Alt_Newsletter #0013 | August Main

Spilling The Beans

🏮 A little head’s up as November is closer than you think. We’ve just realised that both Alt_ venues are booking up fast, so if you plan to take in Loy Krathong this year, you might not have long left to book. Here’s the link.

🇰🇷 Ever fancied seeing a different side of South Korea? We’re official partners with Hoppin Busan, a 2-week workation experience where you’ll work and live with other nomads and connect with the local community. The first one is in a couple of weeks, but it is running until the end of October. More details here.

🤫 This is just for us for now, but later this month an invite to another digital nomad party could drop in your inbox. All we can say now is that it’ll be at a secret venue, and you might need to find a white t-shirt to wear…

John made the news! 😳

Get hot - or cold - for free

Alt_Popup is back!

We told you the Japan love isn’t ending soon, and we’re not even finished with it in this issue!

You can now book for the next Alt_Popup in Kotohira, this coming November!

As with our first earlier in the year, it is a one-month, all-inclusive coliving experience being hosted at Kotori Coworking & Hostel, in rural Japan.

Our first popup was a huge success, but this time we’re digging a little deeper into the Japanese culture, in work and play.

You’ll still be in the perfect place to get into your productivity flow, stay grounded, and discover rural Japan, of course. We’re putting some emphasis on traditional Japanese principles too, so each week will see a focus on either:

• 間 (Ma) - space/pause

• 無常 (Mujõ) - impermanence

• 和 (Wa) - harmony

• 感謝 (Kansha) - gratitude

Click here to find out more about these, the itinerary for Alt_Popup #2, Kotohira, what it’s like to experience an Alt_Popup, and why it will be perfect for you.

Or, if you have left it a little late to book in for Loy Krathong this November, and are desperate for your Alt_ hit, then stay with us in Japan! And yes, there is an early bird price…

Alt_Community Stories

The Spanish John Ho changed our lives!

You’ll have seen him on our Instagram recently, but we got a deeper conversation about disappointing coworking spaces, incessant writing, and community:

(…oh, and he’s a serial nomad, writes a LOT about working remotely, and has dropped some great tips for you at the end!)

How did you land in Chiang Mai?
My first time in Chiang Mai was an impulsive decision to join my now wife, Angie, in 2018. We had only met a couple of months earlier after I moved to Taiwan without much of a plan. She had just quit her job and decided to travel for a bit. Upon my first bite of Khao Soi, I knew I had stumbled into a special place! Covid derailed our plans to return, but 7 years later we are here!

What has benefitted you most working in coworking/coliving spaces?
Not all coworking spaces are the same. On average, I’d say most coworking places are disappointing. However, when the spaces are good, they are usually game-changers for our entire experience.

Our first experience with this was staying with Repeople in the Canary Islands. Nacho Rodruigez is like the “Spanish John Ho” and has built a bottom-up community that channels his life force through the business.

He not only treated us like family, but helped us connect with other nomads, residents, and the island in a powerful way. We’ve had a very similar experience at Alt here, too.

It sounds like nomadding isn’t new to you then.
Throughout the years, my wife and I have been nomadic in many countries, including Mexico, Spain, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, the US, and Portugal.

What got you on the road?
blew up my life at 33, got curious about why it felt so weird to not have a job, and then obsessively wrote about it for years. Because of this nomadism, over the years I’ve talked to hundreds of people, written hundreds of thousands of words, and published two books on our modern relationship with work. 

Has working at Alt_ helped your writing - whether through connections or the environment?
The kinds of people I LOVE learning from and meeting are literally the people who seem to stay at Alt. In only six weeks, I’ve met people on sabbatical, in-between jobs, without a plan, traveling long-ter,m and working remotely. This has given me a lot of energy to start writing again and its seeding ideas for future books as well! 

How important is having community - whatever that means to you - living your lifestyle?
One of the best things about coliving and coworking communities is that the social piece is built into daily life. With a young kid now, combining both has felt like a cheat code.

These places solve so many things we’d otherwise have to figure out on our own. There’s a spot to work, bump into people, meet friends, host calls, and join random events. In the first week, I was able to find a local gym, smoothie place, and a few lunch places without much effort. It was awesome.

Any seasoned advice for people living the digital nomad lifestyle?

1. Find the superconnectors: We’ve tried to go to places where we know someone living there who also has a local network of friends that we can tap into. It is way easier to drop into an existing friend’s network in a place than to build your own from scratch.

2. Experiment with different “speeds” of travel: Moving quickly and not having a home base can be amazing, but also staying in one place for three months can be an amazing way to shift deeper into creative projects and connect more deeply to a place and other locals.

3. If you want to have kids, meet people with kids doing it: Before we had kids, Angie and I went out of our way to connect with parents living abroad and traveling with kids. Doing this helped us realize there are many ways to live and that children are usually far more resilient than even the most adventurous digital nomads.

Paul is the author of The Pathless Path (his second book) and you can find it at Alt_ChiangMai (if someone else hasn’t beaten you to it!).

Check it out - and what else Paul is working on - and join his newsletter at www.pmillerd.com.

Get involved at Alt_

Alt_Recommends

Last week’s Tea Time at Alt_ChiangMai brought a bit more debate and discussion than usual as we asked for some recommendations from the members who attended:

• Book - Almanack of Naval Ravikant A book everyone who wants to make money should read!

• Movie - Another Round For a movie we’ve never heard of this got a lot of approving nods. It’s Danish, and apparently incredible….

• Music - Riley Green Amir loves his unique voice and keeps finding himself listening to him

• Chiang Mai cafe - Oon Cafe On the east side of the moat road, it’s a great place to sit and read with a great coffee.

• Chiang Mai eats - Rasik Local Kitchen Food is a vital part of CM life, but of all the recs from the members this week, this little place that needs booking well in advance was perhaps the most unique!

Thanks to Amir, Luke, Gee, Tim and everyone else who pitched their favourites…we’ll remember the ones that didn’t make the cut for the next time!

If you’ve any recommendations other Alt_Fam people might benefit from, drop what you’ve got here.

What’s going on in Chiang Mai this month