Remote Work Community is a non-profit organization born in 2020 with a vision: making remote-workers feel home while relocating around the globe. Through their website travelers can sign up and join one of the many local communities of expats, nomads and remote-workers worldwide for free. Membership grants access to various channels like SLACK, Facebook groups, and WhatsApp communities. This network enables newcomers to connect with other travelers, dive into the local culture and language, share knowledge and skills with peers, and find accommodations, transportation, and engaging activities.
While sipping my margarita and chatting around at the nomad meet-up event at D’Vales Bay in Corralejo, Fuerteventura, I had a chance encounter with Fabi, the founder of Remote Work Community. I introduced myself and my project, but I kept it short because Carnival was around that night and I did not want to hold Fabi and his friend from enjoying the concert which was gonna happen at the Carnival square: I asked him for an interview.
I am not sharing with you any personal detail of my brilliant new friend, because he specifically asked me not to. Indeed, during my journey I’ve come to understand that there two main types of remote-workers: those who make a personal brand out of their nomadic lives, and those who keep their exciting lifestyle for themselves worried that co-workers, bosses and people around might not see it in the best light. Fabi is part of the second group.
It’ March 14th, 2024, we meet at ASAP, in the centre of Corralejo: a newly opened bar with amazing food offers, a typical ‘nomad-friendly’ menu which features a blend of global dishes, Canarian seafood, freshly brewed coffee and the possibility of sitting for two hours (or more) working at your laptop with a smoothy in your hand: basically, la mecca for remote-workers.
The bartender is Italian so my shakerato con un po’ di latte senza zucchero is amazing, and so looks Fabi’s cortado – the typical coffee style here in Canarias.
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How did your journey as a digital nomad started?
Fabi began his journey as a remote-worker to pursue autonomy and interconnectedness just before the Covid pandemic. “I don’t make money out of this”, he tells me, highlighting the dichotomy between his professional life in Germany and his lifestyle as a digital nomad. Leaving behind his 9-5 job and previous life, he ventured to Bali. Then, he decided to move to Gran Canaria and during this period one of his German friends invited him to the Nomad Cruise, a travel concept which since 2015 has been moving more and more towards taking the shape of a proper digital nomad conference at sea. During this trip, he met Gonzalo Hall, the founder of Nomad X and one of the nomad village project creators in Madeira. This transformative experience spread the seeds for his venture into community creation, then Fuerteventura happened. The wild Atlantic island, which appeared even more desertic and untouched during the pandemic, produced just the right vibe to animate the first meet-ups organised. “I like to meet people, you know… and sometimes it can be hard if the bars are closed and the island is so vast and empty”.
How Do You Define Digital Nomadism?
We both laugh at this question. In fact, Fabi deviates his answer towards the comparison remote-workers vs. digital nomad. He sees the two concepts as one spectrum. Some people are true nomads, wandering without a fixed base, while others are remote-workers who tend to create a stable home – for 6 months, a year or more – in the places where they go. Remote-workers may actually travel quite less than normal people, moving once or twice a year. Or, they may have a homebase, in a city or in an exotic location, which they leave only for short workations. According to Fabi’s words, the amount of travel does not seem to be as essential in the definition of digital nomadism as much as the possibility of choosing where to locate and when to relocate your life independent of work, economic or even relational ties. Homebase also seems to be a keyword in his discourse. “Digital nomadism has evolved”, he arguments, pointing out the changes he has noticed in nomad characters over the past six years. “The initial wave of digital nomads is distinct from the current generation. They were more adventurous. The new wave seeks a balance between adventure and stability through workations.” – I was told a similar narrative about digital nomadism birth and its evolution also by the Madeiran first nomads, those who first organised events for digital nomads in the empty hotels which were their homes during the Pandmeic.
What’s the role of technology in fostering digital nomad communities?
We both know very well the importance of being inside the SLACK of the local communities, where the weekly menu of activities, events and really anything that may be relevant for foreigner remote-workers is published. People like Fabi are well-acquainted of the possibilities given by the new technologies when it comes to remote team-working and project managing. These people are also more keen to meet with others doing their same jobs with a similar mindset and lifestyle rather than to look up to the expat community of their home country, if there is one where they are. People like Fabi leave their home country with a new lifestyle in mind, they seek the encounter with different cultures and people and they use all the means to get and keep the largest most diverse variety of acquaintances.
How Did SLACK become a key tool for so many digital nomad communities?
The idea to use SLACK came from Fabi’s work. “It was a natural choice”, he says. Drawing from his experience with startups, he saw the potential in using SLACK to knit the digital nomad community – and communities – closer together. In Corralejo, he started the first SLACK group during the COVID-19 lockdown as a way to meet people and share resources, news and contacts. “The group lives its own life now”, he proudly states – “they all do”, showing me his SLACK with about 100 active communities. He explains that the platform facilitates not just professional collaboration but also personal connection, enabling the creation of specialized channels for the many needs of the community. It’s convenient, practical and efficient.
What’s the language spoken by digital nomads?
“English, mmh… it’s hard to say”. In digital nomad communities English serves as the cornerstone for communication. He tells me about how English is often the language specifically asked for communication on the online communities. “In the Nomad Cruise, for example, the organizers were always asking to speak English. They were afraid that we would start speaking German preventing engagement of people from other countries”. For Fabi the English language embodies both a practical requirement and a symbol of inclusivity. “But at the same time it is not nice if you are in a place, let’s say here, for six months and do not speak a word of Spanish. You are like an alien” – we laugh, and he tells me about the many language course flyers he has seen in the language channels of the SLACK communities.
Is English Essential for Digital Nomads?
“Yes”. Fabi firmly believes English is crucial in our global lives. In his opinion, the first nomads were all very good English speakers, they often knew many languages and were people ready to face new cultural encounters. At the same time, the “young nomads” are taking advantage of these diverse linguistic landscapes to improve their language skills. And he also admits, “alcohol sometimes helps those not fluent in English to speak up.”
How do these many communities unite under a singular vision?
Fabi has seen it all, from formal, German-speaking groups in Cyprus to laid-back, surfer-style café meet-ups in Fuerteventura. Each community shapes its identity based on the personality of its members. “In the end, people know the places and communities that are more similar to their vibe. But, you also have a lot of variation”.
Digital nomad communities are diverse in all ways: their members are culturally diverse, they are different from the local people, and each community has its own vibe and peculiarity. Yet somehow these communities are structured all the same, they are all based on the same principles of inclusivity, resilience, nomadic lifestyle, adventure.
What me and Fabi are talking about is a new concept of community and identity, the mirror of the hyperconnected yet diverse world we are living in.