Meet Josh: Community Building on the French Riviera

Meet Josh,

Entrepreneur, community builder, and Dutch expat who turned isolation on the French Riviera into connection, and a thriving international community.

Joshua moved to the South of France in 2018 with his wife, chasing a better quality of life, sunshine, and a slower pace. What he didn’t expect was how isolating life abroad could feel, even in one of the most beautiful regions in the world.

In this episode, we talk about

• the reality of settling into the French Riviera: navigating language barriers, adapting to a slower (very slow) pace of life, and the challenges of building genuine friendships in a place shaped by tourism and transient expat populations.

• how that experience led him to create Next Locals, a community-first platform born from simple meetups over drinks, consistency, and the desire to bring like-minded people together offline

• French culture, the importance of making an effort with the language, the differences between Paris and the South, and how creating a “tribe” is what truly makes a place feel like home.

🎤Song Tell Ol’ Bill - Alternate version by Bob Dylan: https://open.spotify.com/track/4UFz15tiyxEV8w70Az6GtN?si=Rxnj3klnSPiKVVxdhXxTIA

🍕Restaurant recommendations in Cagnes-sur-Mer. 

La Spiaggia : https://www.laspiaggiaplage.com/

Le Bistrot de la Marine: https://lebistrotdelamarine.fr/ 

Next Locals website: https://nextlocals.com/ 

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Credits:

Intro outro Ice tea, Not the king

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