March 17, 2022 - Join the momentum of the Croatian remote work revolution and win yourself a luxury 5-star Sun Gardens Dubrovnik workation. 

The English language is constantly evolving. 

Words that are my everyday currency in 2022 - blog, social media, digital nomads, Instagrammable - simply did not exist 20 years ago. And listening to my kids chatting to their friends, I sometimes wonder if I am still a native speaker of English anymore. 

Last year, among the many new English words that I learned was one which I now realise is going to be absolutely huge, and it represents a seismic change in the future of work. 

Workation. 

I have seen it also spelled as Worcation, and even Workcation. A combination of two aspects of daily life which have been distinctly separate until now - work and vacation. But now, with the location independence offered by the remote work revolution, a concept which is becoming increasingly mainstream. 

Instead of driving to the office in your home town in the States each day, and coming home to the usual day-to-day existence at home, now the opportunities are endless.  You can be just as productive via your laptop during the working day, then have a coffee on the riva in Split, or a cocktail on Stradun in Dubrovnik to unwind after another productive day. 

The Croatian digital nomad story is still very nascent, but it is becoming acknowledged as one of the most dynamic in the world. Only the second country in Europe to offer a digital nomad visa/permit (which came into effect on January 1, 2021), Croatia has been very active in promoting this sector, and nowhere more so than Dubrovnik. 

Host of the first-ever digital nomad conference in Croatia back in October, 2020, as well as the pioneering and award-winning Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence program in April, 2021, Dubrovnik is continuing its push as an innovative remote work destination with the recently-announced Work. Place. Cuture. conference, a collaboration between the City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Saltwater Nomads, and Total Croatia News - the conference which brings work from anywhere to absolutely everywhere. Join remote professionals and destinations from around the world as they inspire a global workforce who have greater location flexibility than ever before, and the destinations which are reinventing to support them through policy, infrastructure and community (more on the official website).

Public-private partnership has been key to Dubrovnik's success so far, and the buy-in from the private sector is demonstrated by the very exciting offer from award-winning 5-star resort, Sun Gardens Dubrovnik - in partnership with the Dubrovnik Tourist Board and Saltwater Nomads - which is offering a fantastic Win a Workation offer. 

The winning team will enjoy a 1-week stay (between 1 and 9 May 2022) at the 5 Star Sun Gardens Dubrovnik and have the chance to partake of a specialty workshop – strategy planning, team building, wellbeing and leadership are among the options available. The all-star team will also present at the Work. Place. Culture. Conference on 5-7 May 2022.

The winning team will stay in 2 x 2 bedroom residences. Each bedroom has a kingsize bed and ensuite with shared living area.

Enjoy free access to the sports centre – with gym and facilities, and free access to group trainings such as functional training or pilates.

Laze by one of the pools overlooking the Adriatic sea, or access the spa centre – with indoor swimming pool, gym, saunas, jacuzzi, relaxation area (massages and treatments additional).

Are you part of a team working remotely for the past couple of years, whose only contact with your colleagues has been through Zoom? Why not come together, relax, reconnect and reinvigorate in Paradise?

If your team would like to apply to win this Sun Gardens Dubrovnik workation and an unforgettable 9 days in the Pearl of the Adriatic, you can apply here. Applications are open until April 8.

Check out the magical Old Town and Sun Gardens Dubrovnik video teaser above - why would you take a workation anywhere else?

To learn more about the destination, check out the Total Croatia Dubrovnik in a Page guide, and also visit the official Sun Gardens Dubrovnik website.  

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

March 14, 2022 - The community is growing as Digital Nomad We{dn}esdays expands to 8 cities all over Croatia.

Small steps, but every month, one step forward. 

Croatia's digital nomad story has been one of rapid progress, from being only the second country in Europe to offer a digital nomad visa at the beginning of last year, to being named as the second most-like country for nomads in the influential NomadList survey just 9 months later (with Zagreb as the fifth most-liked city). 

Nomadbase, the first business and travel club for digital nomads, has chosen Primosten, Croatia as only its third location in May, and the CIty of Dubrovnik and Dubrovnik Tourist Board, in association with Saltwater Nomads, has just announced a new Work. Place. Culture. conference from May 5-7. 

But while the global headlines continue to be very favourable, arguably the better story is what is happening on the ground, and the Digital Nomad Association Croatia - the first of its kind in the world - is proving to be very effective glue gelling all aspects and initiatives of Croatia's digital nomads push. 

One great initiative which started last month was Digital Nomad we{dn}esdays, a chance for nomads, wannabe nomads, those interested to learn more about the nomad lifestyle, and anyone else to meet for a drink at a designated nomad bar for drinks, networking and friendship. Last month's inaugural we{dn}sdays had events in six particpating cities, and this month, that number has been expanded to 8. It all starts at 19:00 on Wednesday, March 16, at the following locations:

Swanky Monkey in Zagreb, The Daltonist in Split, Mama's in Dubrovnik, Beach Bar Bamboo in Zadar, Rakhia Bar in Rijeka, Klun Kotac in Pula, Rubicon Pubin Osijek, and Circolo in Rovinj.

See you there!

For more information about DNA Croatia, follow the official website. 

For more news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section. 

March 14, 2022 - The Dubrovnik digital nomad story continues, as the Work. Place. Culture. Conference is announced, bringing work from anywhere to absolutely everywhere. 

Good things are happening in the Pearl of the Adriatic. 

A new initiative to reposition the iconic Croatian city, known also to millions as Kings Landing, is already paying handsome dividends. 

A media poster child for overtourism back in 2017, Dubrovnik is now attracting headlines for very different reasons. Dubrovnik's decision to explore the remote work path has propelled itself into an increasingly popular digital nomad destination. In partnership with Saltwater Nomads and Total Croatia News, the City of Dubrovnik and Dubrovnik Tourist Board hosted Croatia's first-ever digital nomad conference back in October 2020, Dubrovnik for Digital Nomads, a conference which achieved considerable global attention, including a mention in the Washington Post. 

This was followed in April 2021 with the Dubrovnik Digital Nomads in Residence programme, the first of its kind in the world, in which the destination and its community co-created a future strategy for digital nomad tourism, in partnership with 10 resident nomads who contributed their expertise as guests of the city for 4 weeks. Read more in Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence: Meet the Creators, Download Case Study. 

DNIR has already won two international awards, as well as considerable global acclaim, and Dubrovnik is continuing its innovative path in the sector with the announcement of a major conference from May 5-7, 2022 - Work. Place. Culture. From the official conference website:

Welcome – to the conference which brings work from anywhere to absolutely everywhere. Join remote professionals and destinations from around the world as they inspire a global workforce who have greater location flexibility than ever before, and the destinations which are reinventing to support them through policy, infrastructure and community.

Work. Place. Culture. is designed for destinations, companies and service providers in the remote work space:

Destinations

• looking to attract remote workers and digital nomads.
• connect and collaborate with regions and “nomad trails”
• share success stories and further build your profile to a global audience in an event blending destinations + decision-makers.

Companies

• creating/updating remote/hybrid work policy, looking for expertise and global best practice for talent attraction, retention, productivity and wellbeing.
• with a remote work policy – promote your business to attract global talent and build profile as leading RW companies.employees:
• learn about advocacy and support for remote work, travel and work from home (wfh).

Service Providers

• Tools: remote collaboration, hiring, consulting, legal & tax
• Teams:off-sites, team building, wellbeing, coaching, etc.
• Digital Nomads: vanlife, retreats, communities, sustainability. 

Set against the backdrop of gorgeous Dubrovnik in early season, the conference will additionally offer fantastic experiences such as NetWALLking along Dubrovnik's historic UNESCO walls, sea kayaking, and plenty of treats for Game of Thrones lovers. Tickets include conference day lunch and dinners. Early Bird tickets are available until April 4 and can be booked via the official website. 

A full list of speakers will be announced shortly, and they will include 3 of the top 10 remote work voices on LinkedIn, who will all be coming in person. You can download the programme here.

It promises to be an information-packed event, set in delightful Dubrovnik, and an outstanding networking opportunity for destinations, companies and service providers. But there is more...

We will shortly be launching the first official workation pilot by the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, with Win a Workation launching on 15 March, for a team of four to enjoy a 5-star experience at Sun Gardens and present at the conference.

And for those of you planning to attend this conference, there are many reasons why you should stay a little longer in Croatia. Nomadbase will be having their conference in Primosten from May 9-15, and the award-winning Zagreb Digital Nomad Week returns in June to the Croatian capital - more details will be released on both the Win a Workation and Zagreb Digital Nomad Week later this week. 

Work. Place. Culture. is a collaboration between the City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Saltwater Nomads and TCN, with support from the Digital Nomad Association Croatia and Dubrovacka Bastina. Zagreb Digital Nomad Week is a partnership between Zagreb Tourist Board, Saltwater Nomads, and TCN. 

To learn more about magnificent Dubrovnik, check out the Total Croatia Dubrovnik in a Page guide, in partnership with Sun Gardens Dubrovnik.  

For more news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

March 3, 2022 - Primosten is the place to be in May, as Nomadbase announces the pretty Dalmatian coastal town close to Split for its Nomadbase Croatia conference. 

The ecosystem is developing. 

Zagreb, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Rijeka, Pula, Osijek - all are Croatian destinations which are becoming attractive to digital nomads in the remote work revolution. 

And now we can add another name to that list - Primosten. 

The first digital nomad travel and business club, Nomadbase, has announced its third meetup, after successful events in Cyprus and Mexico. Founder Johannes Voelkner announced in a YouTube webinar that the gorgeous coastal town of Primosten - a short drive north of Split. 

It is not a destination which has been associated with digital nomads before, but that is set to change, as around 500 members of the Nomadbase are expected to descend on Primosten for the next 7-day conference, from May 9-15.

Voelkner gave a lot more detail on the event in the YouTube webinar which you can watch below. He also said that they were going to host a subsequent event in Croatia a couple of weeks later, as they did in Mexico. 

Great news, and even more content for digital nomads in May. 

Croatia is shaping up to be an attractive destination for nomads for May and June this year. In addition to the Nomadbase events, we will shortly be announcing two more great nomad conferences - Work. Place. Culture. in Dubrovnik from May 5-7, and Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2022 in June. So maybe hold off booking your flights for a couple more days until you learn what other magic is on offer in Croatia during two of the best months to visit. 

Nomadbase has a dedicated page where all the information for Primosten will be updated - you can find it here.

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

March 3, 2022 - Join the Nomadbase Croatia webinar tonight to find out the location of the May 9-15 conference on the Croatian coast.

The Croatian digital nomad story is gathering pace, and one of the biggest endorsements so far is the decision of the world's first digital nomad business and travel club to base their next event in Croatia. 

After successful events in Cyprus and Mexico, Nomadbase Croatia will be welcoming an expected 500 members of its community to its next conference from May 9-15, 2022. 

Founder and owner Johannes Voelkner has just returned from a week on the Adriatic coast checking out possible locations, and he has announced that the location will be revealed during a live webinar tonight at 18:00.

And, rather than give a spoiler alert, may I just say that it is a very interesting choice. 

And there are plenty of reasons for those from the Nomadbase community to stay a little longer. We will shortly be announcing full details of two more nomad conferences - Work. Place. Culture. in Dubrovnik (I am very excited by this one) in early May, and Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2022 in June. And, as you can see in the infographic above, that is not all. 

And the timing leads nicely to the end of June, when many nomads will be heading to the Bansko Nomad Festival in Bulgaria. And with Ryanair flights from Zagreb to Sofia currently 35 euro one way, why not stay a bit longer and experience the magic of Croatia in May and June?

Tonight's Nomadbase Croatia launch will be streamed live on YouTube at 18:00, where you will be able to learn a lot more about the event. You can follow the event on the YouTube link above. 

We look forward to welcoming the wider Nomadbase community to the Croatian coast, as well as having the opportunity to showcase a little more of Croatia. More details will be posted shortly on the Nomadbase Croatia dedicated page. 

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

February 25, 2022 - As the remote work revolution continues, meet the Zagreb hotel co-working space which is proving to be a huge hit with digital nomads - Canopy by Hilton. 

Have you ever been to a hotel that feels like it is a living part of the community?

A place where you pop in for a meeting and find a hive of activity from a wide cross-section of society?

A hotel which has the look and feel of a living room, rather than a 4-star hotel chain?

It is less than a year since I first visited Canopy by Hilton Zagreb in the Branimir Centre. We were on the hunt for some cool locations in the city to host Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2021 - 7 themes, 7 locations, 7 days. A few people had told me that the vibe at Canopy was different, and that it might be a great choice for the opening day. 

And so it proved. 

June 21, 2021 was an historic day in the Zagreb digital nomad story, with the opening of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week, an opening attended by Zagreb Tourist Board CEO Martina Bienenfeld and State Secretary for Tourism and Sports, Sandra Herman, among others. Less than 4 months later, the Croatian capital had been named in the top 5 most-liked cities in the world for nomads in the influential 2021 Nomad List survey.

And so the digital nomad love affair with Canopy by Hilton began.

There was that very scary presentation on cybersecurity by Marko Rakar, which will not be quickly forgotten by anyone who attended. This took place in one of the several themed conference rooms in the hotel. A hotel which really does feel like home. 

And so when September's Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassador, Dean Kuchel, wanted to host a community-building event, Canopy was his number one choice of venue. Over 50 nomads, locals, expats and wannabe nomads came to enjoy the Canopy hospitality and a great evening of fun. 

An enjoyable evening with friends in a large living room.  

But the thing that has really struck me was how many remote workers are drawn to Canopy as a great place to remote work. Four-star hotels are perhaps not the most obvious co-working spaces, but Canopy has managed to attract a growing chunk of the market. All six of our Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassadors tried co-working at Canopy, and they all loved it, so much so that one of them, Anna Maria Kochanska, even organised a co-working day there. 

In addition to the facilities on offer within the hotel, the gym and restaurants at Branimir Centre were additional reasons to co-work there. 

But perhaps the biggest endorsement of Canopy by Hilton as a co-working space came yesterday, as I was working there with colleagues, and this young man came to say hi. 

Hermes Arriaga is a titan in the Croatian remote work scene. Originally from Mexico, Hermes co-founded the very first co-working space in Croatia, back in 2013. And Impact Hub has been a major player on the scene ever since. The pandemic has necessitated a change in business strategy, and Hermes is not on the lookout for a new space for Impact Hub. And as he searches, he has found a fantastic option for co-working.

"I love Canopy," he told me, and I have been coming since September and spend 2-7 hours a day working here, maybe 3 times a week. 

"It is different from any other co-working space in Zagreb in that it is public - or at least semi-public - and I find the ambiance really cool. And there are lots of interesting characters. It has a very international feel, with lots of foreigners, but also local students preparing for their tests. It has a really great atmosphere, and there is definitely a sense of community.

"Last week, there was an international start-up company here for a week, 7-8 of them with two local staff. The service is really good, and an espresso is not that much more than elsewhere. I really recommend it."

And I do too. A wonderful institution, and a great place to get a sense of the local community against the backdrop of a hotel stay. 

For more information about Canopy by Hilton Zagreb, visit the official website. 

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, visit the dedicated TCN section.  

February 23, 2022 - His one-year digital nomad permit is about to expire, but the phenomenal Steve Tsentserensky promotion of Croatia continues. 

"Can you believe it? Someone is actually moving to Croatia after that article about me on CNBC."

And that someone is not alone. 

One of the early reactions to Croatia introducing a digital nomad visa last year was what benefits it would actually bring Croatia. One of the biggest side benefits, I replied, is a new army of enthusiastic promoters of their adopted country. 

That was before I met Ohian Steve Tsentserenky, who Jan de Jong suggested I interview him as one of the early digital nomad permit recipients. Rather than interview Steve, he wrote his own story - Journey to Get the Croatian Digital Nomad Permit.

I first came across Steve's video work when I saw this amazing video of Zagreb, the city he has come to love like no other. 

And after almost a year of great promotion, it was nice that Zagreb said thank you in a meaningful way by making Steve the Zagreb Digital Nomad Special Guest Ambassador.

For Steve's promotion has been multi-faceted and global. 

The star of a series of articles about living abroad on CNBC, all three of Steve's articles have been trending on the American news portal, and the videos have received sizable views and even more impressive engagement. 

More than 320,000 views so far, and over 1,000 comments on the first video. I have been with Steve on the streets of Zagreb when strangers approach and ask if he is the $47 guy. Locals and nomads. You can see his CNBC articles here. 

With a great eye for a good shot and a trusty drone to boot, I asked  Steve back in November if he would be interested in discovering eastern Croatia on a 6-day trip. 

He was. And this is how he saw it. How many places in this video can you name?  You can read about the tip in Time to Tell the Truth about Slavonia Full of Life.

The footage he took was extraordinary, and it is safely in the CROMADS archives and will be put to very good use. 

Steve also offered to make the official CROMADS video, which is always a pleasure to watch. 

Away from the camera, however, Steve has also been busy. One of the other great benefits that nomads will bring to the next generation in Croatia is mindset. As Croatia's youth talks of emigration, here is an American talking to 7th graders in schools about why Croatia and not America. It is a drip drip feed, but the more it happens, the more young minds will be positively influenced. 

And of course, there is no digital nomad conference in the region without Steve as a panelist or speaker. I think he has spoken at about 10 conferences in the last year, including internationally (in person in Montenegro, and remotely in Bali), with more international appearances scheduled. 

As he prepares to reluctantly leave as Croatia's bureaucracy demands it, a huge thanks to Steve for all he has done for Croatia - and will continue to do. And one hopes the bureaucracy will become easier for promoting champions such as him - I know of foreigners who have done a lot less who have received Croatian citizenship. 

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

February 23, 2022 - The Croatian National Tourist Board has joined forces with the Digital Nomad Association Croatia. Great news, and time to talk about the elephant in the room. 

Croatia's digital nomad story is gathering pace, and the energy is real. Johannes Voelkner, owner of the first and largest digital nomad business travel club is in the country finalising the location for his next NomadBase conference from May 9-15 (as exclusively announced on TCN), Saltwater Nomads - in partnership with TCN, Zagreb Tourist Board, Dubrovnik Tourist Board, and the City of Dubrovnik - will shortly announce two fantastic nomad conferences for May and June, and the work of DNA Croatia to bring together the community and connect initiatives all over the country is beyond impressive (read more in Cohesion, Unity & Planning at Croatian Digital Nomad Reflection Day 2022). My recent meeting with Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, had a large focus on the DN opportunity. And next week sees the 2nd Split Winter Tourism Roundtable, with 2 of the 5 presentations dedicated to the DN opportunity. 

And then, last week, this LinkedIn post from the driving force of the Croatian digital nomad permit and President of DNA Croatia, the legend that is Jan de Jong:

With some 2.000 digital nomads coming to Croatia every single month - we are slowly but surely becoming a DN-hotspot in Europe.

For that reason - the Digital Nomad Association Croatia is excited to start working more closely together with the Croatian National Tourist Board on promoting Croatia internationally.

This year we have some many amazing initiatives planned for digital nomads all across the country. Therefore - the timing to start working together with CNTB couldn't be better. Thank you Kristjan Stanicic for your support.

Pozdrav iz Zagreba,

Jan de Jong

I knew the announcement was coming, and I smiled when I saw Jan's post - even more so when I checked my messages one hour later. Had I seen this, what did I think? Did I know about it? Was I involved? A good opportunity to finally address the elephant in the room, the ongoing lawsuits against me by the Croatian National Tourist Board. If you are not up to speed, the TCN series, Diary of a Croatian Lawsuit really is an entertaining read, and one which will go all the way to the European court in Strasbourg in 2063 if necessary - check it out here.  

So it may seem strange of me to congratulate the Croatian National Tourist Board and its director, Kristjan Stanicic, on this excellent initiative with DNA Croatia (there is a reason I don't congratulate them often), but good initiatives deserve to be recognised. 

There has been a lot of ego in the Croatian digital nomad story (and I don't exclude my own from the story), but things are settling down, as key stakeholders are putting community and collaboration ahead of their private interests and agendas.  TCN has been writing about the nomad opportunity for Croatia since May, 2019 and is the biggest media on the topic, and the national tourist board would be a natural partner in normal circumstances. Ah, Croatia. 

I actually presented the nomad opportunity for a pilot in Trogir to two senior members of the national tourist board in February, 2020. One didn't seem to understand the opportunity, the other did but said they could not support, as there was a tax issue. And she was right, as things stood then. And then...

 A few weeks later, Jan de Jong called me and asked for some advice on tourism for a conference he was speaking at. I send him some articles to read, and he called me back an hour later raving about this concept called digital nomad tourism. This could be amazing for Croatia. Here is Jan, introducing the concept at the conference in May, 2020. 

And the rest is history, as Jan did what I certainly could not. This private initiative, which enlisted the support of Prime Minister Plenkovic and five ministries, resulted in Europe's second digital nomad visa/permit less than 8 months later. And with changes in the tax legislation to help nomads on the permit. the national tourist board was free to push the initiative, which it did through its terrible and highly ineffective Croatia, Your New Office campaign. Just how ineffective you can read shortly on TCN. To think what DNA Croatia would have done with that budget... 

Things then got a little strange. Bizarre articles started appearing on portals which had never written about me before. A comprehensive article about the opening of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week managed to completely airbrush me from the event and with no mention of TCN whatsoever, as four out of the five speakers even had a photo in the article. I was not quite airbrushed out, as my bald patch made it into the corner of one of the photos. 

Dubrovnik for Digital Nomads, Zagreb Digital Nomad Week & Ambassador Program, Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence, not even a mention that I came across - not even when the last two picked up 4 international awards at Conventa 2021 in Ljubljana, despite the national tourist board being present at the same conference. And yet, for a project I was not involved in - the red carpet rolled out. A sponsored article and the head of global PR at the press conference launch of a private initiative I was not part of. 

I didn't mind, nor did I expect, anything less from an organisation suing me, but it felt wrong for Croatia that those whom I worked seemed to be tarnished by association. Or so it seemed to me. There have been several occasions where I have been told I cannot come to a meeting 'because of the lawsuit.' I don't mind, but it was clearly an issue for some. 

Although I am not part of DNA Croatia, I work closely with them (on bringing NomadBase to Croatia, for example), and for me, the best news about this Croatian National Tourist Board/DNA Croatia partnership is that two natural partners can finally work together, where previously there seems to have been a reluctance. So I do sincerely congratulate Director Stanicic on this initiative, and I hope that all funds will be transferred to DNA Croatia, so that they are not wasted as they were with Croatia, Your New Office (more on that soon). 

Would I want to work with the national tourist board again? Clearly not until there is a change of director (and I am hearing encouraging noises on that score), but depending on who the new director is, I would consider making an appointment if I can see that there might finally be a new direction and proper strategy.

Until then... 

For more news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.  

February 14, 2022 - TCN is delighted to welcome one of the rising stars of the digital nomad scene. Community builder extraordinaire Dean Kuchel on his impressions of two weeks at Zadar Digital Nomad Valley.  

Not enough. That’s how I sum up my visit to the recently opened - Digital Nomads Valley in Zadar, a hotel & campsite turned into a small village for remote professionals and digital nomads.

During my two weeks stay in January 2022, I was one among 15 nomads. Group of young guys & girls, some single, some with a partner, from places like Israel, Poland, United Kingdom, Germany, Czechia, and Syria.

On the day of arrival, I was greeted by the community manager, who handed me the key to my studio unit and gave me a tour of the valley - the cowork, restaurant, bar, gym, pool, spa, beach, laundry, and parking - all within the perimeter of the valley, or 1 to 5 minutes walk.

My room was a 20 square meter apartment, with a balcony, kitchenette, and dining-work area. There is also a large TV for those who watch, and a bonus Bluetooth speaker embedded in the ceiling, great for those “dance like nobody's watching” moments.

It is more than enough space for a single person. For couples or friends, the Valley offers a 2 or 3 bedroom unit.

The amenities are excellent, it’s really everything one needs, and all one wants. It is so convenient to jump between the gym, spa and the cowork, I made it my routine right after I unpacked my suitcase for the duration of my stay.

It is probably the best-equipped co-live I stayed in, but it would be unfair to call it a co-live, since the valley is first and foremost a community. The people I met were the highlight of my stay, and the reason I was sad to leave, - we, humans, we get attached to people, not places. 

The valley attracts like-minded people who understand what the digital nomad lifestyle is about, celebrate it, and openly discuss the challenges.

A group of strangers turned into close friends, travel buddies and business consultants within a few days.

We jumped together to the cold water of the sea, we dined together, and had long co-working sessions followed by happy hour, workouts, movie nights, and day trips to nearby islands - Croatia is rich in nature, and we made sure to take advantage of it.

I am not new to the digital nomad lifestyle, I’ve been living of a single carry on for over 8 years now, traveled to 100+ countries in the process,  and created a vast network of connections and friends, yet, the sensation of staying at the valley was different, it felt familiar, it felt like I belong there, or had been there before - it felt like a good old routine.

A word about Zadar, the city hosting the valley.

Zadar is the 5th largest city in Croatia, home to around 70,000 people. The land is kissing the sea on one side, and looking over a chain of mountains to the other side, the views are beautiful anywhere you look.

Old town Zadar is five minutes taxi ride away, that’s where many cafes, bars and restaurants are tucked between the old city walls. The city has its own magic, it can be romantic, and it can be wild. The options are all there

The 2nd largest city in Croatia, Split, is an 1.5 hour drive away, and Zagreb, Croatia’s capital is a short 3 hours bus ride, if you choose to hit the road - you will be rewarded with beautiful landscape throughout the drive.

So why do I summarize my experience with ‘not enough’?

Simply because my two weeks were not enough time to enjoy it all, live it to the fullest, make the best of it, and too early to say goodbye to my new friends.

If you go, and I encourage you to do so, consider staying a solid month, if not longer.

You will fall in love, I promise you. 

Digital Nomad Valley in Zadar is what a co-live should be like, and what a community should feel like, I will be back and will be staying way longer this time.

Say YES! Go Explore,

Dean Kuchel

King of Digital Nomads 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/where_is_dean/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimroddeank

For more news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section.

February 1, 2022 - A major boost for Croatia's emerging digital nomad story, as Nomadbase announces Croatia for its next event.

My inbox is a weird and wonderful place, full of people pitching ideas, sending abuse, and generally complaining about articles written by an opinionated foreigner. But few emails have given me as much pleasure in recent times as a recent one from our dear Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassador for December, Anna Maria Kochanska, who continues her ambassadorial duties long after leaving Croatia.

Anna Maria's email was to introduce the owner of the first digital nomad business and travel club, Johannes Voelkner from Nomadbase, to the teams at Digital Nomad Association Croatia, Saltwater Nomads, and TCN. Having already delivered award-winning projects such as Zagreb Digital Nomad Week (in association with Zagreb Tourist Board) and Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence (in association with Dubrovnik Tourist Board and the City of Dubrovnik), Anna Maria felt they were the right partners to help Johannes deliver his next event in Croatia.  

And what an event it will be!

Johannes is the founder of Noamdcruise and Nomadbase. Back in 2019, before the pandemic, he hosted the world's first largescale cruise for digital nomads, some 492 like-minded people who spent a stimulating time onboard, remote working, taking part in seminars, workshops and other events, and enjoying a ready-made social life.  

Corona forced a rethink and so Nomadbase was born, a chance for community members to meet together again and rekindle old friendships and make new ones.  Several hundred community members reconvened for a week in Paphos, Cyprus back in October, and again in Mexico last month. And, after some very productive discussions, Nomadbase has announced the next destination will be Croatia. 

It's official! The Nomadbase community is meeting in Croatia in the spring of 2022. We can't wait to discover the amazing Mediterranean together with the community. To get the latest news and special discounts for #nblcroatia, simply sign up so we can keep you in the loop.

There will be a 7-day Nomadbase conference from May 9-15. We are working with Johannes on the details and then the location will be announced, probably later this month. 

But I would like to encourage any Nomadbase community members (and anyone else) coming to Croatia for the conference to consider making plans for Croatia as their remote office from late April until late June when the Bankso Nomad Festival takes place. We have several very cool nomad events which will be announced shortly, as well as some special packages and experiences for Nomadbase community members. 

You can join the Nomadbase Facebook community, as well as keep track of Nomadbase Croatia updates here.

You can also get an overview of the energy and synergy of the nomad movement in Croatia with an overview of last week's Digital Nomad Reflection Day. 

For the latest news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section.