@nicolekennedy

Overall, I had a nice time on the Noma Collective’s Buenos Aires edition. There were some highs and lows, as with all travel experiences, but I will start on a positive note.

The highs:
- The built in community setting was a huge part of what made this trip fun. Loved having the planned activities and people to do things with, such as shared dinners. It takes a lot of the thinking and effort out of planning.
- Vani was the host of our edition and she was one of the best parts of the experience. She was a lot of fun to be around, planned thoughtful activities for us to enjoy, and had the energy to hang and keep the group motivated at all times.
- I think most everyone will agree that the weekend trip to Mendoza was a highlight. It was really beautiful and the vineyards were incredible, as well as the evening parties. This was without a doubt, my favorite part of the trip!
- The dance lessons and tango show were also a lot of fun!

The lows:
- I was not pleased with the accommodation, especially for the price that we paid. The WIFI in my room did not work well enough for me to take video calls and this is an integral part of my work in sales. I had to take all of my important meetings in the coworking space, which was inconvenient, seeing as how others also use this space. This is the one thing that I look for when booking accommodations while digital nomading, so I found this to be quite disappointing. Additionally, I had a problem with ants, the shower was completely clogged and would fill up with water when I showered, and the kitchen was very minimally stocked.
- I was not a fan of the location we were in, Villa Crespo. It was about a 20 min walk to the cute and fun area of Palermo, which would make more sense to be. If I want to take a break to go to a nice coffee shop, I don’t want to spend 40 mins walking there and back while I’m working.
- Overall, the trip ends up being fairly expensive, as the dinners out ended up being around $55-$60 USD each time and the Mendoza trip was also not cheap. You end up paying more than just the sticker price if you want to join all the activities. It’s a bit harder to use card to pay in a group of 10 or so and cash is hard to easily obtain in Argentina due to the economic situation. All part of traveling in different countries, but just something to be aware of, as this would not be such an issue in another location.

Would I book another trip with Noma? Potentially in another location, such as Belize, but not likely. Not sure that I felt the experience was worth the cost when there are many other ways to travel and meet people successfully.