Last month we had the opportunity to host HitchPlanet’s team here at the HUB, Luke and Flo, while working on new features for their ride share service in Vancouver. This is a post on their experience at Impact HUB Antigua and La Antigua Guatemala’s surroundings.
After a mild Winter in British Columbia and no snow, I took a break from Raincouver and joined Luke in Antigua, Guatemala for a month of remote work on HitchPlanet.
Luke standing in front of Volcán de Agua in Antigua.
Luke and I are fortunate enough to have the possibility of working remotely. This means, any place with reliable Internet is a potential destination. In fact, Luke’s been hacking away on our rideshare platform HitchPlanet from Guatemala for the last few months. A perfect excuse to come and visit.
The “digital nomad” lifestyle is becoming very popular; with better access to broadband Internet and a growing global fleet of freelancers and remote professionals, it’s very popular to work and travel these days.
We set up shop in Antigua at the local co-working centre, Impact Hub Antigua. The space was incredible: spanish-style courtyard with a fountain, views on three volcanoes and a private rooftop office with high-speed Internet (most of the time).
Our office was situated above a stunning courtyard with a fountain.
The view from the rooftop into the main courtyard of Impact Hub Antigua.
Our private office, I’d even brought my monitor on the plane from Canada.
The Hub’s rooftop had long chairs with cushions to read and relax.
The view on Volcán de Agua from the rooftop.
I was visiting during the holiest time of the year, Easter. There were lots of religious events happening around Antigua, with visitors from all other Guatemala.
It was a nice change from the Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs and other Western gimmicks of North America and Europe.
To honour religious processions, locals prepare floral patterns on the streets (alfombras).
Religious groups carry out religious processions depicting scenes of the Bible.
The processions walk over the “alfombras”, leaving carpets of colourful dust on the streets of Antigua.
Guatemala has very fertile land thanks to its volcanic soil. Lots of organic farms, often started by foreigners, are run in the outskirts of the city. It’s always nice to leave the screen behind and enjoy what nature has to offer.
Luke and I posing in veggie gardens
It’s amazing how refreshing it is to work from a new environment. Breaking the usual rhythm gets creative juices flowing and in turn increases quality of work.
The incredible community at the Hub made us realize we need to focus more on our own community. Success comes from caring, interacting and listening to people.
A big thank you to everyone there for making me feel at home, including Flavia, Cesar, Tyler, Ben, Emma, Aaron, Michelle and our new Guatemalan friends Ronnie and Geovani for their patience in listening to my broken Spanish (and our guitar strumming).
I’ll be back one day…
Sunset over the surrounding volcanoes: Acatenango (right) and Fuego (left)
My last sunset and a small eruption on Fuego
We certainly enjoyed having these guys here and hosting such long working hours (along with music and stories from the northern country). We hope to have Flo back soon, and Luke for some more time.
Would you like to have your team working from the Impact HUB Antigua on a project, a team retreat or on your business strategy? Drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll make it happen!
* This story was originally published on HitchPlanet’s blog. To read the whole story, go HERE.
