What if you could leave your cubicle behind, pack up your work, and take your next meeting in Madrid? Or Bali? Of course it's appealing, but then there's the obvious reality check: A live-work abroad kind of life would require permission from your boss, or finding one of those coveted jobs that allows you to work remotely. In other words, no easy feat.
But what if it were easy? Co-working and co-living organizations are working to make it that way, with a new crop of companies giving some workers the chance to leave the corporate space behind and join the ranks of 'working nomads.' These services help keep employees connected, even when they're thousands of miles from the board room. Some are better than others: Remote Year, an adult "study" work-abroad program, just finished its first year—and it didn't go so smoothly. The company offered housing and travel to freelance and remote workers through 12 cities in the same number of months, and accommodations and workspace did not come together as promised. For instance, there were reports of roach-infested hotels and limited support from Remote Year's staff.
You can avoid a similar nightmare by talking to other remote workers on sites like NomadForum, or sign on to one of the three remote work services below.
Roam
One of the hardest parts of traveling regularly is making a foreign city feel like home. But, Roam is working to make the transition from place to place as easy as signing a lease. By renting with Roam, travelers have access to co-living spaces in Bali, Madrid, and Miami for weeks or months at a time and can bounce back and forth between countries. The service has plans to open residences in London and Buenos Aires in the coming years.
"It's not just for the young single freelancer," the founder, Bruno Haid, told Fast Company. "It's for the couple in their late 30s who are going to have kids and want to downsize for a year or two. Or the empty-nesters who say the kids are in college, let's travel the world for two or three years." Residents in a Roam home have access to a private bedroom and bathroom, but share co-working space, living space, and a communal kitchen, in order to get to know other nomads and the city where they're living and working. $500 a week or $1800 for a month.
WeWork
A new standard for domestic co-working spaces, WeWork also offers locations in the U.K., Germany, South Korea, Israel, China, Canada, Mexico, and the Netherlands, with plans for spaces in Australia and India in the works. Whether you need a dedicated desk or just a couch to work on, the startup has flexible membership options for all needs.
While the co-working space doesn't come with accommodations, it ensures reliable Wi-Fi, coffee, and perks like discounts on gym memberships and travel. With locations in 15 cities across the U.S., and access to all domestic and international spaces available on the service's membership plan, WeWork offers remote professionals a lot of wiggle room to move from place to place, while still being able to count on quality office space.
The startup has started beta-testing WeLive, which offers furnished private rooms (from studios to three-bedroom apartments), communal living spaces and events, month-to-month rental options. The program is only available in New York and Washington D.C. so far, but if the initial tests go well, WeLive might provide another option for nomadic workers looking for more unusual accommodations. WeWork from $45, WeLive from $875.
Hacker Paradise
The tech cousin of Roam, Hacker Paradise offers a more road-tested program for designers, developers, and entrepreneurs (with other types of freelancers welcome to join). The program takes care of accommodations and workspace for three-month blocks in cities around the world. By staying in one city, Hacker Paradise allows participants to come and go, booking for as little as two weeks or up to three months in places like Barcelona, Berlin, Tokyo, and Taipei.
The program also offers more structured options, so participants can have morning accountability check-ins with a Hacker Paradise staffer to go over their plans for the day. Hacker Paradise also organizes a weekly Demo Day, where workers can voluntarily showcase their projects. From $300 per week.
Plus: Vote for your favorite hotels, cities, airlines, and more in the 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards survey.