First time in a co-living space as an workaholic

7 years ago i got freelance for 2 reasons: to not work for idiots anymore and to get more around on our world.

Because i love my profession but didn’t love my job. And i’m lazy as fuck in case of traveling as long as no one kicks my ass.

So, getting freelance and only take projects as far away as possible from my home was a win-win situation.

Then the pandemic hit.

Like most people working in my profession i spend the better part of the last 2 years in my home office.

And even that i did pretty well living alone in my comfy home and not interacted so much with other people anymore, it wasn‘t really good in case of personal growing.

Because seeing the same people in the same area over a long time does not add any significant experience to my bored, terrible personality.

And working remotely only is a curse and blessing at the same time.

A blessing, because it gives people in my profession more independence. A curse because people like me (remember: lazy. and socially weird) need now a significant boot in their asses to get around again. And not get stuck in their comfy environment.

So i startet it mid 2021 again with a longer tour to Dresden and Berlin. Exploring the cities, meeting friends and coworkers for the project i was involved with at this time.

Starting 2022 i continued this with visits in Leipzig and Lübeck for the same reasons. Just for another project.

After a pause of 1 1/2 year i had trouble to stay away from home this long again. But that resolved itself very quickly. And in the end it was easy because visiting this cities for some time became basically the same comfy bubble as staying at home.

But it was no “co-living”. Not living with roommates. I had flats or hotel rooms. So basically the only people i interacted with on a regular level where the same as before: friends and colleagues. Also the cultural change was of course not that big.

In the end it was a better, but a similar bubble as before. And the personal growth hits its limits again.

I had to leave my comfort zone even more.

Co-living is a residential community living model that accommodates three or more biologically unrelated people living in the same dwelling unit. Generally coliving is a type of intentional community that provides shared housing for people with similar values or intentions.

I planned for a while to spend the german winter in Lissabon. As a german, and workaholic, i had to be sure that my working environment is reliable. And working for me.

Overcrowded (co-work)-café’s are a no go at the moment. Too much noise even with noise canceling headsets. And not enough quiet space for unscheduled calls.

Also hostels with a couple of tennants in the same room were no option for me when i was young, or is now.

After a short while i found outsite.co.

So i planned and planned and found excuses not to go and planned and found excuses.

After a while a friend of mine celebrated his birthday down there And luckily for me this was the boot in my ass i needed again.

So i came to Lisbon in mid of march 2022. Worked there a lot. Met people of my profession there. Met a lot of other people.

And learned a lot again in this time about working in different environments. And living together with different characters.

In short, outside.co in Lisbon is a great location to life and work. To work either in your living-room. Or if you are the type for it, working in the co-working-café.

You will meet a couple of different people of different professions. If you’re lucky.

Because if you stay for a while you will realise that outsite.co is sadly not restricted to people who life and work there, but everyone. Including (classical) Airbnb city tourists or short time guests, because everything else was booked. I think it is done to get the house full, regardless what people are staying there.

In my opinion, and small experience, this fractured the overall experience with that type of location.

Just an example:

The first 3 weeks i lived there we where a very diverse group. Not fully booked, but the people there where from different countries, different professions and stayed between 2 weeks and 3 months already.

Lived together like old roommates with great communication and understanding what it means to “live together” (e.g. clean up after themselves)

It was very refreshing.

Then a whole reset happened in the house and floor and the following roommates where less diverse, and less communicative. Same or similar nationalities and professions for the next 2 weeks. Basically home, but 2200 km away from home.

Then holiday season started and we had some guest who only stayed for some nights.

But most of them since then used the space less then a living-area where different people actually live. But as a mix of hotel and place to sleep: poor or no communication, mess in the kitchen and with no to very poor reflection of their own behaviour.

In the end you could say it was a mixed experience. If i would have had the roommates now in the beginning, i would have been very pissed and wouldn’t extended my stay. Luckily it was the other way around.

Living in a co-living space is basically living with roommates, where you didn’t interviewed the available or upcoming roommates. They can match very well, or they can piss you off with their attitude.