WILLOW CREEK — Two freelance web designers from Portland checked into a rented cottage on Pleasant Lake last month with laptops, camping gear, and a question that town officials are increasingly eager to answer: can you work from Willow Creek?
Megan Torres and David Park stayed for three weeks, logging 40-hour workweeks via the town’s broadband connection while spending evenings hiking the Mattawamkeag River Trail and paddling on the lake. They are believed to be the first “digital nomads” — remote workers who travel while employed — to test Willow Creek as an extended-stay destination.
“It was perfect,” Torres said. “The internet was faster than my apartment in Portland, and the cost of living for three weeks was what I’d spend in a week in the city.”
Selectman Arthur Pendelton said the visit has sparked discussions about marketing Willow Creek to remote workers. “We’ve got the scenery, the quiet, and — with the broadband feasibility study inching forward — the potential bandwidth,” he said. “This could be a whole new tourism niche.”