Your Vibe Attracts Your (Wifi) Tribe: The Perks of Co-Living & Co-Working

Already have the freedom to work from anywhere and want to travel the world with a group of amazing, like-minded people? If you call yourself a digital nomad or entrepreneur and you're living the remote life, then this post is for you.

Back in April, I headed out on a solo adventure to Central and South America. I took on Panama, Colombia, Chile and Peru for three adventurous months before I started to get sick of myself. It occurred to me that I’d really like some friends and socialization in my life. You know, beyond the fleeting interactions with fellow travelers that would cross my path for a few hours or days at a time. I was craving a community. People to laugh with. Do my adventuring with. Eat, drink and be merry with.

The WiFi Tribe had been in the back of my mind for a while- a friend had joined a few of their chapters and highly recommended them. Coincidentally, they were headed for Ecuador right around the time my plans were coming to an abrupt halt. The stars seemed to be aligning. I contacted them, had an interview only days later, received notice of my acceptance, and booked a flight. I’m here to tell you what a fantastic decision that was.

Who Is the Tribe Good For?

A few people have mistaken the WiFi Tribe for an organization that will hire you or help you find employment. This is not the case. If you’re applying to join the tribe, you are already location independent and have a remote job. Tribe members I’ve met have been freelancers, online business owners, bloggers and web developers, to name a few. If you have a passion project and the means to travel for a month, you could be a good fit, too.

After my two chapters, it was clear that the experience is best suited for people that want to work hard during the week, and play hard on the weekends. Most tribers get down to business Monday through Friday and adventure together on Saturday and Sundays. On one of my chapters, I took over the WiFi Tribe's Instagram story and introduced our crew. Here's a sample of the kick-ass people you may get to meet:

What I Loved

What’s not to love about the tribe? Rhetorical question.

I'll begin with the dozens of new friends I now have from all around the world. The opportunity the WiFi Tribe creates is, in my opinion, invaluable. When you bring together like-minded people, it’s only natural that some quality bonds are going to form. I talk to a lot of my fellow tribers on a daily basis, and have met up with some along my travels outside of the tribe.

The opportunity for collaboration is also a huge perk. Example: my roommate on my second chapter, Michelle, is a super talented graphic designer. Not only did she knock out a killer logo for me, but she’s a fountain of information that I could bounce ideas off of in all kinds of areas. Shameless plug: you can check her out at www.mkwgraphics.com.

Being a constant traveler, I also loved having one place to chill for 4-6 weeks. I got a break from planning and thinking and had everything I needed to be productive sorted for me in advance.

What I Didn’t Love

Honestly, I enjoyed every single day of every chapter with the tribe. The biggest difference I found with co-living/co-working versus solo travel was that I wasn’t meeting as many new people and I wasn’t spending much time on my own. But, if you’re looking for those things, that’s when you branch off and get your solo travel on. The WiFi Tribe is about community- and that’s exactly what I was looking for when I joined.

Where Have I Gone?

My first chapter with the tribe was in the small beachside town of Olón, Ecuador. We had two apartments in a beautiful three apartment house located right next to the beach. There was a massive backyard, hammocks galore, and a swimming pool. The only trouble? It rained every single damn day...except for ONE! BUT, we powered through and went horseback riding in the jungle in the pouring rain, hiked through the Amazon (also in the pouring rain), went on a whale watch, met indigenous tribes, swung from ridiculous swings, ziplined, kayaked, surfed, played volleyball, frequented the Montañita bars, and overall had an amazing, albeit wet, time.

From Ecuador, I joined the following month’s chapter in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. And finally, THERE WAS SUN. I fell in love with this lively, dusty, one-road surfer's paradise and could probably have spent a lot longer there. Our apartments were gorgeous, just a 5-minute walk to the beach, and set atop a hill (the walk up was literally as close to a 90-degree angle as you can get, and kept my ass in shape). I woke up to sea views every morning, and was literally in awe of my own life. We spent the month getting into all kinds of good stuff- we rented ATVs, went paddle boarding, took boat trips to islands, visited a volcano, bathed in thermal hot springs, took a road trip, stayed on a banana plantation and in a house so nice we were convinced it was a drug lord’s, and much, much more. I even made a few short highlight videos about it, using the amazing, collaborative footage from the tribe:

After Costa Rica, I parted ways with the tribe…but I’m super excited for my next chapter: SOUTH AFRICA! I’ll be joining their Cape Town crew in January 2018 and cannot wait to finally see a country I’ve been dreaming about for years.

Interested?

To apply, fill out the invitation form on the WiFi Tribe website, which can be found here.

I'm writing about the tribe simply out of love and not because anyone asked me to. A blog post is also a simple solution to the many inquiries I've received about my experience. But, if you are interested in joining, make sure you put my name in the "how did you hear about us?" field! That's Lauren of Girl Gone Abroad, if you needed reminding :)

After, you’ll be contacted for a Skype interview. It’s low key and a way for the tribe to get to know you. You will also be asked to take a personality test. This is a measure that I think is working extremely well- there hasn’t been a single person I haven’t been able to get along with on one of my chapters. They make a pointed effort to select people that are going to mesh…which also means they’re not just letting anyone join. If you interview with Diego- it may dawn on you that you’ve just spoken with the nicest person on the planet- and I can confirm that this is in fact true. Tell him I said hi!