Back in August of 2013 the team decided to meet up in Shavei Zion, Israel (being that a few of the team lived in or around that area anyway). This was the first time that we'd all (minus Gozza) met up with each other in person - not to mention that it was a great excuse for the English members of the team to take a holiday to somewhere where the sun actually shines. The thing we had to remember going through the airport, though, was not to say we were travelling on business. Being that we were young white males we could apparently have been assumed to be travelling in order to protest at the Palestinian border so we made sure to say we were staying with friends - when the guards are carrying guns, you don't really want to get on their bad side.
Not only would this provide an enjoyable time away for the western members of the team, but it allowed us all to work locally for a short period of time. I would highly recommend regular meet-ups for any remote companies as it really does add something to the productivity of your work. Being able to have everyone working on the same project in the same room (just like a normal company) was really helpful and especially productive - we'd got used to generating a regular level of productivity when remote, so being able to pull 8, 9 and even sometimes 11 hour shifts helped us take that to the next level. I would go so far as to say that the two weeks of work we did there were worth about a month's worth of remote work. Obviously every company is different in their routines but ours rather followed the format of, effectively, a live-in office.
For me, things didn't get off to the best of starts - between the airline I was using and the airport I was setting off from, the gate ended up being closed too early. While I'm sure this prompt departure was a treat for the passengers actually on board, this left me having to book another flight for the next day and arriving a day after the rest of the team. On that day, they had visited the beach and Adi had managed to injure his foot to the point he couldn't properly walk, so his desk for the 2 weeks became an armchair with extendable footrest - a luxury that the rest of us sitting at the kitchen table didn't quite experience. But still we managed pretty well to get up bright and early every morning to begin our work and to still have chance to relax, discuss the day's (and the next day's) work and even some nights sample the local intoxicants... although personally I think the drinks could have been stronger!
Of course, it wasn't all work and no play. Being that we poured all we could into our work days, we made sure to take a few out to go and see the sights of the land of milk and honey. On our travels we managed to visit Acre, explore the Golan Heights (and be fascinated at signs warning of tanks being present), the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem, which included the City of David. The one culture shock that we experienced (especially me) was the vegetarian diet of our colleagues - I always welcome trying new foods, but there were a couple times during the weeks I had to give in to my carnivorous cravings.
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