Dimitrie GitLab Digital Nomad Blogpost

As promised, I will create a blogpost which describes my incentive, experience and what I have learned on my trip sponsored by GitLab in order to visit colleagues in India, Cambodia and Taiwan.

link to google spreadsheet that I used

Todo

• add photos
• link every city name to its google map
• link every team member name to their profiles on the team page
• "working abroad" handbook page
• make google spreadsheet plan template available
• Ping every team member mentioned checking if they're okay with your text/photo ;)
• Let the theme be mobile optimised
• look into converting image links to carousel
• check all gitlab mentions to be with a capital G and L
• Compress images with tinypng
• finalise blogpost content after reviews
• check if blogpost date is correct

Review app links:

• https://dimitrie-travel-blog-post.about.gitlab.com/2017/06/20/there-and-back-again-in-one-release/
• https://dimitrie-travel-blog-post.about.gitlab.com/handbook/working-remotely#tips-on-working-remotely-while-abroad
• https://dimitrie-travel-blog-post.about.gitlab.com/handbook/incentives/#work-remotely-travel-grant

source/posts/2017-06-09-there-and-back-again-in-one-release.html.md

@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ This brings me to meeting [Arihant][arihant], which is one of our support engine
 Thinking about going and actually making it real for yourself, is something else. Who will I meet, where can I go? As a bonus, two of my best friends were and are still backpacking the world. Meeting them so far away from home would be awesome.
-Being one of the UX designers at GitLab, I remembered that one person of the UX team couldn't make it to Mexico back in January. Hazel, who resides in Taipei, Taiwan, was the only one which I didn't meet in real life yet. So I reached out to see if I could visit her. She made sure this was an great idea!
-Meanwhile Collen, another support engineer living in Campot, Cambodia, made my eyes roll out of their sockets with pictures of Angkor Wat. 
+Being one of the UX designers at GitLab, I remembered that one person of the UX team couldn't make it to Mexico back in January. Hazel, who resides in Taipei, Taiwan, was the only one which I didn't meet in real life yet. So I reached out to see if I could visit her. She loved the idea!
+Meanwhile Collen, another support engineer living in Campot, Cambodia, made my eyes roll out of their sockets with pictures of Angkor Wat.
 Lastly, both Kushal (Pune, India) and Jen-shin (Taipei, Taiwan) were happy to meet me as well, when I would be nearby.
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Lastly, both Kushal (Pune, India) and Jen-shin (Taipei, Taiwan) were happy to me
 Knowing who I was going to visit, I had to make sure that dates and people where going to match. Not being the first one in the company to do such a trip, I could see how my colleagues planned ahead. I expanded and built on their spreadsheet concept, until it became my master plan!
-People availability, general trip timeline and total cost estimation were the first things I created. I needed them to get my plan approved. Eventually it got upgraded with people and personal travel information to make it more useful for myself. As a bonus, there are some nifty little automation features in there as well.
+Person availability, general trip timeline and total cost estimation were the first things I created. I needed them to get my plan approved. Eventually it got upgraded with people and personal travel information to make it more useful for myself. As a bonus, there are some nifty little automation features in there as well.
 You can check out a template copy of it [here][template-copy]!
@@ -45,21 +45,21 @@ With my first one-way trip tickets booked, preparing and working eating up most
 ![foto]()
-Off to London it was, for an overnight transit. GitLab, it seems, is everywhere. So I met up with James to make the most of it. Some pints and laughs to celebrate the beginning of this journey, cheers! 
+Off to London it was, for an overnight transit. GitLab, it seems, is everywhere. So I met up with James to make the most of it. Some pints and laughs to celebrate the beginning of this journey, cheers!
 ### Mumbai
 Next up Mumbai, India. With a flight of around 9 hours, just the sheer scale of the distance we communicate over each day across the web suddenly becomes very real. After receiving a lot of help from Arihant, I had a safe place to sleep in the busiest city I have ever seen. [Kindness][kindness] really is one of our core values.
-Mumbai was a fascinating city, one of absolutes. A city where there is a lot of everything, good and bad. It has and still is growing at such a pace, that reality can't really keep up. There is however so much potential! 
-The amount of people is staggering, which results in the worst traffic I have ever seen. However as Arihant showed me, has the most delicious variety in food I have ever tasted. People are always ready to help you and after some time, you know how to get around! 
+Mumbai was a fascinating city, one of absolutes. A city where there is a lot of everything, good and bad. It has and still is growing at such a pace, that reality can't really keep up. There is however so much potential!
+The amount of people is staggering, which results in the worst traffic I have ever seen. However as Arihant showed me, has the most delicious variety in food I have ever tasted. People are always ready to help you and after some time, you know how to get around!
 When you are working remotely while traveling, you are very reliant on a decent internet connection. In India apparently, you can depend fully on mobile internet, rather than on wifi. Working together with Arihant has been a blast and gave some insights as to how others plan out their days.
 I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to be introduced to his family, even cook with them, and to experience India as he does. Thanks Arihant!
-Fun facts: 
+Fun facts:
 - My hotel, made use of a new concept called pods. It was like sleeping in a spaceship. [See for yourself][urbanpod]!
 - Driving on a scooter in Mumbai is not for the faint of heart.
 - Tessa, my girlfriend back home who was very supportive of my intentions to make this trip, asked a favour of me while I was in Mumbai. To try and watch Netflix together, as with traveling comes some form of a remote bonding. Soon we found out that the content library in India is not the same as back home. Why Netflix, why? [Google Duo][googleduo] to the rescue though, as I managed to watch an episode of "The Americans" through her phone on our tv back home. Speaking of perseverance. Thanks Google!
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ After a day with more awesome Indian food, me and my friends had to catch our bu
 ### Goa
-Just 12 hours and a flat tire later, we arrived in a Goa. This was my in between mini-holiday. Mainly having a good time with my friends and converting from a digital nomad to a backpacker. 
+Just 12 hours and a flat tire later, we arrived in a Goa. This was my in between mini-holiday. Mainly having a good time with my friends and converting from a digital nomad to a backpacker.
 This proved to be quite the change, in a fun way. Hostels instead of hotels, and the cheaper the better. Our first hostel was just 100 INR, which is around 1.5 USD!
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ Find it [here][handbook-workingabroad]
 [values]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/
 [kindness]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#kindness
 [gettoknow]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#get-to-know-each-other
-[handbook-workingabroad]: 
+[handbook-workingabroad]:
 [ziplining]: http://example.org
 [template-copy]: http://example.org
@@ -145,4 +145,4 @@ Find it [here][handbook-workingabroad]
 [Patai]: https://twitter.com/juggernautsboss
 [greatfirewall]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Firewall
-[googleduo]: https://duo.google.com
\ No newline at end of file
+[googleduo]: https://duo.google.com