lived with a community of people on the island. Normally, island life brings two faces - paradise or prison. I felt neither. Seeing the owners create an incredible community space out of an old ruin was the first time I truly realized there was a possibility to build independent businesses in this space.

Upon leaving the island I was already playing with the idea.

When I arrived in Thailand - I naturally opted to stay in a coliving again. This experience just cemented my thoughts. Risk-takers who understand hospitality businesses & understand the remote work trend - have an incredible chance. The coliving as a product is truly taking off.

Already during my time in Chiang Mai, I started getting things in motion. Despite having a lot of adventures planned in the Far East, I was starting to put things together and think. Where could I open my coliving space? Did I want business partners? Was I able to build a house, something I had never attempted even in my homeland?

And so it all started. I met Charles, my co-founder, in Bangkok in November 2022 and we started discussing the idea of creating a co-living space together. Due to my Camino experience - I was particularly fond of the Northern Spain region. He liked the idea and we agreed on a field trip in March 2023.

I flew back from Taiwan to Vienna on March 1st afternoon. On the morning of March 2nd - I boarded a flight to Santander, Spain. Jetlagged, frozen & shocked at the level of European hospitality after spending 6 months in Asia - I set off to explore the northern coast of Spain.

We rented a car in Bilbao and drove all through Basque Country, Cantabria, and Asturias. I met with real estate agents, visited properties, and even visited a cool iSlow coliving space up in Galicia, only to realize one thing: this was probably not the place where we wanted to open the coliving space, due to harsh weather in the off-season and high property prices.

Demotivated, I returned to Slovakia, knowing it would be hard to find a place. I spent days on property portals both in Spain and Portugal. Then, suddenly, a perfect house appeared: right at the beach, close to the city center, with a nice backyard, at an affordable price, in a state of ruin, in the Azores.

Charles was just on the island at that time and decided to visit the house. Our assumptions were confirmed, and we decided to go ahead. We formed a partnership with Christian and decided to go full steam ahead - if only we had known what was ahead.

After agreeing to purchase the property in June and finally finalizing the paperwork in October of 2023, we thought we were just getting started! A mistake.

Due to multiple reasons - which I would rather not go into detail about - we found ourselves taking one step forward and two backward.

However, we have found a way to get things into motion, and I'm writing this just before visiting our site, as the renovation is ongoing. Something that sounds so simple but has taken so much time and effort to get to this position.

We're not even in the final stage - yet it has proven to be a road with plenty of potential pitfalls & traps.

So yes, building colivings is not easy. It takes time & effort. And resilience and money.

As with any cool thing that's built either online or offsite.

If you told me what would await me would I sign up for it back in August 2022? Probably not.

Have I ever regretted or thought of quitting?

No.

Ask me again in June 2025. When our opening is planned for.

Until then - follow us & our renovation hiccups on Instagram.

& keep chasing your dreams.