Where I Work: Incutex

I am one of a few lucky Remotes to live 1 block away from our shared workspace.  It’s called Incutex, and we have pretty much taken over the 5th floor.  (See above pic: view from my apartment rooftop)   

Incutex is a co-working space that houses startup companies and entrepreneurs.  It’s a secure, modern facility with fairly solid wifi---the most important ingredient for remote working soup.  The wifi is not perfect, but guess what?  It wasn’t even close to perfect back in the United States!  

My fellow Remotes busy at work!

More Remotes: Kevin, Mr. PalmTree, (Lindsay, behind Mr. PalmTree) & Casey (left to right)

Incutex has a sweet lounge at the end of the hall called the TechPub.  This is where we have Remote Year meetings & special events like ping pong tournaments!  

​
Overall, I dig the workspace here in Córdoba and hope we get similar accommodations in the other cities!

My NutriBullet Bit the Bullet :[

1 checked bag, 1 carry-on and 1 personal item.  

For 1 year of travel.  

It makes sense to leave behind any non essentials.  But, somehow, it seemed essential to bring my brand new NutriBullet blender.  Cousin Kevin could not stop clowning me!  Wicked weird, but what can I say?  I like starting my day off smooth.  

The NutriBullet blender is not that big, and fit into my checked bag, no problem.  And, once I got some fresh frutas & vegetales here in Córdoba, it was GAME ON!  ‘Who’s weird now?’, I thought, as I’m sippin’ sweet smoothness.

But, suddenly, my smoothie smelled like…smoke?  And, then I saw...sparks?  Uh oh.  Apparently, my NutriBullet is no bueno with the voltage here in Argentina.  Guess I should have read question #10 on the NutriBullet FAQs page.  

On the bright side, even though the blender fit into my checked bag---it was a bit heavy.  I knew I needed to shed some lbs before the next flight, and I'm not about to get rid of essentials like Power Bars & Gummi Bears.

No Hablo Español

Mi nombre es Matt, o--en Córdoba, Argentina, me llamo Matías.  When I arrived in South America 9 days ago, I did not even know how to say the most basic things like, “My name is Matt.”  It just shows how incredibly busy I was pre-RY3.  No time to learn a new language when you’re packing your life into a storage unit.

But, a little over a week in Córdoba, and I feel light years ahead of where I was.  For one, I’m taking weekly Spanish lessons with our “profesora” Vicky (above).  And, two, I’m spending a lot of time in Duolingo, a phenomenal App that makes learning a new language like playing a game.

In the first Spanish class, we focused on “presentación”, aka introductions.  Vicky reviewed some basics and then asked the class for other questions we might ask a person we just met.  I blurted out, “Are you single?”, which drew a roar of laughter.  I didn’t really mean it to be funny--it seemed muy importante!  Thanks to Vicky, I now know how to say “Estás soltera?” and I feel much more equipped to hit the streets of Argentina.

For real though--being a non-Spanish speaking foreigner is incredibly humbling!

I pride myself on being a strong communicator, but now I can't even talk.  Now, I have a much deeper respect for foreigners who don’t speak the native tongue.  I highly encourage my fellow Americanos to have more empathy for people who don’t speak English.  IT AIN’T EASY being on the outside looking in.  Be kind, mmkay?  

Street Jugglers

Meet Eileen.

She is one of many street performers that dart out into the crosswalk at red lights here in Nueva Córdoba.  You see them on almost every major street.  Often they are riding a unicycle while juggling, or there will be two of them on unicycles juggling back and forth.  Mighty impressive!  Tip-worthy?  No doubt.

Interesting contrast to America, where most beggars just stand at the corner of the street with a sign.  Maybe they could learn something from these Argentines.  I know I’d be more inclined to tip if someone put on a show vs simply scrawling some sad stuff on a sign.  :[    

Empanadas & Chimichurri Chicken

“If you’re a vegetarian, you are in the wrong country.”  This classic quote had everyone in stitches!  We had a speaker from a local tourism company talk to us about Córdoba culture, cuisine, etc.  And, what we learned was: Argentina is known for their beef.  Yay for me!

Argentina is also known for empanadas.  These little pastries are filled with everything from beef, to chicken, to corn, to spinach, and my personal fave: Brie cheese (and apple, cranberry, sweet potato, etc.)  Almost every place you go sells empanadas---even little convenience stores.  

But, today I stumbled upon the best chicken I have ever had in my life.  Yeah, I said it.  I mean no disrespect to any chef in the US.  (I love you, Mom!!!)  And, I will admit, it is possible that because I haven’t eaten a lot of familiar foods lately, that my palette has been desensitized.  But, this rotisserie chicken was the best.  The most important ingredient: Chimichurri sauce, something Argentians are also known for.  

THE BEST PART:

This take-out restaurant, Le Poulet, is only two blocks from my apartment.  

And, this dish costs 40 pesos, ~$2.60 USD.  :]

Can't Stop Starbucks!

I moved to a South American country ~6000 miles from home, and the local Starbucks is closer to my apartment than back in the United States.  #globaldomination  

“It’s the Start of Remote Year as we know It!”

Remote Year is comprised of ~70 “Remotes” and 2 Staff.  Travis King is our Community Manager, and Samantha Thomas is our Operations Manager.  They are both incredibly sweet people, and GREAT leaders.

Travis wrote a song for us and sang it during orientation: a spin on the R.E.M. song, “It’s the End of the World as we know it”.  I didn’t get the whole clip but here is the final chorus.  He incorporated all of the Remotes’ names into the fast paced lyrics and absolutely blew us away!  This is the type of amazing thing that exceptional leaders do.  They invent creative ways to inspire and engage their communities.  

This song gives me the goosebumps.  And I’ve only been here 6 days.  

Imagine what I’ll be feeling in 350 days from now...

Arriving in Nueva Córdoba, Argentina

Going from Pacific Palisades, USA to Nueva Cordoba, Argentina took ~30 hours and I don’t sleep well when flying.  I dozed for about ~2 hours.  I’m on my 7th wind by this point and I was so excited to see my new 1 bedroom apartment!  I totally thought I’d be living in a broom closet, or one of those Japanese overnight pods.  But, I was pleasantly surprised to see I have a full kitchen, living room, and even a flatscreen TV in my bedroom.  

First stop --- my roof.

Seeing a city from higher up just seems important to me.  I took a panoramic of the city, and a sleepy selfie.  

Next stop: Napville.  

Preparing for Remote Year.

Not gonna lie, 4+ months of waiting was challenging!  It seemed so far off.  I tried my best not to fall behind in planning and prep.  Traveling to 12 countries in 12 months is not something to be left until the last minute!  I tried to tackle one thing every day, whether it be making an appointment to get my travel shots, or signing up for a new credit card with no international fees.  

But, how time flies!  After Christmas, I got 3 colds in about 5 weeks.  Normally, I never get sick, but perhaps the stress of planning got me, and my body was more susceptible to sickness.  Also, I had two sets of friends and relatives that visited me in Jan. / Feb, which was amazing, but also fairly time consuming.  Time was ticking...

I used every single second of every day over the last 3 weeks.  I budgeted just enough time to get (almost) everything done, with no wiggle room.  I had a moving truck on Thursday Feb 25th, moved the last set of boxes into storage on Feb 26th, dropped my car off at my cousin’s place, and flew out the morning of Feb 27th.  

Because things were so hectic trying to pack 17 years worth of stuff into an 8x10 storage unit, I did not have as much time as I wanted to visit with friends.  I thought about having a going away party, but there just wasn’t any time!  The weekend before I left, I was packing and moving all day long!  To any of my LA friends that I did not get to see---trust me, I wanted to see you, I just ran out of time!  

Finally! VAMOS!

As soon as I got on the plane, it was a HUGE relief!  After 4+ months of anticipation, I finally made it.  Got into my seat, took a Facebook selfie and relaxed.  

About 20 minutes into the flight, the guy in the row in front / diagonal from me turns around and says, “Are you Matt...from Remote Year?”  Incredible!  On a nearly full flight, the one other remote was sitting right next to me:  Patrick Almaguer.  Even though we were already Facebook friends, I didn’t recognize him because his profile photo was a bit abstract.  But, he recognized my plane selfie that I posted to Facebook!

Meeting Patrick was phenomenal.  Not only is he a really cool guy, and we have a lot in common --- it was so valuable to have a buddy to navigate the foreign airports with.  We bonded immediately.

Our flight itinerary was Los Angeles → Mexico City → Santiago, Chile → Cordoba Argentina.  While we were de-boarding the plane in Chile, I recognized Diane and Andy Brashear, one of the 2 couples that are on our Remote Year.  It was so cool running into more Remote travel buddies!  And, then, when we were waiting to board our flight to Cordoba, I realized I was standing right behind David McLaughlin, another Remote!  It’s funny, because the 5 of us are probably the 5 oldest of the 70 Remotes.  Apparently, us “elder statesmen” were magnetically attracted to each other.  Love these people already.  

Remote Year: "Whoa! I want in!"

Last summer, I was talking to Erica Joy Maniquis about the fact that I primarily work remotely.  She was lamenting the fact that her job would not allow her to work remote but that it would be fun to be able to work in your pajamas in your home office!  The very next day, August 19th, she tagged me in a post on Facebook for this thing called Remote Year.  

“Travel With Interesting People While Working Remotely”.  Hmmm, sounded kinda cool.  I quickly Liked the post and wrote, “Whoa!  I want in!”  But, to be honest, I wasn’t that serious about the idea.  That night, I was lying in bed thinking about it and came to a realization.  I really do want in.  This is exactly what I have been looking for!

So, I applied almost immediately.  After 3 rounds of applications, I was accepted into the program on October 18th, 2015!  WOO HOO!!!