Hawaii: Outsite Haleiwa
We were heading out to Hawaii for a wedding, and we thought, heck, let’s extend our stay! So, we booked a room in a co-living space. We’d be working, same as we would’ve been at home, but it would give us more time to explore the island of Oahu and really get steeped in that laid-back Hawaiian culture.
This was my first time staying in a co-living space. If you don’t know what a co-living space is, it’s (in theory, anyway) a co-working space with beds. I’ll start by saying that, overall, I enjoyed this experience, and I would try it again. So, that’s that mystery solved. Phew.
We stayed in an Outsite property in Haleiwa, on the North Shore of Oahu. Outsite has locations in Costa Rica, Indonesia, California, Portugal and probably loads of other places by now. They seem to be growing at a very steady clip.
This particular co-living situation was pretty informal. I enjoyed the people and the lifestyle (waking up and deciding whether to work right away or go trotting around town first). The house itself was located a bit off the beaten path. You could walk into town, but it would have been a haul for most people—especially considering that it rained at least once a day. There were only a few bicycles to service a household of potentially a dozen people. The workspace wasn’t terribly coherent, and the wi-fi was a bit slow, which was particularly surprising considering there were at least a couple conference calls going on and several developers sharing the connection at any given time.
The best thing about a co-living space, though, is that you’re staying with naturally curious people who have taken some form of risk, so you’re immediately thrust into a vibrant, interesting situation in which people are coming and going constantly. I can see how this would be inspiring (if a bit challenging). There were shared meals and group activities. I typically like to travel alone or in small groups, but this was great even for me. Also, everyone was still working—so you could work during the day, and you really didn’t feel like you were missing out on anything!
I did get the sense that Outsite was growing very quickly, and this was clearly a newly acquired house. So, I would try another location before grabbing an annual membership or swearing it off for good. Overall, though, the co-living lifestyle is definitely appealing, and I’m already planning to do more.
