Almost a year to the day since joining Gibe, I had the chance to experience my first Gibe company trip. Having heard a great deal about the previous trips - particularly last year's trip to Berlin, and previous years' to Porto and Dublin - saying I was excited was an understatement.
This year's trip took us to a stunning house just outside of Ilminster, Somerset for a weekend of laughter, relaxation, and ping-pong (lots and lots of ping-pong).
Friday
After travelling down from our various areas, we all arrived at the house and immediately began to explore. Not only was the house fully decked-out in terms of facilities - including a pool, hot tub, sauna, and games room - it also boasted an incredible view. Over the duration of the weekend, I think I must've spent at least part of every morning on the upstairs balcony admiring this view.
After settling in, and a handful of welcome drinks, we dived into the first activity of the weekend - making our own pizzas! Having pizza dough and home-grown salad kindly provided by Hugh, as well as a great selection of toppings, we took to the house's pizza oven like ducks to making pizza.
Once we were well underway with the pizzas when another source - or should I say sauce - of the night's entertainment revealed itself, Gibe's very own version of Hot Ones. We were presented with a gauntlet of increasingly spicy hot sauces; through many laughs, hiccoughs, and glasses of milk, everyone who accepted the challenge managed to run the full gauntlet.
From here, we finished up the night with a few more drinks in the pool area, before heading to bed.
Saturday
The following morning was a much needed slow start after the previous night's festivities. We split into smaller groups to enjoy some activities both in the house and in the surrounding area, we started both ping-pong and pool tournaments in the games room, relaxed by the pool, played board games, relaxed with a good book, watched the football, and some of the team even made their way over to a local cider farm for an explore.
We all reconvened later that evening to head to a nearby pub for a sit-down meal together along with a few more drinks. The laughter was pretty much non-stop from the moment we sat down, with my favourite conversation of the evening being which member of the team has the best Slack emoji. As the night wrapped up, we headed back to the house for a more relaxed evening before turning in.
Sunday
Just when I thought this trip couldn't get any more special, the Sunday just happened to coincide with my birthday! Leaving my room, I was immediately greeted with a birthday banner and some "happy birthday"s.
The day that followed was honestly my ideal birthday, a full morning of relaxing, reading, and another round of the Battlestar Galactica boardgame (despite not being over the heinous betrayal we had suffered in Saturday's game) - all before a barbeque in the evening. After the delicious meal, a (perfectly hidden) birthday cake appeared and happy birthday was sung, with me sat in true "Brit in the center of attention" awkwardness all the while. I was really taken aback by how thoughtful it all was.
After eventually coming around from our collective food-coma, we spread back around the house - mainly in the pool and games room - with a few more drinks, before finally turning in for the final night of the weekend.
Monday
As quickly as it had started, Monday morning arrived and it was time to bring the trip to a close. After quickly packing our things and doing a final sweep of the house, it was time to say our goodbyes.
Looking back on it just over a week later, I can't help but notice how nice it was to spend time with the team in person. In a world of remote work, there is something that only face-to-face meetings can really capture. I'd like to take a quick opportunity here to thank the entire team for making this trip - and birthday - so enjoyable. I am already looking forward to next year, and I'm hoping that my ping-pong skills will have improved before then.
