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“travelers, transitioners, and temps” alike. She concept of co-working, and providing people
added that 87% of her guests are solo travelers with opportunities to work remotely from virtually
and that PodShare appeals to them because it’s a anywhere around the world.
“money saver” and a “social experience.”
Sabbatical, which is opening its first location in
Since opening, more than 5,000 podestrians Puerto Rico in August and plans to expand to
have walked through PodShare’s doors, and 17 Mexico City and Montenegro in 2017, is focused
even have tattoos of the PodShare logo. The on appealing to remote workers by forming
nightly rate for a pod starts at $40 and it includes partnerships with companies that will encourage
access to a co-working space. The average length their employees who want to be able to work
of stay is three nights, but some guests have remotely from time to time and, well, take a
stayed for months. sabbatical. “We want to be the provider of spaces
that companies can trust to send their employees
If PodShare sounds a bit like a hostel-style model, to,” said Daniel Mason, co-founder and CEO.
you might not be mistaken. The principle of
diversity and building a sense of community For its pre-launch, Sabbatical worked with a
upon which Beck built PodShare, is shared by variety of startups to send those companies’
hostels, too. employees to San Juan to experience Sabbatical
for themselves. Mason said the company is
“The hostel community is all about sharing, currently working with other companies’ chief
interaction, and understanding of cultures and marketing officers, CEOs, and culture officers to
breaking down of cultural differences between develop more partnerships.
people who are staying there and the local
community,” said Aaron Chaffee, vice president “We want to be welcoming to the majority of
of hostel development for Hostelling people,” Mason said. “Not just people who are
International USA. “We want to take steps toward always working remotely but also people have a
a more tolerant world through awareness of certain sense of wanderlust but also hold down a
different places and cultures.” normal 9 to 6 job; we want to be an accessible
bridge to those two worlds.”
Beck and her COO, Kera Package, are quick to
point out the differences between a traditional Minimum stays at Sabbatical are seven days, and
hostel and PodShare, however. Package said, the community programming will be centered
“The ecosystem is totally different.” Whereas around networking, professional education, and,
traditional hostels cater to “cheap young travel,” of course, exploration. All rooms and bathrooms
PodShare “is for digital nomads” in the age range are private and the co-working spaces and fiber-
of 25 to 35 years old. As Beck described, “Bunks optic Wi-Fi are a main focus. For non-members, a
are for kids. Pods are for adults.” week stay costs $950; for members, it’s $500, and
membership applications are available online.
What about comparisons between PodShare and
Airbnb? Beck says consistency is a big Co-Working & Co-Living Become One
differentiator. “You can stay at two Airbnbs on the On the other end of the spectrum is New York
same block and have totally different City-based Common, which isn’t designed for
experiences,” she said. “That could be tourists or travelers or occasional remote
adventurous for some and it could be a learning workers, and where minimum stays are 90 days.
curve for others. [PodShare] feels like a home but
it’s a kind of turnkey operation, a real business.” “We do that to benefit the community,” said
founder and CEO Brad Hargreaves, who
Blurring the Lines Between Work/Life previously co-founded General Assembly, a
Balance global education company. “If there are a lot of
Many of today’s new co-living arrangements, people there short-term, it feels like a hotel and
PodShare included, have deep-rooted ties to the people are less willing to share space and less

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