How to Find Digital Nomad Communities All Over the World
Life on the road can get lonely, especially if you’re travelling solo. Family and friends often don’t understand or support your crazy, nomadic endeavours, and tourist visas can keep you moving on to the next country before you’ve had a chance to settle in and meet people. These are my tips on how to find digital nomad communities around the world to get advice, find inspiration, and make friends as you work and travel.
Community is an important part of being human. When you’re bored and working remotely alone at your Airbnb, or you find yourself out of your comfort zone in a new country or city and need to talk to other people who’ve been there and done that (or are still there doing that) – tapping into the resources of digital nomad communities is super helpful.
There are plenty of ways to find a digital nomad community, so whether you prefer to talk to people in person or online, there’s a nomad group out there to suit you.
If you’re just setting out on your remote adventures, choosing one of the trending digital nomad cities (or hubs) is a great place to start. Chiang Mai, Bali, Lisbon, and Medellin are all incredibly popular with location independent professionals due to the active nomad culture, things to do, delicious local food, and low cost of living.
Where to find digital nomad communities
Nomad List
One of the best digital nomad communities online, Nomad List gives tips and advice on how to become a nomad and live a location independent lifestyle. On the website, you’ll find the best places to live and work remotely. You can see at a glance where the trending hubs for nomads are around the world, and search countries and cities by numerous filters such as living costs, WiFi speed, fun, safety, and average temperatures.
For example – you’ll see below that the community of Lisbon digital nomads is the most popular at the time of writing this article.
Basic information is free on the Nomad List site, but to take full advantage of all the features, and the Slack channel – you’ll need to be a paid member. It’s a one-time payment of $99 USD to get full access and lifetime membership, which is a bargain for the information and community it gives you.
Nomad List also has a companion site, RemoteOK.io which lists the latest remote work jobs and opportunities.
Digital Nomad Girls
Starting out as a Facebook group, Digital Nomad Girls is now an active community of over 50,000 like-minded female digital nomads. Their mission is to inspire, connect, and empower women all from all over the world to build a location independent lifestyle that gives them the freedom to travel and work, and create a life they love.
Slack channels
Slack is one of the internet’s hidden gems for finding like minded digital nomad communities. While some are free to join, most of the good ones are paid – which means the quality of conversations and advice is higher, and there’s less trolling.
You can create your own channel and invite other nomads to join, or use Slofile to search out relevant public channels for nomads, remote work, freelancing, and travel.
Work From
Work From is a great little Slack channel that can help you scout out coworking spaces and great cafes to work from (obvi). I’m a member of this paid group, and it’s been super helpful for finding new places to travel, stay, and work.
Join the Work From Slack channel here
Nomads Talk
Nomads Talk (I always read this URL as Nomad Stalk, but please don’t do that) is a free Slack channel and community. There’s a specific channel for each city around the world so you can easily connect with other remote workers in your city.
Remotely One
The RemotelyOne Slack group is free to join for remote workers and nomads – you just need to enter your email address to apply.
It’s one of the largest global communities – inviting all remote and nomadic professionals to build virtual relationships and create a supportive network. Group members discuss everything from new products and services, to fun places to visit, where to eat, where to stay, and all the challenges they face as a location independent worker.
Digital Freelancer
The Digital Freelancer is another great resource for nomads seeking an online community to join. There’s currently 1,841 members, so you’re bound to find hundreds of posts about nomadic work and life, plus meet new people at the same time.
Facebook groups
Joining a digital nomad group on Facebook is one of the easiest ways to find digital nomad communities online. Simply search “digital nomad” on the Facebook platform, and you shall be rewarded with a whole bunch of groups for different nomad needs. It’s best to join a handful of the groups that are most relevant to you, to avoid your feed being bombed by continuous group posts. Although, that might also be just what you’re looking for 🙂
Nomadbase – Global Digital Nomad Network
With over 56,000 members, this Facebook group run by Nomad Cruise has the answers to everything you need to know, and the ability to connect you with other digital nomads anywhere in the world.
The forum is open to all things about the digital nomad lifestyle – the best digital nomad destinations for work and travel, latest marketing hacks, potential business collaborations, and personal stories of traveling entrepreneurs.
Digital Nomads Around the World
This is one of the most active places on Facebook for digital nomads to share tips and advice and ask questions related to living the digital nomad lifestyle. Start by searching past posts to get answers to your questions, or jump straight into the channel and start connecting with your fellow nomads.
The Solo Female Traveler Network
This Facebook group is specifically for solo female travellers who work remotely. You can share links, get advice, look for work, and share your travel experiences with other female nomads.
You can also join the subgroups of this channel at:
Facebook groups to find digital nomad jobs and remote work opportunities
Digital Nomad Reddit channel
Reddit has some of the best communities for digital nomads. The most popular one is the self-titled digital nomad reddit channel where you can talk about, and get advice on, every aspect of the nomadic lifestyle.
Meetup.com
Meetup is a great way to find any type of meet up group – anywhere in the world. And if you can’t find one that suits, you can create your own. Search on digital nomad groups, freelance groups, or travel groups to start with.
Coworking spaces
Sick of being bored and alone at your hotel or Airbnb? Coworking spaces can provide the break you need from yourself. I use these to get a change of surroundings, but I find I can’t do deep work here because it’s too distracting with people coming and going, and ambient noise. I have good noise cancelling headphones (totally recommend these if you need to get work done!), but mostly, coworking spaces just don’t work for me. Ironically enough.
Coworker
Find your ideal co-working space anywhere in the world. Coworker has a database of 18,5000 spaces, with 300 new spaces being added every month. You can currently find spaces to cowork in across 172 countries.
WeWork
WeWork has had it’s fair share of controversy over the past few years. Despite that, it’s still one of the most well known global co-working companies. With over 800 co-working locations around the globe, there’s bound to be a WeWork option near you if you’re in a major city.
Founded in 2010, WeWork’s mission was to create environments where people can come together and create their best work. They’re committed to providing flexible desk and office space solutions and nomad community experiences. They believe that a healthy, inspiring workplace can benefit everyone, from freelancers to global brands, and can help people be more productive and happy.
Co-living spaces
Staying at a dedicated coliving space can be one of the best and easiest ways to find your nomad community. You can live and work with people who understand the ups and downs of remote work and travel – and then socialize after work if you want to.
Selina
Although I’ve never stayed at a Selina, they’ve saved my butt a few times when I had crappy internet at my Airbnb, needed wifi on the go, or just needed a place to have a good coffee and check my emails.
With other 60 co-working/co-living spaces around the world, Selina provides nomads with beautiful, clean, modern places to stay, travel, and work – usually in a prime location in central cities or by the beach.
Outsite
Outsite is a rapidly growing network of coliving and coworking spaces. If you love staying in beautiful accommodation, and beautiful destinations, check out what they have to offer.
Founded in 2015, they welcome location flexible professionals looking to integrate their life and their work, and meet interesting new people from diverse backgrounds. Their mission is to “create a world where everyone can design and live their best lives, with the freedom to live and work anywhere.”
They currently have 24 nomad coliving spaces around the world in a variety of urban, coastal, and alpine locations.
Digital Nomad Travel Groups
Joining a nomad travel group means that you’ll never have to travel alone. You can check out a wide range of programs that are available at the Coworkations site – which is a database of database of 73+ digital nomad retreats 🎒️ taking 820+ travel while remote working trips 👩💻 across 70+ countries 🌏️ — find your people and join the community that is right for you
WiFi Tribe
WiFi Tribe is a curated nomad community. Members are carefully vetted before being allowed to join. This means that all members feel comfortable showing up as themselves, while remaining open to new experiences and the perspectives of other people. This community has a reputation for creating fast, longstanding friendships.
Their interview process helps the WiFi Tribe team get to know their members to ensure they’re professionals who share the same values. This is how they’ve created such a well known and respected digital nomad community.
Remote Year
I’ve personally spoken to a few people who’ve been on Remote Year, and they all rate it as a game-changer for their travels and for growing lasting friendship and business relationships with like-minded people.
A pioneer in the field of nomad community creation, Remote Year is a leader in creating community-based travel experiences that bring remote working professionals together to travel, live, work, learn, and grow together in some of the most amazing places on earth. They have launched over 60 programs and helped thousands of people live a more fulfilling life across 5 continents, 37 cities, and 30 countries.
Hostels and cafes
Even if you don’t stay at at a hostel, make sure you stop by and check out events that might be coming up. These will usually be on their noticeboard, or on flyers in the lobby or at their reception area. Many popular cafes also have noticeboards and flyers lying around to inform locals and travellers of events that are coming up, or groups to join in the area.
Hopefully some of these tips will help you find your perfect digital nomad community, wherever you’re heading – whether it’s in person or in a virtual setting. If there’s another digital nomad community you think should be on this list, let me know in the comments!
Author bio
Rachael is a full-time digital nomad and freelance copywriter for B2B and SaaS companies. She’s worked with brands like Unbounce, Biteable, Datacom, Viddyoze, and Owler.
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- TRAVEL TIPS AND RESOURCES
- Find cheap flights
I use Kayak, Skyscanner, and Expedia to find the best deals on flights. This often means flying late night or early morning – so if you’re working remotely, make sure you plan around this. - Book accommodation
I always use Booking.com for my first stop in any city. These tend to be hotels, so it’s easy for your taxi or Uber drive to find them, which is a huge relief if you arrive in a strange city at 3am after a 19-hour flight and just want to sleeeeeep. For longer stays, I use Airbnb (always, always filter these listings by superhosts and make sure to read the reviews before you book), Hostel World to book budget stays, and VRBO (the new challenger to Airbnb – way less fees and great accommodation options), - Housesitting
If you’re a pet lover, you can stay FREE in a local house anywhere in the world with Trusted Housesitters. I’ve used this a couple of times and it was awesome. If you travel long term and miss the companionship of fluffy friends – borrowing other people’s pets (and saving $$$$ on accommodation at the same time) is a huge win. - Transport
If you need a rental car, I recommend RentalCars.com or Kayak to find the cheapest options and compare companies. - Travel Insurance
Yes. You need it. I recommend both SafetyWing and World Nomads to keep you and your gear protected. These companies have monthly policies specifically for digital nomads and long-term travellers. I’m currently using SafetyWing, as it’s one of the only companies that covers travellers for COVID-related issues right now. - Book a tour
I’m not big on guided tours, but I check out Get Your Guide and Viator to find must-see places in every new city I go to. If you love tours, these are the two top sites to search for and book tours around the world. - Luggage storage
Stuck in that awkward zone between two accommodation points – or waiting all day for a flight? Stasher has 1,000 locations in 250 countries that you can store your luggage in while you go out and do fun stuff. Because carrying everything you own with you all day is not fun.
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