In May 2022, the Remotive team went on our first-ever company retreat.
Why? To get everybody together under one roof for the first time ever!
We wanted to take advantage of that magical in-person collaboration people are always talking about. We also wanted to strengthen team bonds and reward the team for our hard work during the pandemic. Mostly, we thought it would be fun.
And why wouldn’t it be with a team like us?
TL;DR? Watch the video instead! 👇
The Team
We benefit from a talented team of remote professionals:
The Trip
We hosted the retreat in Split, Croatia. Why? It’s a beautiful country in which Maja and Adrien already live, plus Vic and I were dying to visit Europe and we'd never been to Croatia. On top of that Maja used to be a tour guide in Split so she handled a lot of the logistics like booking accommodations, organizing activities and meals, and being our local Croatian interpreter. Thank you, Maja!
As you'll see below, we had a full schedule but not a packed one. We're all introverts so socializing drains us. Though we had at least one group activity every day, Rodolphe made sure to build in free time for us to recharge. (I was very jetlagged so I used that time to nap. 😴)
The Highlights
I won’t bore you with the details of everything we did on this trip but I’ll tell you my favorite moments. Every part of the trip was fun and well-executed but a few experiences stand out in my mind:
- The Tour
- The Bromance
- The Jump
- The Sailing
- The Bees
The Tour
On Day 1 of the Retreat, Maja walked us through Split's Old Town. Though she claims her tour guide skills are rusty, she remembered enough to paint a compelling picture of the history of Split.
Did you know the city grew out of the retirement home of a former Roman Emperor? Neither did I. They also filmed Game of Thrones there, but you probably knew that.
The Bromance
On Day 2, the same dinner where we met Maja’s darling 1-year-old, Spiro, and learned that Adrien likes kids, we also learned that Rodolphe and Adrien are best friends. They went to high school together in France. They both love cycling and sailing (and Remotive) and visit each other regularly.
The Jump
Rafting down the Cetina River with GoAdventure was memorable for many reasons. First, the dozens of bright blue dragonflies fluttering along the riverbank. Second, the shock of the freezing cold water when our kayak overturned. Twice.
Lastly, jumping from a 7-meter (23 foot) cliff into the freezing cold river. At the end of the excursion when the guide offered us the opportunity to jump, fearless Adrien threw himself into the water first. I followed with a bit more hesitation, and then Vic jumped after conquering her fear of heights. I’ll never forget how exhilarating it was to take the leap —or how painful it was to land in the water with my arms out 😧.
The Sailing
I loved Day 4 because I love boats. Day 4 was a sailing trip around the Croatian Islands with Condor Yachting. We spent the day touring the islands, drinking wine, swimming, and eating good food with the team and our plus ones.
The Bees
You don’t know what you don’t know, and I did not know as much as I thought I did about bees. We ended our sailing expedition with a trip to the Tvrdić Bee Farm on Solta. The farm is run by Goran whose grandfather started raising bees decades ago as a hobby, now he carries on the legacy as a business owner.
Goran taught us that queens are made —not born— by being fed royal jelly as larva. Queens don’t sleep; they spend their whole lives making lots and lots of babies. All worker bees are female. And you can potentially cure your pollen allergy by eating local bee pollen. He also sold us some pretty yummy honey.
All in all, the trip was a huge success. We got to know each other better and made memories that will last a lifetime. It was so fun, like going to a sleepaway camp for adults.
During the retreat, we also set goals for new projects and changes we’d like to make in the next year or so. Some of those changes are coming to fruition, like our updated homepage, but more is yet to come. Keep your eye on us because the Remotive team is bigger and better than ever. 😉
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