Hey Insiders, welcome back to another edition of your favorite newsletter! There’s quite a bit happening in tech at the moment - CEOs are getting grilled and it looks like AI is officially taking over.

Today’s email is a 3min 50sec read:

• 🏡 tiny-home villages for digital nomads

• 🚫 is TikTok getting canceled?

• 🦾 ChatGPT gets apps

• ➕ PLUS why Cyprus is awesome for nomads

Before we jump into that though researchers have found that some people actually miss commuting 🤔

Turns out it has some great mental health benefits. Here’s a little bit of background and how to get those benefits without sitting in traffic for an hour…

💡 TIPS & TRICKS

The psychological benefits of commuting to work & how to recreate them when working remotely

Research during the pandemic found that while most people were excited to say goodbye to their commutes, some people actually missed driving to work.

That’s because commutes are a source of “liminal space” – a time free of both home and work roles that provides an opportunity to recover from work and mentally switch gears to home.

This lack of liminal space keeps people from being able to mentally shift gears and may induce role blurring which can lead to a build-up of stress and increased risk of burnout.

How to increase liminal space as a remote worker

Researchers found that the best way to create more liminal space as a remote worker is by taking a 15-minute walk immediately before and after your workday.

The key part is to try and keep your mind away from work during your walk. According to researchers some of the best ways of doing that include:

• 🎶 listening to music

• 🎧 playing a non-work podcast

• ☎️ calling a friend

🔬 DEEP DIVE

Are Tiny Home Villages the Answer to The Digital Nomad Housing Problem?

About an hour north of Boston lies the village of Dover, the site of an interesting tiny-home experiment.

Here, John & Maggie Randolph (a contractor and architect duo) are building 44 tiny homes aimed at entry-level service professionals who may be priced out of living in the very communities they serve.

People like school teachers, firefighters, or car mechanics who may not be able to afford the high rents of big cities.

"They deserve to live in the area as well. They shouldn't have to live an hour away and then come serve you every day and then drive home" said John Randolph.

This project got me thinking, could this solution be used for digital nomads as well?

Around the world, in popular nomad cities like Lisbon & Mexico City digital nomads are being blamed for raising rent prices.

The truth is it’s not the nomads’ fault, but the cities themselves which have not regulated short-term rentals well, or even more likely, have not invested enough in new housing.

The homes the Randolphs are building will rent out for around $1000 - $1200 per month, within the range for most nomads.

And the average build cost for each house is around $118,000

Could tiny home communities like these, built specifically for digital nomads, alleviate some of the housing pains popular nomad destinations are experiencing?

The immediate pushback is that these tiny homes would have to be built outside of the main city area where open space is cheaper & more available.

However, the success of digital nomad village projects like that in Ponta do Sol show that nomads don’t mind living outside of large cities, as long as there is a community present.

Of course, city officials would have to set up regular transportation connecting nomad villages to the large cities, but these are easily solvable problems

The Randolphs said their entire project will cost $5.2 million, I think that is a great price to pay if it can help reduce the housing strain cities are experiencing.

What do you think? Would you live in a tiny home outside of Lisbon surrounded by other nomads for $1200? 

🚨 WORD ON THE WEB

💻 Remote work through the eyes of three, 20-something women and its role in hiring young people.

📱 TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew went before US Congress to defend the social media platform & reaffirm leadership that they were not controlled by the Chinese government, and the results were less than positive

🤖 OpenAI announces plug-ins for ChatGPT turning the popular tool into a platform, similar to Apple’s AppStore. Companies like Zapier & Expedia quickly launched their own apps signaling an exciting new era of AI & business opportunities.

🏝️ Cyprus: Why this lesser-known European island might be the best destination for American nomads

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA FINDS

Thank goodness they figured out the Macbook… would have been tough selling that as “mobile-friendly”

📆 UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 25-26: Running Remote [📍 Lisbon, Portugal] - Largest remote work conference in the world for enterprises and SMEs

May 24-28: Vivel [📍 Multiple Locations, Turkey] - networking meets music at this one-of-a-kind conference for location-independent professionals

June 16-19: Camp Indie [📍 Kent, Connecticut] - adult summer camp & conference for digital nomads & those living an unconventional life

June 25-July 2: Bansko Nomad Fest [📍 Bansko, Bulgaria] - for digital nomads, freelancers, and founders in the mountains of Bulgaria

Thanks for spending a few minutes with us If you are enjoying this newsletter consider sharing it with someone you think may like it!

Send them this link!

That's it from us today, hope you have an amazing day!