A shared office that travels! The possibilities of travel and work seen from COBOAT.

Work is moving away from the office. Until now, people would go to work at a fixed time in the morning and return home at a fixed time. This work style, which many people have probably tried to escape from, is now undergoing a transformation. In ventures and startups, it's often the case that there aren't even rules for fixed-time office attendance, but recently, the movement among large corporations has been remarkable. Starting with Recruit, many companies are beginning to adopt remote work and telework.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also plans to increasingly promote telework in the future. This is because telework will solve many of the problems currently existing in Japan, but how telework will solve these problems is a topic for another occasion. In any case, if the number of people working remotely or via telework increases from now on, there is no doubt that people's lifestyles will also change significantly.

First, you will no longer be tied to a specific location. It is clear that more and more people will desire a lifestyle where they can work anywhere, not bound by location. In such an era, the most suitable working space for balancing work and travel is being offered. It's a boat that literally functions as a co-working space while traveling the world, truly achieving the future of combining travel and work.

There is a traveling co-working space called COBOAT.

Co-working spaces themselves have gained considerable recognition. They refer to places where individuals can work independently while sharing meeting rooms and workspaces. What if such a co-working space were to travel the world? For example, a boat that allows for a lifestyle where you board from a certain place in Japan, work during travel, and take vacations in the countries you arrive at. And the workplace is on the sea. That isCOBOATIt is.

It is said that once you become a working adult, opportunities to travel and see the world decrease. Even if you can go, major holidays mean crowded destinations and often require paying very high prices. However, if you can work anywhere, and your "workplace" itself is traveling the world, then it's a different story. There's no longer a need to pay exorbitant prices for major holidays; "everyday life becomes the journey itself."

New ways of working (work styles) enable new ways of living (lifestyles). COBOAT can truly be called the new lifestyle itself, born from changes in work styles. Its reputation spread rapidly, and now, reservations seem to be pouring in daily. It is expected that services and proposals for a non-stationary lifestyle, like COBOAT, will increase in the future.

Also for corporate training and retreats. Uses are diverse.

Several uses for COBOAT have been proposed. In addition to individual freelancers, remote workers, and teleworkers utilizing it, there are also suggestions for companies to use it for development retreats or training venues. Many companies probably already conduct development retreats or training in remote mountain areas or unusual locations, but how about holding these retreats in a traveling venue like COBOAT?

A completely different environment than usual. Numerous stimuli gained through travel. These can foster creative ideas and perhaps lead to something different from the usual. People are greatly influenced by their workplace and environment.

For example, it's common to get stuck on an idea or find it impossible to concentrate, only to clear the problem much faster than expected by changing the environment. It would be interesting to see how much brainstorming, developing, and working in a completely extraordinary workplace environment, like on a boat, would impact the results.

There are many possibilities for similar services.

In reality, I believe there are many possibilities with this concept of a mobile workspace. For example, currently, most of the target audience is thought to be single individuals or multiple people who 'do not have a family.' However, it's possible that people during their child-rearing period, when childcare is necessary, might not be excluded from participating in such projects.

This is because, currently, there are an increasing number of co-working spaces where you can work with your children. For example, within a co-working space, there might be a play area for children and dedicated staff. During work hours, arrangements might be made for children to play with each other. What if this were applied to the current COBOAT project? During children's summer holidays, it would be possible for the whole family to board a boat and travel around the world. This would be an incredibly significant experience for children and a great endeavor for parents.

Furthermore, if it were a project where people from all over the world gathered, children could interact with other children from around the world on the same boat, and parents would have a place to share various values. As work styles become more flexible in the future, it's fair to say that the trend will be towards an increasing number of attempts to integrate work and travel.

Changes in work styles transform the world and create new markets.

This time, we considered the balance between family, travel, and work as an example, but if we brainstorm, there must be many more hidden attempts worth trying to balance work and travel. After all, not only digital nomads but also remote workers will continue to increase, with over a billion people worldwide expected to be remote workers by 2035. There's no reason why we can't introduce new ideas here.

In the future, numerous changes will be brought to work formats and styles. To navigate these changes without confusion, utilize new work styles, and enrich one's life, trying out remote work and telework will be an important endeavor.

For those of you interested in COBOAT, and even those not particularly interested in COBOAT but curious about changes in work styles, it might be fun to once consider your own work style and lifestyle. And if you can actually take on the challenge, it will be a big step towards changing your own future.