Today marks four weeks in Buenos Aires as a digital nomad, but because January is one of those rogue months with five weeks in it, I shouldn’t really call it my one month anniversary, but I’m going to anyway. You might be wondering how has my first month as a digital nomad has been. What’s similar and what’s different about working in Buenos Aires? Where have I found inspiration? What is my plan for my final month here? Well, let me tell you!
In some ways, it doesn’t feel as if I’ve left Austin, which is nice. Buenos Aires loves English-speaking music. There are good craft coffee and craft beer shops (although, not in the same shop like Austin does it). There’s a juice bar around the corner. And the coworking space, AreaTres, is very professional and comfortable. Some days, I forget I’m not in Austin until I hear Spanish.
How’s Hacker Paradise for a Digital Nomad?
Hacker Paradise has curated a really wonderful experience for digital nomads and remote workers, and I’m glad that I’ve chosen to do this. When I was researching other digital nomad programs, I often read the critique that participants were more interested in playing than working and some didn’t even have jobs. You an imagine how that could change the tone of a group. Hacker Paradise, on the other hand, has accepted a group of serious workers who care about their jobs and want to succeed.
We have weekly goal-setting meetings and Thursday talks to share what we’re working on. I’m also part of a daily creativity meetup (I’m working on drawing 64 Days of Spanish) and a weekly writing meetup (focused on littlespoonbook.com). Tomorrow night, we’re venturing to another coworking space for networking and talks about the importance of UX/UI in design.
I did expect more freelancers/entrepreneurs to be part of the group. Mostly, we have people who are working remotely for a larger company. Orange Coworking spoiled me with a family of entrepreneurs who want to see and help each other succeed. More freelancers and small business owners like me need to do things like this!
AreaTres, a Great Coworking Space
As mentioned earlier, our coworking space here in Buenos Aires is called AreaTres. It’s in the Palermo neighborhood, known as The Brooklyn of Buenos Aires. It’s a large four-story building with open desks, offices, meeting rooms, two kitchens, a tropical garden, high tech security, fast internet (though, not 1 gbps like Austin), and, in true Argentinian style, a parilla (a huge outdoor grill). Our second week here, one of the startups in the building invited us to their “asado” (a barbecue). It was a neat peek into how food and the Argentine work culture intersect.
AreaTres also hosts the monthly Creative Mornings meeting for Buenos Aires. I made a point of attending last Friday and met some designers who will be on upcoming episodes of Designers Drink! I’m still looking for other local design groups to check out while I’m here, but I love that Creative Mornings is a worldwide gathering of designers and creatives.
My Last Month in Buenos Aires
Over the past four weeks, I realize I’ve been more focused on adjusting and settling into a new home, new coworking space, new culture, new people, new timezone, new grocery stores, and new language than I have been on inspiration and work/creative goals. As I wrote in Why I’m Becoming a Digital Nomad, part of why I’m doing this year abroad is to learn the design languages of other cultures and countries. So, for my final four weeks in Buenos Aires, I’ve come up with a plan. Each week will focus on a different part of the design culture.
- Week One: Color palettes. What colors speak to Argentinians? What colors are used most often? How are colors paired?
- Week Two: Typography. Do Argentinians prefer serif of san-serif? Large fonts or small fonts? Condensed or wide? How is the typography used in print and digital?
- Week Three: Illustration. What role does illustration play in print and digital? What is the history of street art in this city? Do they prefer more abstract or realistic illustrations?
- Week Four: Historical identity. How have their design sensibilities evolved? What has influenced their design?
You’re invited to follow along with my photographic journeys on Instagram. Let me know what you find interesting, what you want to see more of, and what questions you have about design in Buenos Aires.
