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

+---
+title: There and back again in one release
+author: Dimitrie Hoekstra
+author_twitter: dimitrieh
+author_gitlab: dimitrieh
+categories: inside GitLab
+image_title: '/images/blogimages/around-the-world-in-6-releases/cover.png'
+description: 'One GitLabber spent 5 weeks visiting and working with 6 different colleagues in 5 cities, in 4 countries across Europe and Asia'
+
+---
+
+Inspired by [Robert][robert] and [Douwe][douwe] and their trip called [Around the world in 6 releases][6-releases], another GitLabber [Dimitrie][dimitrie] accepted the challenge of pursuing the "[Travel to visit GitLabbers][travel-policy]" company policy by making use of the "[Work remotely travel grant][travel-grant]". Visiting and working with 6 different colleagues in 5 cities, in 4 countries across Europe and Asia he has a story to tell. Read on for the why, how, who and where.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+## The incentive
+
+This year has been an amazing journey for me, with one of the highlights being the GitLab summit in Cancun, Mexico. Having just started out in August 2016, this trip in January 2017, at which I could bring along my "significant other" to the other side of the world was an amazing opportunity. Meeting people you already know online for the first time is a bit strange, but wonderful.
+
+This brings me to meeting [Arihant][arihant], which is one of our support engineers. We met in the back of a van, which was driving us back from [ziplining and swimming in the jungle][ziplining]. Arihant told me about the wonders of India and made sure I knew I was welcome if I ever thought of visiting him. Working at a company such as GitLab where this is an actual possibility set my mind to work...
+
+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, which 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.
+
+Lastly, both Kushal (Pune, India) and Godfat (Taipei, Taiwan) were happy to meet me as well, when I was nearby.
+
+## The definition of remoteness
+
+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 as 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]!
+
+Google spreadsheets allows you to assign people to certain tasks and cells. This made it very easy for people to put in their own information themselves, while being able to see information from others. Efficient team collaboration!
+
+The result was an approved plan, where everybody was on the same page, by following the six core [values of GitLab][values]: "Collaboration, Results, Efficiency, Diversity, Iteration, and Transparency (CREDIT)".
+
+## The scale of remoteness
+
+With my first one-way trip tickets booked, preparing and working eating up most of my time, it was suddenly time to go!
+
+![foto]()
+
+Off to London it was, for an overnight transit. So I met up with James to make the most of it. Some pints and laughs to celebrate the beginning of this journey, cheers! GitLab it seems is everywhere, sort of like a family.
+
+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.
+
+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 keep up. There is 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!
+
+__Fun fact:__ Driving on a scooter in Mumbai is not for the faint of heart.
+
+I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to be introduced to his family and to experience India as he does. Thanks Arihant!
+
+In the last days in Mumbai, my friends from home decided to join me. After enjoying the market and various streetfood it was time to travel to Pune, to meet with Kushal.
+
+In Mumbai I mostly worked from my Hotel. It had AC which is something you learn to appreciate when it's there. In Pune, Kushal arranged for a nice workplace at a flex workspace called [Bootstart][bootstart]. While my friends updated their blogs, me and Kushal collaborated on and discussed GitLab. A typical workday in India.
+
+After a day with more awesome Indian food, me and my friends had to catch our bus to Goa. This seemed easy, but was in the end quite the adventure. Quickly having to move to various locations where the bus might stop, jumping in and out auto rickshaws (Indian tuk tuks), plus Kushal speaking with the bus driver in yet another language, resulted in us driving away. Thanks Kushal!
+
+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!
+
+Swimming, clubbing and enjoying the sun. Meeting a lot of new people and driving around on scooters. Eating mango's falling right off the trees. Visiting night markets and getting all relaxed. Leaving the chaos of the big cities behind.
+
+Time flies! Siem Reap, Cambodia was up next, with a small transit in Singapore. Collen soon picked me up at the airport with a Cambodian Tuk tuk. Having met each other in Mexico, it was easy to fall into the same flow as back there. In other words, great times ahead.
+
+Cynthia, Collen's significant other, had arranged a wonderful AirBnb. Pure luxury after my time in Goa. Siem Reap, is a wonderful and very tourist little city booming with activity.
+
+__to be continued__
+
+### List of tools i used or vouch for
+
+__to be continued__
+
+[robert]: https://about.gitlab.com/team/#rspeicher
+[douwe]: https://about.gitlab.com/team/#DouweM
+[dimitrie]: https://about.gitlab.com/team/#dimitrieh
+[arihant]: https://about.gitlab.com/team/#arihantar
+
+[6-releases]: https://about.gitlab.com/2017/01/31/around-the-world-in-6-releases/
+
+[travel-policy]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/spending-company-money/#travel-to-visit-team-members
+[travel-grant]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/incentives/#work-remotely-travel-grant
+[values]: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/
+
+[ziplining]: http://example.org
+[template-copy]: http://example.org
+
+[bootstart]: http://www.bootstart.in/