Roaming Beans

Part of

How we'll Evolve

Cafe hop your way around the world.

MA 2023

Keywords

Digital Nomads, Future Lifestyle, Community

Overview

In an era where the digital nomad is becoming increasingly mainstream, we have observed that for the majority of fast-travelling digital nomads - spending no more than a month in each city - balancing work and travel leaves them with limited opportunities to fully explore and immerse themselves in local culture.

Roaming Beans is committed to addressing this challenge. Through our cafe-centred community-sharing platform, Roaming Beans aims to empower digital nomads to experience and explore the culture of their destination cities more profoundly.

By collaborating with local independent cafes and communities, we create small local communities to foster digital nomads’ sense of cultural immersion and create unforgettable memories.

Collaboration

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Background

Rising population of digital nomads.

After the pandemic, a remote-working policy was largely adopted, which fundamentally changed employees' expectations of geographical flexibility. Meanwhile, in recent years, more and more people are recognising the importance of self-care, and prioritising their well-being to create a healthy work-life balance. Therefore, now in this post-pandemic world, there are currently over 35 million digital nomads worldwide and It has been predicted that the number will reach 1 billion by the year 2035.

Problem

Fast-travelling digital nomads don’t have the means to fully explore and immerse in local culture because of the need to balance between work and travel.

We surveyed 35 digital nomads who travel to London and conducted interviews with three of them. Over 60% of the digital nomads surveyed are fast-travelling ones. And almost 80% of them are young professionals - aged between 24-36. They shared similar motivations of the inner pursuit of freedom and a desire to experience different cultures. They prefer to work in cafes and care about the facilities and social connections they make. They shared the desire to explore the cultural offerings of a city and engage with locals to learn more about the vibe.

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But for them, the most frustrating part is balancing work and travel. Due to various constraints, it’s hard for them to work efficiently to make the most of their time to integrate into the city.

Opportunity

How might we use the independent local cafe as a medium to build a new way of travelling so that digital nomads could maintain work efficiency while maximising the taste of local culture by interacting with local communities?

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Cafes are the touchpoint where digital nomads spend the most time throughout their journey.

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Most digital nomads prefer to work in local independent cafes because it means a more unique and cosy atmosphere that helps them focus and be productive. Meanwhile, many local and foreign remote workers also gather to work in cafes, giving them a sense of community and chances to network. For them, it is also a way of supporting local businesses.

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For the travelling part, coffee shops go beyond coffee. As feeling the local vibe is a vital part of their journey, visiting local cafes and the surrounding local districts is part of this experience. Cafes foster ties to people and places, offer solace and socialising, and by engaging with business-initiated communities, they can develop ties stronger than "weak ties".

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Solution

Cafe hop your way around the world.

Roaming Beans is a vibrant community-driven platform that caters to the needs of digital nomads and supports local independent cafes. We go the extra mile to ensure digital nomads always find the perfect work environment, expand their networks, and contribute to the local cafe scene.

Through collaborations with local cafes and community members, we curate personalised work and travel routes that align with the preferences of digital nomads. Whether it's discovering hidden gems in London or maximising their time in each destination, we strive to provide an authentic local experience.

Cultural immersion is at the heart of our mission. By partnering with local independent cafes and communities, we offer a range of offline activities that foster connections and create lasting memories. Additionally, our platform provides valuable travel tips and advice from knowledgeable locals, enhancing the overall digital nomad experience.

Impact

One important part of Roaming Beans is the cafe partnership. We provide seamless three-step guidance for independent cafes to join the community and sustain the network. We foresee a global network of digital nomads and local independent cafes, in the near future.