Another day, another interview! This time, we bring you something a bit different from our regular interviews with coliving operators.
We had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Lavinia, the founder of The Offsite, who has hosted 13 coliving pop-ups since 2020.
We discussed how it all began, the key elements, the participants, and why Fuerteventura is one of her favorite pop-up destinations.
Enjoy reading!
Beginnings
“Not all those who wander are lost.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
1. Could you share more about yourself and what led to the start of The Offsite?
Lavinia: I’ve always loved traveling and organizing events for my friends – so it’s no surprise to anyone that I’m hosting trips now and building a community!
The idea started with two friends when we decided to go and work from Lisbon during the pandemic. We invited all our friends to join us! What started as a two-week trip ended up being a five-week one, with twelve of us enjoying the late autumn sun in Portugal!
It was a blast and I decided that I loved coliving and wanted to do more of it ☺
2. While developing The Offsite experience, were there specific influences or inspirations that shaped your approach and led to the creation of the experience you offer today?
Lavinia: I see the Offsite experiences being very well-rounded; there’s surfing but it’s not exclusively about surfing, same with yoga, same with spirituality stuff (such as cacao circles or breathworks).
In the same way, hostels are very good for people who travel alone, I wanted that experience but for people who are working, maybe a bit older, and not mostly there to party.
I’d say I was inspired by many concepts out there and picked and chose what I liked in each to create my very own unique offering.
3. The Offsite pop-ups always have interesting locations. What’s the process of choosing these places?
Lavinia: They are mostly based around surfing, with a good community for digital nomads!
4. This year you are returning to Fuerteventura for the third time since you started hosting The Offsite pop-ups. What’s the story that led to this tradition?
Lavinia: We just love that island! The combined two months spent there have been so good that I have never even explored the other Canary Islands.
For me, Fuerte is still so beautiful and untouched while still offering a good community of digital nomads, surfers, and freedom seekers.
The nature is breathtaking, the surf is great and it’s always sunny and warm – What not to like?
5. What sets The Offsite apart from other pop-up experiences? What would you consider your signature or unique offering?
Lavinia: I haven’t attended many other experiences, but I think The Offsite is really special as it allows everyone to be exactly who they want to be, we’re all so unique, no one’s the same age, nationality, or background.
As mentioned above, we offer different activities from surfing to breathwork to ice baths and nights out – it makes the experience very well-rounded! We do everything together from morning to evening, and that makes us all become super super close – I think that’s definitely one of Offsite’s strong attributes!
Management
“Unity is strength division is weakness.”
-Swahili proverb
6. To what extent are you involved in the community and day-to-day activities?
Lavinia: I’m fully immersed in it!! We do everything together; from the moment I pick them up at the airport when they arrive till I drop them off when they leave, I do everything in between with everyone ☺
7. What types of activities are offered to guest during their stay at your pop-ups, and what’s your approach to organizing them?
Lavinia: There’s usually always one weekly surf and yoga class included as well as a welcome BBQ night.
The rest of the week is co-created as a group, but I always make sure I research all activities the location has to offer and come up with daily suggestions – in Fuerteventura, we have gone on volcano sunrise and sunset hikes, on party boat trips, kite surfing, we’ve attended a full moon meditation in the dunes, a breathwork session followed by an ice bath & a karaoke night in town, just to mention a few!
Visitors
“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”
-Stephen R. Covey
8. What is the typical profile of The Offsite guests?
Lavinia: No typical profile type! The most common age range is 25-35, but we’ve had as young as 19 and as old as 44.
Occupation and nationality vary so much. Everyone is open-minded and ready to make new friends!
9. What do you believe attracts individuals to The Offsite pop-ups? What is the most common motivation for people choosing to stay with you?
Lavinia: I think people choose to join an Offsite because they know they will be genuinely taken care of and that they will be able to be part of such a great loving community!
Many Offsiters join again to be with the same friends they’ve made on past Offsites! It’s like a little tribe meeting up on different corners of the world a few times per year!
I’ve also heard from Offsiters that they are pushing themselves out of their comfort zones by joining; it might be the first time they travel alone, or they’ve never joined a coliving before, or never tried surfing, and want to try something new – so being out of their comfort zone but in a very safe place would be another element to people joining ☺
10. What do you think is the ideal length of stay to fully emerge in the community and experience at your place?
Lavinia: I think one week is great you really do connect deeply with everyone but then of course, if you’re able to stay longer you’ll see even more of the location and meet new faces on different weeks and connect even deeper with the ones that are staying the full length of the trip!
About Coliving Movement & Future
“Every new friend is a new adventure… …the start of more memories”
-Patrick Lindsay
11. Do you believe this kind of experience is exclusively tailored for certain groups like freelancers, digital nomads, and remote workers, or do you see it expanding to a broader audience?
Lavinia: Not at all, I’ve had people from all kinds of work backgrounds join.
Many people are not necessarily digital nomads, many joiners are actually not nomads and sometimes don’t even work fully from home but ask their bosses to be able to do so for a week in order to join us. We’ve had students that decide to come and revise or write their thesis with us.
On top of that, I am now also running some “offsite offs”; travel offsites where we don’t work – for people who are not allowed to work remotely at all but have always wanted to experience the Offsite magic.
12. One of the main selling points of colivings is the possibility to meet new people, share experiences, and maybe even develop new partnerships. Is this something you also had in mind with The Offsite?
Lavinia: We’ve had all of that – some people have found new job opportunities and a lot of friendships have been made of course! Many Offsiters have met up around the world in each other’s cities/homes.
13. Lastly, how do you see The Offsite experience developing in the next few years? Do you have a vision of what it will grow into or some aspirations and goals that you’ve set for it?
Lavinia: I want to have fixed houses while continuing the pop-up ones in more remote places.
I want to cover more countries and have different non-working experiences like Offsite in a van, Offsite with no phones, and Offsite on a desertic island – many plans to be excited about!
Secure yourself the best coliving experience
- italki – Why not learn some Spanish before your trip and make your coliving even better? italki is the perfect platform for that! You will find more than 3500 native speakers waiting to help you with your Spanish.
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