Every other year NomadMania holds a Conference. In 2017, fourteen travellers met in Layang Layang in the Spratly islands; in 2019, 18 travellers gathered at Faial, Azores, Portugal. Despite the difficulties of the pandemic, we succeeded in holding our meeting on the island of Principe in 2021. And the last ‘unrepresented’ continent was the Americas, where 29 of us gathered from March 6-10 in Panama.
The Conference is conceived as an informal event where travellers can gather in a slightly unusual but still comfortable place and have some serious discussions on issues which are important to NomadMania. Still, this is mainly a social event, where participants explore their destination and learn more about each other. What made the 4th Conference unique is that we opened it up to anybody interested in coming – through posting in our newsletter. We gathered a diverse group of people representing four continents, including relatively ‘unusual’ countries such as Algeria and Kuwait.
Thanks to the efforts of organiser Sandy Cohen, who we mention below, and our manager Milana Bojinovic who designed a uniquely intriguing T-shirt, this was a fully NomadMania branded event. Apart from exploring different islands of the culturally and naturally exquisite archipelago, we also discussed aspects of internal and external marketing, as well as the creation of partnerships with other travel communities. All delegates were divided in teams, which strengthened group cohesiveness and ensured everyone was fully involved.
The Conference, attended by 9 UN Masters, included the birthday celebrations of Max Leyerer and Mette Ehlers-Mikkelsen, while our organiser Sandy Cohen ensured NomadMania was interviewed by a number of local and national journalists, as this event was truly one of a kind in Bocas, which is more known as a backpacker destination. Here are an article in Estrella de Panama and a YouTube interview with our founder – both in Spanish.
On the last day, all attendees voted among the 30+ nominations for the next Conference venue. The finalists include Okinawa in Japan, the Andaman Islands in India and Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan – so we are clearly heading to Asia for the 5th NomadMania Conference in 2025!
Watch the video below to get the full impression of the 4th NomadMania Conference!
