anchor.diff:  Each and every one of the people we met up with, some of whom didn't even know we were coming until just days before we arrived, welcomed us with open arms and made us feel at home in these strange cities and countries.
   Many of them invited us into their homes, introduced us to their significant others and/or [pets](/team-pets), and took us into town to show us their favorite places to see, work, eat, or have a drink.
   
  -Because of the glimpses we have had into each other's lives through the daily company-wide [team call](/handbook/#team-call) and the dozens of chat channels about interests and hobbies, it immediately felt like we were hanging out with a friend, not just "someone from the internet," or "this person I work with." While early conversations often related to our single biggest shared interest—GitLab and work at GitLab—this quickly became just one of the many things we talked about.
  +Because of the glimpses we have had into each other's lives through the daily company-wide [team call](/handbook/#team-call) and the dozens of chat channels about interests and hobbies, it immediately felt like we were hanging out with a friend, not just "someone from the internet," or "this person I work with." While early conversations often related to our single biggest shared interest – GitLab and work at GitLab – this quickly became just one of the many things we talked about.
   
   Interestingly, this was true regardless of whether they were in our department and we had already worked with them a lot, or if they did something totally different and we had never conversed before. ["There are no floors in GitLab"](/2016/12/05/how-we-stay-connected-as-a-remote-company/), and even though we have multiple [functional groups](/team/structure), GitLab feels like one big team.
   
  
positive.code: 
  [Marcia](/team/#XMDRamos), who we met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with [Douglas](/team/#dbalexandre) and [Felipe](/team/#FelipeArtur), writes:
  
  > After a few months with GitLab, it was very important to me finally meeting people in person, **it made me feel more human in our virtual world**. More exciting yet, was hanging out with such amazing guys, interested in what we have to share, in what we think about our job, how do we feel about working remotely, what is awesome about GitLab and what we feel is missing. **Such openness makes us feel included, touched.**
  >
  > For our tech-generation, strengthening our relationships is essential, otherwise everything around us ends up superficial; we won’t ever feel fulfilled. As we usually spend most of our time working, it is so important to be with people, to share our concerns, to help, to collaborate, to participate, and to have moments of joy. **I feel so grateful for having met these folks face-to-face.** Thanks guys, and thanks GitLab for allowing us to do this kinda thing!
  
  [Pedro](/team/#pedromscom), who we met in Lisbon, Portugal, writes:
  
  
negative.code: twitter_image: '/images/tweets/around-the-world-in-6-releases.png'
  ---
  
  Two GitLabbers, [Robert](/team/#rspeicher) and [Douwe](/team/#DouweM), took our ["the company will cover travel costs to visit colleagues"](/handbook/#travel-to-visit-team-members) policy and ran with it, spending six months visiting and working with 49 different colleagues in 20 cities, in 14 countries, on five continents. Read on for the who, what, why, and where.
  
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  {: .text-center}
  [![Map](/images/blogimages/around-the-world-in-6-releases/robert-and-douwe-small.jpg){: .shadow width="600px"}](/images/blogimages/around-the-world-in-6-releases/robert-and-douwe.jpg)<br>
  _Douwe and Robert on the first day of the trip, just after arriving at their Washington, D.C. apartment_<br>
  _Can you catch a glimpse of the limited-edition GitLab branded socks?_
  
  ## Background
  
  