A (not so) Typical Day at Hacker Paradise
I get asked a lot what a typical day at HACKER PARADISE looks like. The short answer is your day isn’t typical at all.
- Instead of working from your couch, you’re working from a posh coworking space or a Hello Kitty cafe
- Instead of feeding your dog, you’re washing an elephant
- Instead of shoveling snow solo, you’re shoveling themed food into your face-hole with new friends at our weekly potluck dinners
However, while your surrounding environment might change drastically, many of your core goals, both about getting work done and having a good time, remain the same.
We’re here to help ensure both of those things happen. We’ll even put sunscreen on your back because we’re those kind of people.
tl;dr
Get your shit done, attend Hacker Paradise events, create some personal time, and have fun. Balance is key.
1. Your Work
Getting shit done is your #1 priority so that makes it ours as well. If you want to work and travel sustainably, you’ve got earn that 💰 💰 💰.
We set up a framework to make it easy for you to get all your things done without looking like this:
We often have people say they are MORE PRODUCTIVE WHILE WORKING ON TRIP WITH US than when working from home.
With HP, you work when you want to work. Some people prefer waking up early, some people prefer working late into the night. There is no role call in the morning to check if you are in the office. You choose your hours.
Our coworking spaces are open during work hours and sometimes around the clock, giving you the option to work whenever makes sense for you and your company. Many participants also choose to work from our apartments or local cafes.
Whatever works for you, works for us.
2. Your Play
One of the MAIN PERKS OF JOINING HACKER PARADISE is the additional activities we have — both professional and social.
Activities are opt-in so you don’t have to feel compelled to attend things you don’t want to or feel like you are forced to choose between work and our events.
Got a conflict with a work call and our weekly lunch? Take the work call. We’ll bring you a doggie bag.
For professional events, we hold four events weekly:
- Talks — Listen to two Hacker Paradise members give presentations on areas they are an expert in, followed by Q&A. You’ll be amazed at the range of things your fellow HPers do.
- Workshops — Get some hands-on experience while learning about something new. Want to read and write basic Korean, create a new logo for your company, learn basic ballet sequences, or start your own YouTube channel? Workshops are for you.
- Goals — Set goals for the week, find other Hacker Paradise members who want to join you, and hold each other accountable.
- Reciprocity — Need help with something? Make a request and the group volunteers to help you out — whether it is a professional or personal request.
Additionally, we hold other events scattered throughout the month:
- Side project nights — Pitch your side project idea — whether just an idea or something you are working on — and get feedback from the group. You might even find the perfect partner to collaborate with.
- Networking events — Nosh with others at the coworking space, volunteer with an NGO in town, or talk shop with candidates from the local startup accelerator over beers.
And of course, we have you covered on the social side with weekly events:
- Group lunch — Eat some of the local cuisines while catching up with the group about what everybody did over the weekend. #spillthetea
- Potluck — Cook some food and bring it to share with everybody else. We rotate through themes like ‘something from your childhood,’ ‘goes well with hummus’, and ‘under 15 minutes.’ Eat your heart out, Iron Chef.
- Social night out — Explore the underground jazz bar, go to dinner theatre, or play the Colombian version of horseshoes but with explosives (honestly, you won’t believe it until you see it).
There’s a lot going on so you won’t ever get bored. As I said before, it is opt-in so you’ll have a lot to choose from as you pick what is most important to you!
3. Your ‘Me Time’
We all need time to ourselves. This is just as important in our community as it is in your normal life back home.
No matter where I am in the world, I still have nights in where eat pizza in bed and watch Netflix. I take days for myself where I go off the grid and go explore new parts of town alone. Taking some time off is normal. We’ll be ready for you when you get back, eager to hear about the locals only gelato shop you found or new series you binged from the comfort of your bed.
4. All the Stuff in between
Besides all the official Hacker Paradise events, there are a lot of other things that the group self-organizes. One person pitches an idea and things happen.
Here are a few examples of things we’ve done in the last year:
- Breathtaking hikes to Macchu Picchu (literally, the altitude makes it hard to breath)
- Cage diving with sharks off the coast of South Africa
- Silent headphone dance festivals as you watch the sunrise
- Sandboarding trips (warning: count your fingers before and after!)
- Learning to surf in natural reserves in Bali
- Discovering jazz clubs in the basement of a cathedral
- Hiking volcanoes, taking cooking classes, learning salsa, tango, etc.
- Biking through the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat
- Yacht trips with snorkeling around Italian islands
- Wine tasting and fine dining in Mendoza, Sicily, Lima, Cape Town
And the list goes on…
Summing it up
It’s hard to describe a typical day because (a) no two days are the same and (b) you get to pick what your day consists of.
We set up the framework and provide activities so you have plenty to choose from — then it is up to you figure out when and how you want to accomplish your work and what you want to fill the rest of your time with.
#YOUDABOSS.
— Spencer Jentzsch, Hacker Paradise CEO
Interested in joining us or learning more? APPLY HERE to grab a 15 min time slot to chat with us.
Originally published at www.hackerparadise.org on January 22, 2019.