The Mallorca perspective on DNX Global: Interview with Matias Bonet Fullana

In June Matias Bonet Fullana started in s’Arenal – a 42km drive from Santanyí – the coworking/coliving space bedndesk. We met and exchanged our ideas and experiences as we create similar new coworking concepts in Mallorca. Both our coworking spaces allow people to combine traveling and getting some work done.

Last weekend Matias attended the first DNX Global, the Digital Nomad Conference in Berlin. In last year’s October, Rainer was impressed by the German edition, the DNX Konferenz in Berlin. Thus we are so curious whether our „coworking neighbour“ Matias was equally impressed by the first international version of the conference.

Let’s ask him!

DNX Global „I choose freedom“ Berlin 2015 (photo: Stefano Borghi)

:: Hola Matias, what was the general mood at the DNX Global themed „I choose freedom“?

Matias: It was amazing to see so many like-minded people. Everybody was so welcoming, you just had to look at somebody and start talking. It was great to meet so many interesting people living on the road, working location-independent or just wannabe’s waiting to learn how to live like a digital nomad.

There were people from all around Europe but also I met people from the US, South America, Asia. I encountered some cool guys starting a coworking space in an island in South Korea. Let’s see how we can connect our islands!

South Korean participants & Matias Bonet Fullana / bedndesk (photo courtesy of Jeonghwan Jeon)

:: Great idea! How many existing digital nomads do you think participated this time? Have you met people who made the step since the German DNX edition last October?

Matias: The place was full of nomads – around 450 people from 33 different countries! I haven’t been to the last edition in October but it looks like Rainer from Rayaworx already did some work there! Some of the people kept asking about your project when I started talking about coworking in Mallorca. Let’s combine our forces even more to make Mallorca an oasis for digital nomads.

Rainer Schuppe / Rayaworx & Matias Bonet Fullana / bedndesk (private photo)

:: Oh, that is so good to hear, thank you. Count us in for making Mallorca more popular among people with a digital lifestyle. Did the folks you talked to show interest in coworking on our beautiful island?

Matias: It was really interesting to hear what people traveling all around the world would think about Mallorca. And I tell you what: They loved the idea!

I am looking forward to seeing some of them around on „our“ island. Because I met people who already have a house in Mallorca and they are very interested to learn more about coworking. Plus lots of people spent already their vacation at Mallorca, and they loved the idea of come back for a workation to enjoy even more of the island.

DNX Global Berlin 2015 (photo: Stefano Borghi)

:: Wow! How did your (co)working experiences in different parts of the world relate to the experiences shared by some speakers? Which of the talks did you like most of all?

Matias: It was great to hear stories from different nomads as I remembered having similar problems when I was on the road. I was fascinated by their creative solutions for this lifestyle. All the talks where really great, my personal three top talks related most to my way of working and living:

• Derek Sivers – How I built a rockstar online business and why I gave it to charity for $22M
  It was great to encounter someone so interesting and so full of successful ideas to run the business!
• Mark Manson – Find happiness through struggle: Challenges on the road as a Digital Nomad
  ​I loved this talk, not everything is nice about the digital nomad style, and he explain some hard situations he has been to. He also presented a list with good and bad reasons to become a digital nomad.
• Noel Tock – How to run your profitable business from anywhere in the world!
  Lots of tips to work abroad! Well, I already used half of the mentioned tools and am inspired to check out a lot of new tools and ideas. The most useful advise I will keep in mind is to set up for some work to do while offline. It can really stress you out finding proper internet access.

:: Matias, I so know what you are talking about! This offline experience is why we started to run our coworking space in the Santanyí area. But what do you think: Will working while traveling be the way people are going to live their lifes in the future?

Matias: I believe of course there will be more digital nomads, but what I expect is a lot more „part-time digital nomads“ in the future – as you called it in our recent meeting. Those will stay localized for most of the year living in their hometowns while extending their vacations with working from different locations in the world for a couple of months.

Yes, exactly. Thank you very much for sharing your insights into the DNX Global with us, Matias, y ¡hasta luego!

 

Photos: CC Stefano Borghi – more to see at the DNX Global photo album on facebook