Crossroads is a free app for nomadic people to find and foster community. The current version includes community-created events, ranging from campfire hangs to beach cleanups. It also helps synchronize travel plans with route planning so that friends can know where they’ll overlap next and can coordinate community “at the crossroads.”
Who does Crossroads benefit?
The nomadic community, which we define as anyone who lives full- or part-time “on the road”, i.e. out of a van, car, bus, RV, motorcycle, or backpack. This includes people from a wide range of backgrounds, from those who are on the road because of economic necessity to those who spent their life savings on a custom camper because of their love of travel. The nomadic movement is rapidly expanding due to the growing popularity of remote work and earning a reputation for being a safe space for those who consider themselves atypical or divergent from the norm. Most nomads work to live, rather than live to work, resulting in a class of financial insecurity, even though abundant living is standard.
What is Crossroads’ status?
The app has been under development for about a year, with an all-volunteer team of nomads motivated to create a product that benefits their community. We have conducted extensive user research during the course of the development process, particularly centering the needs of solo female travelers to ensure that the app is safe to use for all. At this stage, the development is approximately 70% complete — but with our currently limited resources and depleted budget, we need outside funding in order to launch.
How is Crossroads a public good?
Crossroads is a free platform for supporting community building among those living alternatively during a time of increasing unaffordability in the housing market. This community is entirely non-hierarchical, with no apparent leaders or code of conduct. However, there are emergent social norms, particularly around respecting the land and minimizing environmental impact, and there are opportunities for Crossroads to provide a platform for decentralized governance and norms that support these and other ways of being.
Additionally, this lifestyle can be isolating and lonely, and most people only find community after being “on the road” for months or years, if ever. There is a thriving nomadic social scene, with strong supportive community norms, such as sharing skills and resources, providing support during difficult times (e.g. vehicle or mental breakdowns), promoting each others’ work, and encouraging each others’ hobbies and passions. However, this community can sometimes feel inaccessible or exclusive, particularly for those with marginalized identities, and Crossroads wants to change that with transparency and inclusion.
How does Crossroads align with OpenCivics’ pillars?
Crossroads provides a platform to improve the nomadic community’s resilient capacity for adaptive self-organization while also supporting members’ essential needs during societal oppression and a changing planet. These essential needs include discovering access to basic resources (like water and electricity), social support (for mental health and vitality), and safe and accessible overnight camping/parking locations. The app facilitates community to share resources and strengthen social structures that promote communal prosperity and environmental benefit. In addition to fostering community, the features will directly aid in community organizing around environmental and social impact, promoting a shared sense of stewardship over public land and responsibility for the impacts of nomadic living. Because the development and management of the app has and will be entirely driven by community choice, it has already proven to be highly responsive to this growing and diverse community as the world continues to change.