Koh Lanta - Escape the Winter with the Office

The whole office is flying to Thailand. Is this for real? Yes, with 8fit this was one of the company perks. Escaping the winter for one month with all your colleagues.

I was a little skeptical in the beginning. I just joined this company a month ago and was told it is planned to spend February on an island in Thailand. I didn't know my colleagues at that time. I haven't been to Asia. I have never spent more than five hours on a plane. Thinking about spending one month on a small island with people I dont know at all was a bit crazy.

Departure

Pure excitement and curiosity describe the feelings the best I had at the airport. Some of my colleagues made it already to the Island or took a flight before. I was waiting for boarding not knowing that in the end my flight will be cancelled due to weather conditions and I'll end up in Moscow for 10 hours waiting for a connecting flight. This starts off well.

Arrival

Welcome to Ko Lanta!

After more than 24 hours of travelling (for me), due to cancelled flights in Moscow. I arrived late in the evening but I finally made it! It was warm, humid and just different. When the Taxi stopped in front of the hotel, three of my colleagues just came from dinner and have greeted me warmly. One colleague, I am happily calling a good friend now, shares a room with me. She shows me around, told me what happened so far. The only thing I could think of by that time was getting to sleep.

Working offsite

The next and first working day started early but full of energy.

I was really happy to see my colleagues in the co-working space.

Productivity decrease? Less working hours? Points the management would worry about. Of course, I was wondering how it will be there too. It was hot, the body needs some time to adapt.

What actually happened was that work started way earlier for everyone because of the heat, lunch breaks happened on the beach to go for a quick swim, meetings happened in the garden - bare feet. It was a completely different setup than in the office but everyone worked as usual, if not even harder.

It might have been all the Vitamin D that you get there at a time your body is not used to get so much of it. It is a different energy, a different motivation.

Other than expected it didn't feel weird at all.

People got closer, got to know each other. Some shared flats, different groups went to explore the island. Friendships evolved and this trip influenced the way people worked with each other, how they communicate and understand their peers which results in a different way of working. It can mean a lot when you share one big experience with your colleagues.

After this month, some people took some time to travel around Asia and have some vacation before coming back to wintery Berlin. I had to leave a little earlier but getting on the plane was kind of sad. I know I'll go back to Berlin where it was -5 degrees. That's 30 degrees difference. Yes, that was my biggest problem (haha). But all good things come to an end and I knew, there would be another February ahead.