The next post in my series was suppose to be on how to network and meet people when you set foot in a foreign country and barely know the language. I may still write about this but I thought I would share some images from the 5 day trip I took from Valencia to visit Ibiza and Formentera in the Balearic Islands!

My friend Lizelle and I flew Vueling Airlines from Valencia last week to visit Ibiza. The flight was only 25 minutes and the ticket was cheaper than taking the 4hr ferry ride! We rented an apartment on AirBnB for cheaper than most hotels, since August is the high season there. The apartment was absolutely amazing and had a phenomenal view of the port in Eiviessa Town. We stayed a total of 5 days and had an awesome time. We were able to visit several of the must-see calas (coves) on the island – Cala d’hort, Cala Salada and Ses Selines.

We also had the chance to visit neighboring island Formentera. Formentera is a 45 minute ferry ride from Eivissa Town but definitely worth the trip. In Formentera we rented a motor scooter and were able to see almost the whole island in one day! However, it’s definitely a place you could spend a lifetime! We saw La Mola, Playa Illetes and Cap de Barbaria. Formentera was truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to and I would go back in a heartbeat.

If you’re going to swap, why not take some time to travel? It’s ok to have some fun too!

Hi everyone! Here are some more pics with my new colleagues in Brookyn! Yesterday I visited “Afilliate Summit East” at Hilton NY with some of them and it is going be a very interesting experience!

They also changed the wall clock into Valencia time..

Regards. Talk soon!

I thought it would be useful to share my experience in arranging my apartment and office swap with the SYS community. This will be the first of a series of posts while I enjoy my time here in Valencia, Spain as SYS’s First Swapper! The three areas I will touch on are getting approval from your company, negotiating with your landlord (if applicable), and preparing your apartment for the arrival of your fellow swapper.

Getting Approval from your Company

For me, this was actually the easiest part of the process but I suspect that, for you, it might be the most difficult. I was fortunate in that A.J. Lawrence, CEO of The JAR Group (my employer), was the first person who told me about SYS. A.J. is good at identifying trends and he heard of SYS early on and thought it might be an opportunity that I would find interesting. Well, he was right and here I am! In order to seek formal approval, however, I prepared a document that outlined the experience, the benefits, my professional and personal goals, and the logistics of communication and my estimated hours of availability. Below is the document:

Slideshare embeds aren’t working properly, but you can view the document here!

Notably, the document I prepared is fairly basic. Depending on the size of your company, your position, and other factors you may need to add more details. This should at least give you a general idea of what might work!

Negotiating With Your Landlord (queue Brooklyn landlord mafia music…)

In general, I would recommend not telling your landlord that you are allowing someone else stay in your apartment. However, this might not be possible depending on the length of your stay and how you pay your rent. For example, if you’re only gone a month you may be able to get by without telling your landlord. However, if you’re gone two months this becomes an issue when you need to pay your second months rent. Remember that this is technically not a sublet. You are still responsible for your rent or mortgage payment and your swapper for theirs. Check your lease agreement and see if there is a clause that says whether or not you can allow someone else to live in your space. Even if there is a clause, it’s probably easier to avoid the question of allowing an unknown party stay in your apartment unless you feel it’s absolutely necessary to broach the subject.

In my case, my landlord lives upstairs so the whole “don’t ask, don’t tell” scenario would have been difficult to pull off. About a month prior to the swap I approached my landlord about the idea. She said at first blush she was fine with it – then she went out of town for two weeks. Based on her word, I went ahead and booked my ticket. Bad, bad move on my part! When she got back from her trip she told me she was having second thoughts. She was having issues with the tenant upstairs and wanted to avoid any possible trouble with an unknown tenant. I had to explain to her that I had already booked my ticket and express that I had been doing due diligence of my own. I wanted her to understand that I was putting a lot on the line by doing the swap as well. I was allowing someone I had never met to not only enter my personal space, but use my desk, and potentially be introduced to my friends and professional contacts. I wanted her to understand this and know that I too had done my research. At this point she came around and requested two professional references from my swapper. He sent these the next day.

The final part of the negotiation had to do with rent payment. We agreed that I would prepay two months of rent and an additional security deposit. Her request for an additional security deposit did not make me too happy! I already had a security deposit per my lease agreement that would cover any damages so it didn’t make sense to have an additional deposit. On top of this, she deposited all three checks at once (rent payment x3). If you can, I would recommend trying to stay away from prepaying rent and mail the checks or have a friend deliver them. A single payment for 3x rent hitting your bank account can definitely hurt your cash flow!

This part of the swap proved to be most challenging. Hopefully you own your apartment or house and don’t have to deal this. Also, if you don’t live in Brooklyn or NYC for that matter, I’m sure you’ll have an easier time. Luckily, it all worked out in the end for me!

Preparing your Apartment for the Arrival of your Swapper

Perhaps the easiest part of the process was preparing for the arrival of the swapper. The three things I did were clean my apartment, stash away important goods and documents, and create a guide to my apartment and my neighborhood. True, nobody likes cleaning (at least I hope not) so that doesn’t fall into the enjoyable category. Neither does stashing away important goods or documents. I recommend putting these items in a box and taking them to a friend who lives nearby. I didn’t want tax documents or items like my birth certificate and social security card laying around my apartment. However, what was slightly enjoyable was creating a guide to not only my apartment and also to Brooklyn. The guide is below:

Slideshare embeds aren’t working properly, but you can view the document here!

You may not need a guide this in depth! In my case, I met my Swapper in Valencia, Spain first so he was going to be in Brooklyn without me there to show him things or introduce him to contacts. So, I felt it was necessary to put together a somewhat detailed guide. Hopefully it helped!

Notice the last section in the above document – “essential contacts” (friends, office, car service, etc). In my next blog post I hope to cover how to build a base of contacts in a foreign city, beyond just the contacts that are given to you by your swapper, so that you can truly enjoy your experience!

Prequel: I am SwapYourShop’s first swapper!

Let’s be real, I needed to get away! I hadn’t left the city limits of New York City since November of 2009. Any New Yorker will tell you that this a problem. I’m not from the east coast. In fact, I’m from Kentucky so I say this with somewhat of an unbiased eye: us New Yorkers work hard, and play harder. Getting out of the city from time to time is a requirement for keeping up with the pace of the New York lifestyle 7 days a week.

A year ago my mind was set on going to the Caribbean. I’m a fan of music, especially live music, and the St. Lucia Jazz Festival hosted every May is suppose to be a one of a kind experience. By the time May came around, I completely failed to make plans. I needed a plan B.

Two years ago I had a great experience renting an apartment in Paris over New Years. The apartment was a very modern apartment in the center of the city, over a major holiday for only $50/night! I had found this apartment on Craigslist. More recently I learned of Home For Exchange and AirBnB, two websites that make swapping apartments and homes much more secure than Craigslist. The idea of swapping continued to be appealing to me because it’s an extremely affordable way to secure housing while, arguably, living much more comfortably than being in a hotel or hostel.

On Home For Exchange I connected with someone in Johannesberg, South Africa looking to come to NYC during the World Cup. She even offered to allow me to use her car for the duration of my stay in South Africa! I couldn’t convince any friends to go with me on such short notice so yet another opportunity to take a hiatus from New York slipped away. Around this time, my boss told me about SwapYourShop (SYS).

While the idea of exchanging living arrangements was not new to me, the idea of exchanging both living arrangements and office space was undoubtedly a new idea! This is exactly what SYS allows for. People continue to ask me to clarify this idea. No, you don’t work for a new company! You continue to work for your same company, but yet have the ability to work from the desk of the person who you are exchanging with if you so desire.

On SYS I immediately connected with many people. Being that the concept was so new, the individuals I first contacted were all very interested, yet unsure of how to proceed in arranging the swap. However, one person was persistent in keeping the communication going; Jose Luis of Valencia, Spain. We spoke for about a month via Skype and came to an agreement that we would swap. At the time, I was unaware that we were the first people to swap on SYS! Pretty cool. (For more details on how we arranged the swap, you can read our interview).

The journey has now begun and I am currently in Valencia, Spain! Over the course of the next few weeks I hope to address a few topics that future swappers might find useful:

1) Details of arranging the swap including negotiating with your company, telling your landlord and prepping your apartment.

2) Setting up your work environment so that you can effectively execute your work abroad. This includes being accessible by phone, internet access, work hours, and other logistics (I am still figuring this out).

3) Networking and building a base of contacts in a foreign city where you likely won’t know anyone.

If there are any other topics you would like to know about, please let me know! Also bear in mind, I am still learning a lot with 5 weeks to go.

Who am I?

By day I work as Digital Strategist for an interactive marketing agency called The JAR Group, helping clients grow their customer base and increase online revenues. By night, I maintain a rap music website called 100 Best Rap Songs. Between these two projects I also organize the Digital DUMBO community (DUMBO is a neighborhood in Brooklyn that is becoming known as New York’s Digital District). Over the past year and a half, Digital DUMBO has grown to be the 2nd largest digital technology and media community in New York City.

You can follow me on Twitter at @A2Z.

Hi everybody! I am Jose from Valencia (Spain), and I am the first swapper with Andrew Zarick (NY-USA).

Nowadays Andrew is living in my apartment and sharing my advertising agency office with my co-workers (http://www.comuniqualis.com), as me as I am at his apartment in Brooklyn-NY, joining this new awesome experience with his colleagues at (http://www.thejargroup.com). Any questions I will answer through this blog.

Talk soon!

SwapYourShop is pleased to announce that our first swappers have met, swapped work and living spaces and are currently in the middle of their swap experience. Meet Andrew Zarick and Jose L. Poyatos Puig.

We decided to ask them some questions about their initial swap and will definitely be following up with them after their swap to share their experience. In the meantime, come back to our blog frequently, where both Andrew and Jose will be guest posting for the next 7 weeks tracking their swaps. We wish Andrew and Jose the best of luck and can’t wait to hear all about their experiences.

Here’s what they had to say:

• What is your background as a creative?
  AZ: Jose works for a multimedia, print and digital design agency called Comuniqualis. I work for an interactive marketing agency called The JAR Group based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY. Our core services revolve around the execution of search marketing services. I also co-organize a digital meetup called Digital DUMBO, which has grown to become the largest digital meetup in Brooklyn and the second largest in New York City.

• Did you meet your swapper on SwapYourShop? If so, how did you go about making the connection?
  AZ: Within the first week of joining SwapYourShop I contacted several people all over the world. Only a few were actually serious about swapping. The three places I was considering were Valencia, Cozumel and Amsterdam. Jose, who was in Valencia, was by far the most serious about swapping!
  JP: During my first week joining SwapYourShop I met lots of people, but I was really interested in travels to US, places like California, San Diego, Miami and New York. I got in touch with some people from those areas, but the most serious and interested was Andrew.

• Did you know each other prior to being SwapYourShop members?
  AZ: Jose and I did not know each other prior to SwapYourShop.

• Did you contact other SwapYourShop users to inquire about a swap? If so, what was that experience like?
  AZ: I contacted several other people all over the world.
  JP: Yes. I just keep in touch with one of them from Mexico, apart of Andrew.

• How long are you swapping for?
  AZ: Jose and I are swapping for 7 weeks.

• Where are you swapping to and for how long?
  AZ: I will be living in Valencia, Spain for 7 weeks and Jose will be living in my apartment in Brooklyn, NY for about 6 weeks.

• How did you prepare for the swap once you made a successful connection?
  AZ: From the beginning, it was very apparent that Jose was serious about swapping. This made me feel more comfortable about beginning to take the proper steps needed for a successful swap including negotiating a “sublet” with my landlord as well as negotiating working aboard with my agency. In preparation for the swap I also did research on Valencia, Jose, and his company (Communiqualis) ensuring that I would be comfortable in the city and my surroundings for a sustained period of time. Jose and I spoke several times a week via Skype. I asked Jose many questions about his apartment, his office, and the city. We began to trust in each other and over time became more comfortable with one another and the environments in which we would be living. My biggest fear was not knowing anyone in Valencia and also not knowing much Spanish. I immediately began networking with English-speaking people in Valencia through other websites.

• Did you create an agreement document? If so, what was covered in this document?
  AZ: Jose and I created both a “personal agreement” and a “professional agreement.” The agreements were far from formal legal documents, however, the agreements covered essential items like “Jose will pay his mortgage and Andrew will pay his rent,” “we will provide each other essential contacts such as friends with a spare set of keys and the address of the closest hospital.” I wrote Jose a complete guide to everything in my apartment (how to use the coffee maker), local restaurant suggestions, transportation directions to locations such as my office, and information on how to get to places like the grocery store and laundromat.

• How are you going to handle pets, significant others, children, cars, valuables, etc…?
  AZ: I don’t own any pets, nor do I have a car, or currently have a girlfriend. I did give one box of valuables to a friend who lives down the street. Being that I had very little baggage it was relatively easy to make the jump to Spain for a few weeks.
  JP: My girlfriend comes with me during this swap. She is a journalist and also is interested in distance working. I don’t own any pets. I did give one box of valuables to my parents and also introduce them to Andrew when he came to Spain.

• Did you have to convince your boss to let you swap or do you work for yourself? If you had to convince your boss, how did you do it?
  AZ: I pitched my company on the idea of allowing me to do a swap. In the document I provided an overview of the experience and outlined my goals which included: learning Spanish, business development, networking, sharing my experience with others digitally, and having fun! I also included logistical information such as my estimated office hours and the easiest ways in which to communicate with me. I was fortunate in that The JAR Group uses a VoIP (voice-over-IP) phone system. I was able to add a VoIP app to my iPhone which allows me to make phone calls as if I were calling from my office number. One problem is that I am not able to accept calls. However, when someone leaves me a message, I receive an email notification and am able to call back immediately.
  JP: I am my own boss, but I have two co-workers who are very excited about my swapping experience. All both see an opportunity for our company to develop new markets and improving our English.

• What was the most compelling argument you gave your boss that they responded positively to? What was your boss? biggest problem(s) with the swap?
  AZ: Being that The JAR Group has nearly 50% of it’s employees working remotely, I did not have to state anything else more compelling than what I’ve outlined. Initially there was not much push back on the idea and my boss actually told my co-workers about the swap before I did! However, as the swap came closer people within the organization began to get a bit nervous about the time difference and my availability or potentially lack of availability for phone calls and client interaction. One of our largest clients is two blocks away from our office in Brooklyn and I am usually the one person within our agency that has face-time with the client. This would not be possible from Spain.
  JP: Any problem about swap, because it could be a successful experience for our business.

• How did you boss initially react to the idea of swapping?
  AZ: Being that he was the one that had originally sent SwapYourShop to me, he was immediately open to the idea. I was fortunate in that sense.

• Will you meet your swapper in person before or after the swap? How much contact have you had with them in order to feel secure with the swap?
  AZ: Jose arranged for him and I to spend 2 days together in Spain before he left for New York and then 3 days at the tail-end of the trip to recap our experiences. Prior to the swap we had been in contact for about a month via Skype. We spoke 2-3 times a week leading up to the swap.
  JP: I arranged for Andrew and we spend 2 days together in Spain before I left for New York and then 3 days at the tail-end of the trip to recap our experiences. I think is a good idea that one of the swappers wait for the other to exchange keys in person, introduce to friendly people, etc.

• What do you hope to gain from this experience?
  AZ: The main thing I hope to gain from the experience is to prove to myself that I am capable of effectively working remotely. Secondly, I hope to learn more about the state of digital media and marketing in Spain. I think I will learn a little bit about myself while here as well.JP: I will learn how to manage in remote work, is my first experience. And also meet interesteing people working in my business, improving my English, and why not develop my own business in hispanic markets at US.

• What was your main motivation for wanting to SwapYourShop?
  AZ: When I visited Barcelona two years ago there was something about the city and my experience in Spain that made me want to come back. I felt the same sort of feeling the first time I visited New York. There is a certain energy in Spain that is captivating. When I had the opportunity to live in Valencia, I jumped at the chance to do so. Other than the lure of Spain, I felt the need to take a chance. I think it’s good to step outside of your comfort zone every once in awhile and experience something new. It keeps life fresh. Also, I never pass up the opportunity to make lasting business and personal connections no matter where the opportunity may be.
  JP: Is an opportunity to refresh your ideas, meet interesting people, and take some risk. These kind of things keep you feel younger! I am 10 years older than Andrew, so is very important for me to learn about new business.

• Anything else you’d like to add?
  AZ: Don’t take anyone or anything for granted. Do your research and do your due diligence. Don’t put yourself in a bad situation. You are putting your work, apartment and perhaps some cash on the line.