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My Experience Coliving at the AVNEA Nomad Village in Crete, Greece

Co-livings and nomad villages have taken the world by storm over the past few years, and that’s actually how we ended up in Greece with AVNEA!


Jo and I met Lotus in a small nomad town in Bulgaria, and fast forward a couple of months – we're spending a month together in a small village in the mountains of Crete.


Lotus has created her own AVNEA community in the village of Zaros, where nomads come together a few times a year to spend a full month together, coworking, exploring, and creating fun memories!


After spending a month in Zaros at the AVNEA Nomad Village, I’m excited to share some of the highlights from our experience, including the fun memories we created and the things that made this coliving experience so unique.


Family Lunch at Zaros Lake
Family Lunch at Zaros Lake

What makes AVNEA so unique?


We’ve done quite a few colivings in the past (even hosted our own) and each experience has its own thing that makes it unique.


At AVNEA, that thing was how local it was! We were truly the only nomads in a small Greek mountain full of locals living their day-to-day lives.


We got to know quite a few of them throughout the month – we would say “Kalimera” to people when we recognized them in the street, we’d be on a first-name basis with the people working the coffee shop next door, and when we’d order food at the local tavern, they started to remember our order. That’s not something you experience everywhere!


Yaya offering an afternoon treat
Yaya offering an afternoon treat

Also, the Hub where we would cowork from is actually a restaurant during the busy season that gets turned into a coworking space during the slower season which is when the AVNEA Village takes place.


The restaurant (the Hub) is owned by George’s family (Lotus’s partner) so George’s grandma (yaya) would come in at least once a day to prepare some food or say hi! She even cooked dinner for us a few times which was delicious – and it was so nice to have some locally made Greek food. 


On top of the day-to-day events, Lotus also arranged for some epic experiences throughout our month-long stay. Some of our favourites were the “family” dinners and an arranged group hike. Let’s dive into each of them…


  • Christmas dinner at AVNEA Nomad Village


There’s a memory I absolutely love from our stay and that’s when we all prepared a Christmas dinner together and celebrated an early Christmas. We got divided into small groups and then each group prepared a different dish for everyone. We also decorated The Hub to feel Christmas-like, dressed up, and did Secret Santa. It was perfect and George’s grandma joined us too!I was lucky enough to be paired with Elena, the community manager, to make the main meal (she’s an amazing chef) and it was just such a fun memory and kind of encapsulates what the experience at AVNEA Nomad Village is like. 


  • Rouvas Gorge Hike

Another really fun experience we had was hiking the Rouvas Gorge Trail. It’s an incredibly beautiful hike just next to Zaros. We had some locals come pick us up in their pick up trucks and then the majority of the group sat in the back of it!


Once we got to the trailhead, we actually bumped into a group of locals that had hosted some birthday event or something and they ended up offering us coffee and pastries which was so unexpected and really sweet! So we said yes and enjoyed a quick cup of coffee before heading on the hike.


We hiked together as a community from the top of Rouvas Gorge all the way back to the lake above Zaros where we had some lunch and hung out after the hike.


These bigger day trips are great because it’s time away from work where you really get to enjoy the people and have meaningful conversations with the other AVNEA members!


What is life like in Zaros?


The community spends most of the time between two places which are the hotel and The Hub (coworking area). The hotel and the coworking area are only a 1-minute walk apart which makes it super convenient! This way you are always close to the other AVNEA members but can also easily go back to your room to take a call or to relax if you need a bit of time to yourself.


I will say though that during the week we sometimes felt a little locked in because it’s quite a small village and the main road is quite busy with cars without a sidewalk to walk on. Thankfully, there are a ton of beautiful hiking trails nearby, a soccer pitch to exercise on, and we had rented a car so we could easily go on little trips after work to get out and explore!


In general it’s a very relaxed, chill, and cozy place. In the evenings we’d have the fire going in The Hub and we’d all be playing games together or doing a workshop or something else. The evenings were definitely some of the coziest times!


Other things we loved at AVNEA

  • Coffee outside in the sun

One of the day-to-day things I loved about my time in Zaros was the coffee shop next door. If you don’t know Jo & I, we both love coffee and explore different coffee shops wherever we travel.


It’s a nice way to meet locals and get a feel for what a place is like and that’s why every day (at least once) we’d grab a coffee at Za.Rou’s Creperie next door!The Hub could be a little chilly sometimes since we were there in November but sitting out in the sun was so nice and warm, so I really enjoyed having a coffee by myself or with another AVNEA member while soaking up some rays.


Sitting out in the sun in shorts and t-shirts while taking a 10-15 minute break from work was always such a treat. Sometimes it’s those simple moments like a coffee in the sun that really stand out!


  • Incredible community

When it comes to colivings and sharing a space together, the community aspect of the group is probably one of the most important things! And this is something that Lotus and Elena (the community manager) thrived on – and it made for a really close and connected community.


We actually arrived a few days late because we were hosting our own coliving the month before. But even though we got there a few days after the experience had started, everyone (and I mean everyone) were super warm and welcoming and it made us feel right at home from the beginning.


We did so many social events throughout the month so from the morning workouts and yogas to hangouts and game nights in the evenings, it was super easy to get to know the people early on.


It felt so easy meeting and getting to know the people which I really appreciated as that’s sometimes one of the biggest challenges we face as nomads.


  • Skill-sharings and collaborations

One thing that I thought was really cool at AVNEA was the skill sharing sessions and all the collaborations that was going on between the different community members. We had a group of people with very different skills, interests, and work experiences which was so cool because everyone had different things we could teach each other.I remember at one point Lotus was teaching some of us how to DJ, someone else was sharing knowledge about getting visas in different parts of the world, and then we also had a members who is a Human Design professional and she did a few workshop on that (this was one of our favourites)! Lotus and one of the members even created a business, High on Life, together during this time!How cool is that!?





Wrapping up my AVNEA Nomad Village in Crete experience


Overall, Jo and I had a great time at AVNEA and we highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for an amazing community in a unique location with lots of opportunity to connect with locals!


To get a more detailed description of what 1 month at AVNEA Nomad Village in Crete looks like you can read our blog post about it here. In that post, we go more into details about what our day-to-day looked like and all the different things we did during our stay at AVNEA in November!


If you want to learn more about AVNEA, you can read more about the experience here and connect with Lotus and Elena on AVNEA’s Instagram (you’ll also find lots of photos and videos from their different experiences there). And if you have any specific questions for Jo & I, you can connect with us on Instagram @redwhiteadventures.


We wish you the best on your nomad journey – and who know, maybe our paths will cross at a future AVNEA Nomad Village!


About the Authors

Josefine and Dominik are a Danish-Canadian digital nomad couple who work as content creators and travel bloggers.

Since launching their blog in 2019, they’ve helped over 1 million people discover adventurous destinations around the world, catering to outdoor lovers of all skill levels!

They first met in a hostel room in Australia in 2016 and have since travelled the World full time. One of their latest adventures took them to the Avnea Village in Crete – and in this post, you will learn from Dom about their experience.


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