Skip to main content

Satisfy your wanderlust with Roam, which lets you live anywhere a week at a time

Is wanderlust in your blood? Roam, an international network of interchangeable, design-led communal living spaces, may be able to help with those cravings. The service is planning on expanding its reach to even more locations around the world, and so you really don’t have an excuse to stay in one place any longer.

The company, founded by Bruno Haid in 2015, promises new horizons for modern travelers by allowing them to forgo traditional leases in favor of the option to sign a single weekly lease in locations throughout the world. For $500 a week, you can hop from Ubud to Miami to Madrid, with more cities on the way.

“Roam is creating a way for people to live according to their interests and curiosities, rather than around the traditional 30 ­year fixed rate mortgage.” says Bruno Haid, co-­founder of Roam. At a time when millennials are traveling more than ever, it’s no wonder that being freed from the confines of a year-long lease (or longer term mortgage) is a welcome change.

Thanks to a new $3.3 million seed-funding round, Roam will be able to expand, and plans to open new locations in Buenos Aires and London this year. “Roam has tremendous potential to innovate in global housing at a time when local infrastructure is limiting the evolution of housing and a generation of people are seeking global experiences more than ever before,” said Annie Kadavy, the lead investor from venture capital firm CRV.

This is no couch-surfing company, though. Roam claims that it develops a “sense of community and close ties to local communities” across its locations by way of organized activities and events, local language classes, and a strong support network of local creatives and professionals. The platform allows travelers to book private suites on a weekly basis, and each facility comes complete with coworking spaces (so you can work and play at the same time), Wi-Fi, laundry facilities, and access to on-­site locally operated coffee shops, bars, and restaurants.

Better still, Roam says, most their housing options include a shared pool, media room, library, and space to host events.

So if you’re looking to get out of the ordinary and live life a week at a time, you might want to check out the housing options afforded by Roam. After all, it’s the company that wants you to sign one lease and then live around the world.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Apple Fitness+ now lets you work out with your friends
Apple Fitness Plus on Apple One.

During the Apple California Streaming event, Apple Fitness+ has introduced Group Workouts on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. You will still see your own metrics on display on the screen, but you will also be able to see an indicator of how well your friends are doing in their workouts. It's a fun way to bring a competitive element to working out and to keep yourself and your friends motivated.

Apple has also expanded its Apple Fitness+ program to include even more countries. While it's currently available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand, Apple is adding support for 15 more countries including Italy, Austria, and Brazil. New subscribers to the service will receive one month for free, or three months free with the purchase of an Apple Watch. Afterward, the service is $10 per month or $80 per year in the U.S.

Read more
Ikea’s $199 Symfonisk Picture Frame Speaker lets you hang your tunes on a wall
Ikea Sonos Symfonisk Picture Frame Speaker

Ikea's third collaborative project with Sonos under the Symfonisk brand is the $199 Symfonisk Picture Frame Speaker, a 22 by 16-inch rectangular Wi-Fi speaker that can be hung in portrait or landscape orientation on a wall, or sat freestanding on a flat surface. It goes on sale at Ikea-usa.com and in stores on July 15. At that time, buyers will be able to choose between black or white frame colors, and a dark grey or light grey geometric print as the speaker grille/artwork. Two additional print options will be available at launch for $20 each.

In typical Sonos fashion, there has been no discussion of the Picture Frame Speaker's power in terms of watts. Instead, the company describes it as "room-filling" -- a term it uses for many of its speakers. Sonos put a focus on the architecture of the speaker, specifically the design of the tweeter. It uses a special diffuser to help high-frequency sounds spread out around a room.

Read more
WhatsApp now lets you make voice and video calls from your computer
WhatsApp messaging app

WhatsApp is now rolling out voice and video calling to desktop users, the company announced today. The messaging service, used by over a billion people worldwide, is improving the feature set of its desktop apps to match both its Facebook Messenger counterpart, as well as rivals from Apple's FaceTime and Microsoft's Skype.

WhatsApp says it is making this change due to a growth in voice and video calling that has happened over the past year. Due to the ongoing pandemic, a mix of social isolation, and lockdowns, more and more people have used the app to stay in touch in place of face-to-face communication. WhatsApp says this has reflected in "significant" growth, citing 1.4 billion voice and video calls made on New Year's Eve alone.

Read more