Hey Nomads,

Welcome back to another fun edition of Nomad Cloud. We’ve got more controversy in Bali, kinda getting old but still an important discussion right. Let’s get into today’s edition.

Today’s edition is 4min 50sec:

• 🇮🇩 Trending: American Digital Nomad Accused of Gentrification in Bali

• 🌴 Main Story: Nomad's Guide to Antigua, Guatemala

• 🎒 Community Spotlight: Indonesia’s First Digital Nomad Village

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🚨 TRENDING

• American Digital Nomad Accused of Gentrification in Bali (Insider)

• Work Remote From Phuket for $780 per month (Straight Times)

• Eating Around Grenada: A Foodie’s Guide For Digital Nomads (Jordus)

• The Workers Quitting Digital Nomadism (BBC)

• Koh Samui Wants To Cater To Digital Nomads (SCMP)

📺 MAIN STORY

Antigua Seems Like A Great Location To Nomad. Let’s look at the opportunities that exists there.

• Antigua, Guatemala is a popular destination for digital nomads due to its colonial architecture, volcanic landscapes, and relaxed lifestyle.

• The city offers a variety of activities, good internet connectivity, and numerous cafés with wifi and coworking spaces.

• Antigua provides opportunities for weekend excursions to nearby attractions, such as volcanoes, Lake Atitlan, and the Pacific coast.

• The cost of living in Antigua is affordable, with accommodations starting at $10 per night and food ranging from $5 to $10 per meal.

Our thought is, where is the community? Antigua is not known as a hub so it may take some time for some nomads to brave the new terrain.

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💡 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

This is what pioneering Indonesia’s first digital nomad village looks like.

I recently had a kick-off call with key stakeholders from Bitung City, Indonesia including the Mayor, program managers, and local business owners.

We’re piloting a program that will bring digital nomads from around the world and living in South East Asia to come try out the beautiful region of Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The area known as “The Land of a Thousand Islands" offers access to stunning beaches, natural parks, forestry with unique wildlife, water sports, and eye-popping reefs for diving enthusiasts.

I have to say I was super impressed by the preparations they are making to welcome digital nomads to Bitung.

I learned crucial information about the City including the widely available guest houses and resorts steps away from the beach.

The first step of the program is creating an official Bitung City Nomads Guide 

But first we must establish what resources are on the ground in Bitung:

First, let’s talk about what is available in terms of housing:

1. Diving Resorts: There are 29+ Resorts typically attracting diving enthusiasts but which could be converted to some facilities that cater to the needs of nomads. The resorts are 15 minutes from the city center, are more quiet and closer to nature. Current cost $50-$70 a night.

2. 4-Star Hotels: There are many 4-star Hotels in City with common spaces that can also be transformed to have coworking. These hotels are in the city with access to more western amenities. $30-$45/night.

3. Homestays - There are ample amounts of homestays a stone’s throw away from the beach but the challenge will be standardizing the spaces to accommodate standards nomads in places like Bali and Chiang Mai are used to. Bali nomads who are used to guest houses will love this arrangements. We will standardize these as the entry price point for our program. Under $15 a night 👀 

Ok so let's talk about what's on the ground in Bitung. What crucial things do we need to sort for a program like this to be succesful?

🚫 WIFI

The foundation of a digital nomad, internet connectivity. We're currently sitting at a measly 30MBPS which won't leave our Youtubers and content creators with a smile on their face. But the good news is the Mayor has promised we will install fast wifi for all areas digital nomads living in Bitung will spend most of their time.

The goal is 100 MBPS minimum.

I have to admit, this crucial factor is key in the foundations of this program so I will let you all know first thing when we have sorted it.

P.S We're looking into getting Starlink which provides fast wifi for remote areas through satellites. How cool would that be?!

Next, let’s talk about Coworking!

There are no established coworking spaces established, but due to ample office space, there are many buildings that can be transformed into fully functional coworking with premium amenities. As mentioned we are strongly considering designating one of the resorts or large hotels as home base for the program so it's easy to create in-house coworking with fast Wifi! The mayor has assured me whatever is needed will be provided to accommodate nomads living and working from Bitung.

FOOD

For those in Bali used to order from food delivery app GoJek, this is also available in Bitung for local restaurants. For those who like to cook for themselves, we will be putting together a list of the best local markets to buy ingredients. We'll do our best to find organic and natural focused ones. And here’s a fun one, the mayor mentioned some “exotic food” that will also be available to experience, more on this later for you the adventurers among us 👀

TRANSPORTATION

Motorbikes and bicycles are an option (traffic is not a big issue). We will be discussing with the local police about what the best options are to protect public safety and the skulls of nomads. We all know there are too many bike accidents in a lot of SE Asia hubs.

MEDICAL CARE - Emergency Services

There are 4 Hospitals, open 24 hours. There’s even an equivalent of 911 like in the US with ambulance services. There’s a 20 provincial hospital 20 minutes from the city by the toll road.

Most importantly for the success of the program, we are also setting the foundation for the arrival of the nomads by educating local business owners and citizens about what digital nomads are, how both sides can engage and interact respectfully and even offering free online english courses to locals in areas we know will be more populated by nomads.

We are doing this in 2 ways

First local business owners who are respected will be educated in an official meeting led by the Mayor. This sends a signal to the community that this is an important program to participate in and engage.

Second, we’re creating flyers that will be distributed in public places for locals to begin discourse around the incoming new faces that will arrive later this year for the pilot program. This strategy is to conjure up social conversations and further social awareness of the incoming new faces to Bitung.

Third there will be community meetings led by local citizen leaders where they can voice their opinion and needs for such a program.

We feel these foundational mechanisms will allow us to have the baseline for a succesful program long term.

On the next editions we will begin Phase 1 of the program, creating the Bitung City Nomads Guide that will inform on all the amenities and resources on the ground in Bitung so you can see what we're building first hand.

One question I have for you all is this:

What would you like to see in Bitung City, what sort of resources are a "must have?"

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