What Is A “Digital Nomad”, And What Are They Doing In Bansko?
Magnus: a digital nomad in Bansko this ski season
If you’re a Bansko business or an apartment owner, you may have heard of ‘Coworking Bansko’, and Digital Nomads, and be wondering what they are? This guest post from Magnus Huckvale, a digital nomad since 2005, sets out to answer these questions. Well, digital nomads certainly might be of interest to you as potential customers or tenants and they may even a way to extend the season into the quieter months of the year.
Picture: Starfish Coffee and Champagne Bar in Bansko. For days out of coworkingbansko space
As you would expect there is a large proportion of computer programmers, web developers, and other internet-related professions, but there are also plenty of writers, graphic designers or artists, not to mention accountants or consultants.
But there’s no ski mountain… Since becoming a digital nomad in 2005 I always thought about doing a ski season, but it was difficult to bring myself round to the cost of somewhere like Morzine when I could be in Chiang Mai.
So when this summer I read an article about Coworking Bansko, I pretty much immediately decided to spend the winter here. Coworking Spaces are popping up all over the world as offices where anyone can easily rent a desk for a day or a few months.
I was not disappointed – the rent for the whole season here was less than what I’d have paid for one month in Morzine, and I’ve appreciated a town where even tourist prices for food and drink are still much less than London.
It strikes me as likely that more nomads will be attracted to Bansko in the future.
Not all digital nomads want to ski or snowboard – plenty are into hiking or mountain biking. I would bet that anyone with 12-30 bedrooms empty during the warmer months could attract digital nomads for a month or two hiking, just by posting in a few Facebook groups.
The largest digital nomad Facebook group has 37,000 members and continues to grow.
They are all over the world but mostly in cheaper, hotter countries – so Asia and increasingly South America. As the community matures, more imaginative locations are springing up – believe it or not you do get tired of perpetual summer.
There’s already a “Co-Living” space (offering a desk and a bedroom) opened in a swiss ski resort, and a few are popping up in surf towns – it seems likely that activity-oriented locations will be part of the future of digital nomading.
If you’re interested in offering something for digital nomads, I suggest contacting Coworking Bansko. There are also a few groups running digital nomad tours around the world, who would welcome offers of accommodation.
For more on this topic check out my article and interview with Matthias, co-owner of Coworking Bansko (coworkingbansko.com). Or you can listen to the podcast in the Bansko App (Android and iOS).
My huge thanks to Magnus for this post.
Should you wish to contribute content to banskoblog.com | App or join me as a guest or co-host on Bulgaria Now Podcast series, then I would love to hear from you. contact below or twitter @bansko
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