3 ms·

The Roam site seems to require you to book at at particular location, with check-in and check-out dates, and a per-day pricing structure. How is that really any

The Roam site seems to require you to book at at particular location, with check-in and check-out dates, and a per-day pricing structure. How is that really any different from a traditional hotel/hostel? It'd be more interesting if they were offering, say, the possibility to get a 6-month tenancy agreement with the option to freely move between locations during that time. But that doesn't seem to be the case?

a13n 9y ago
Logistically I don't that what you describe would actually work. What if you show up and a place is fully booked? As a digital nomad myself, the difference I see with Roam is it comes with a working space and therefore a network of like-minded people. At a hotel your Wi-Fi might suck, you'd still have to scramble to find a coffee shop to work from, and other tenants would likely be people on holiday rather than digital nomads.
- stupidcar 9y ago
  Well, obviously there has to be some kind of booking system, but it could work on a more ad-hoc basis. You can stay in your current location for as long as you like, or you can login and see which other locations have capacity, then let them know you'll be coming in day or so. Would this be less convenient in certain situations, where you had definite travel plans in advance? Sure. But it'd also encourage and enable the kind "nomadic" approach they claim to be delivering, and you could always use a regular hotel if you absolutely had to be in a particular city one a particular date. As it stands, "business hotel with guaranteed decent wifi" might be a useful market niche, but it's a far cry from the kind paradigm-shift this seems to be being spun as. And I think there would be something quite interesting in doing it for real.
  - a13n 9y ago
    Flight fares and tourist visa applications don't really jive with the last minute "we'll come and go when we want" mentality. It's quite expensive to travel this way, and you usually need an exit flight booked before entering. Otherwise you're gonna have a heck of a time convincing the border guard you're actually planning on leaving. I'm all for a world with fewer borders and this flexible mentality you describe. I just think it'll take a while for governments / transportation to make it feasible.
    - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
      > you usually need an exit flight booked before entering. Otherwise you're gonna have a heck of a time convincing the border guard you're actually planning on leaving. Digital nomad here. Only a small minority of countries across the world enforce any rule about having to prove that you will actually leave the country, and so often nomads don’t book their flight/bus/train out of a country until they have already entered it and spent some time there. Digital nomads know, for example, that UK officials are particularly strict and hard to please, and getting a Chinese visa might require faking some plane tickets. But for most of the rest of the world, the border officials will simply wave through anyone from a developed country who says they are there for tourism.
      - mseebach 9y ago
        > might require faking some plane tickets > who says they are there for tourism I'm not a nomad, I guess I enjoy nesting too much for that to be an effective lifestyle for me. But I'd be very cautious about choosing a professional lifestyle that's predicated on routinely misrepresenting myself to the authorities.
      - collyw 9y ago
        "Only a small minority of countries across the world enforce any rule about having to prove that you will actually leave the country". My guess is that it will depend a lot on the passport you arrive with.
      - notahacker 9y ago
        A lot of the time it's not the border guards enforcing the rule, it's the airline (which is on the hook for a return flight and a fine in the unlikely event of you being turned away at the border). This can catch you out even in countries like Thailand with visa free policies and an extremely relaxed approach to border runs. Refundable tickets are a much smarter move than fake ones.
  - fyfy18 9y ago
    I’ve found Airbnb to be the best way to deal with this. Book for few weeks, then talk to the owner about staying longer. If there is good supply in the area, then you have a good chance of being able to stay longer as it won’t be booked. Alternatively they may have other properties you can stay in. Having guaranteed WiFi and a desk would be good though. Even in hotels designed for business use it’s often hit and miss.
    - dazc 9y ago
      'I’ve found Airbnb to be the best way to deal with this.' You've had better luck than me then. I've got places with good internet but lots of noise; the one place that was quiet had no internet. Quite frustrating really.
dnomad 9y ago
Yes this would be much more interesting. I don't see much value (for me) in what is just overpriced co-living space. What would be useful would be a kind of subscription/housing-as-a-service approach. You pay $X month for membership, give four weeks notice that you'll be arriving in Y city on a given date, and you get back an email with a booking you can confirm or reject. The problem is that as a nomad 1) a lot of time is wasted looking for good housing 2) you do have to understand the dynamics of the local market to find the best deals since AirBNB is often not the best path and 3) it is stressful knowing you'll be homeless at the end of the month. I think many nomads aren't deciding where to go on a whim but have pretty clear itineraries of what countries they'll be visiting and how long their visas last. A company that could work with such nomads to offer long-term housing planning could save a lot of time and money. Then again it's not really clear how big such a market really is.

a13n 9y ago

Logistically I don't that what you describe would actually work. What if you show up and a place is fully booked? As a digital nomad myself, the difference I see with Roam is it comes with a working space and therefore a network of like-minded people. At a hotel your Wi-Fi might suck, you'd still have to scramble to find a coffee shop to work from, and other tenants would likely be people on holiday rather than digital nomads.

stupidcar 9y ago
Well, obviously there has to be some kind of booking system, but it could work on a more ad-hoc basis. You can stay in your current location for as long as you like, or you can login and see which other locations have capacity, then let them know you'll be coming in day or so. Would this be less convenient in certain situations, where you had definite travel plans in advance? Sure. But it'd also encourage and enable the kind "nomadic" approach they claim to be delivering, and you could always use a regular hotel if you absolutely had to be in a particular city one a particular date. As it stands, "business hotel with guaranteed decent wifi" might be a useful market niche, but it's a far cry from the kind paradigm-shift this seems to be being spun as. And I think there would be something quite interesting in doing it for real.
- a13n 9y ago
  Flight fares and tourist visa applications don't really jive with the last minute "we'll come and go when we want" mentality. It's quite expensive to travel this way, and you usually need an exit flight booked before entering. Otherwise you're gonna have a heck of a time convincing the border guard you're actually planning on leaving. I'm all for a world with fewer borders and this flexible mentality you describe. I just think it'll take a while for governments / transportation to make it feasible.
  - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
    > you usually need an exit flight booked before entering. Otherwise you're gonna have a heck of a time convincing the border guard you're actually planning on leaving. Digital nomad here. Only a small minority of countries across the world enforce any rule about having to prove that you will actually leave the country, and so often nomads don’t book their flight/bus/train out of a country until they have already entered it and spent some time there. Digital nomads know, for example, that UK officials are particularly strict and hard to please, and getting a Chinese visa might require faking some plane tickets. But for most of the rest of the world, the border officials will simply wave through anyone from a developed country who says they are there for tourism.
    - mseebach 9y ago
      > might require faking some plane tickets > who says they are there for tourism I'm not a nomad, I guess I enjoy nesting too much for that to be an effective lifestyle for me. But I'd be very cautious about choosing a professional lifestyle that's predicated on routinely misrepresenting myself to the authorities.
    - collyw 9y ago
      "Only a small minority of countries across the world enforce any rule about having to prove that you will actually leave the country". My guess is that it will depend a lot on the passport you arrive with.
    - notahacker 9y ago
      A lot of the time it's not the border guards enforcing the rule, it's the airline (which is on the hook for a return flight and a fine in the unlikely event of you being turned away at the border). This can catch you out even in countries like Thailand with visa free policies and an extremely relaxed approach to border runs. Refundable tickets are a much smarter move than fake ones.
- fyfy18 9y ago
  I’ve found Airbnb to be the best way to deal with this. Book for few weeks, then talk to the owner about staying longer. If there is good supply in the area, then you have a good chance of being able to stay longer as it won’t be booked. Alternatively they may have other properties you can stay in. Having guaranteed WiFi and a desk would be good though. Even in hotels designed for business use it’s often hit and miss.
  - dazc 9y ago
    'I’ve found Airbnb to be the best way to deal with this.' You've had better luck than me then. I've got places with good internet but lots of noise; the one place that was quiet had no internet. Quite frustrating really.

dnomad 9y ago

Yes this would be much more interesting. I don't see much value (for me) in what is just overpriced co-living space. What would be useful would be a kind of subscription/housing-as-a-service approach. You pay $X month for membership, give four weeks notice that you'll be arriving in Y city on a given date, and you get back an email with a booking you can confirm or reject. The problem is that as a nomad 1) a lot of time is wasted looking for good housing 2) you do have to understand the dynamics of the local market to find the best deals since AirBNB is often not the best path and 3) it is stressful knowing you'll be homeless at the end of the month. I think many nomads aren't deciding where to go on a whim but have pretty clear itineraries of what countries they'll be visiting and how long their visas last. A company that could work with such nomads to offer long-term housing planning could save a lot of time and money. Then again it's not really clear how big such a market really is.