Different strokes for different folks. Many people travel with no particular expectation of engaging on any kind of deep level with the local community of a place they're visiting for a few weeks, and engaging in a multinational community of people with a shared interest in travel, remote working and potentially even complementary knowledge and skillsets isn't necessarily a less worthwhile thing than hanging out with locals as the novelty foreigner. More to the point, unless they massively overdo forced socialisation, the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive, and a well-run programme ought to have some non-commercial interaction with local people built in anyway.

tbh I'd have thought the community aspect was the sole justification for choosing a Roam over an alternative short term rental

That is Roam's entire value add. The large majority of digital nomads are looking to find likeminded individuals with the same constraints in the same foreign city as they are. Similar to hostels when backpacking.

If you want to be integrated into the communities of whom your traveling you want to be crashing on their couches or in the very least renting a local Airbnb.

That may be. But what I'm looking for is a quiet environment with high speed internet and dedicated work spaces. Most hotels are a poor match for one, if not both parts of that equation.

"Crashing on couches" or using Airbnb are both high-variance options - you don't have a guarantee of quality, quiet, or internet, let alone separate dedicated work spaces.

Thankfully affordable co-working spaces offering a quiet environment with high speed internet and dedicated work spaces are abundant.

Id do more digital nomading if the rentals were easier to arrange. Airbnb's often have poor internet, poor desks, and noise. It's also less obviously a business expense for taxes.

But when I'm in a place, I'd rather hang out with locals. Hearing about that goal of Roam puts me off using it.

> I travel to be integrated into the communities in which I am traveling, not to hang out with other travelers.

Same here, and it seems there are very few businesses catering to us. Unfortunately, I think we are in the minority so that won't likely change soon.

Any advice on easing the stress of finding the next place? We use skyscanner to find cheap flights from where we are, Craig's List a ton, and then random searches online for 'furnished apartments {destination}".

> it seems there are very few businesses catering to us

Slow travelers (to avoid the whole "digital nomad" thing) are, in my experience, most welcome, especially in family-run places: We are pretty low maintenance.

> Any advice on easing the stress of finding the next place?

This is how I do it: Book flight and one or two nights in a hotel (depending on duration of flight/expected jetlag). Find a better hotel locally (one I am comfortable paying and staying at for the whole stay in worst case), start local hunt for a place. I usually find something within two weeks that is a much better deal than anything on airbnb (or with any other online presence).

These two weeks allow me to learn the very basics to make an informed decision: Local salaries in the area (if a cop makes $200, a lease of $800 should ring an alarm), reality about security issues (pay more for something in a gated community?), actual transportation costs (just because a taxi has to be metered by law, it does not mean it will be for you, if you stand out as a foreigner) etc.

By "businesses catering to us" I was referring to companies like Roam (or, any "hey digital nomad, come stay with us for a month away from anyone local just to be a tourist" companies), but I 100% agree with your statement that we are usually welcome by local businesses.

And thank you for the description of your process, always good to get another perspective. We find ourselves working very hard to find the proper place before we arrive, and having some local time first would definitely seem to make things easier. Just have to balance that cost with our budget.

> Just have to balance that cost with our budget.

Just to give you an idea of potential savings: Including utilities and fiber optics into my house I pay $500/month (two bedrooms, fully furnished house with giant terrace) - the same is available online for $120/day. This is in southern Morocco and even the 500 I pay include a tourist penalty fee. Local cops start with a salary of $220/month...

That's an amazing savings. We are enjoying Panamá (the country, not the city) currently with a rent of $250 per month, internet included.

The challenge we are currently facing is finding a place in the US for two-three months that's actually affordable. Even the hotels are crazy expensive for short stays.

It definitely seems like picking a city, getting there in a hotel, and then finding a place is a better strategy than finding something online. I've been to countless websites that return an error when I put in our target dates: 'our reservation system doesn't allow dates longer than 30 days'!?! LOL Then, almost everything for our target duration is 'vacation rental', which means they want at least $500 per week.

Total side note: is there a way to get notified when people respond to your comment on HN?

Haha that's what the fad is becoming! I've been to many "nomad" cities and always avoid meeting so-called nomads - and cringe when I see one in a cafe who brought 2 external monitors and is having a "standup" call...