In the beginning of May this year, I had another opportunity to join my colleagues from our distributed team in one place—to brainstorm and also enjoy some quality time together.

This time, we went to Istanbul, Turkey, where we worked on new ideas to make our threads more attractive and engaging.

Beyond the productive sessions, spending time face-to-face helped strengthen our team dynamics. Casual conversations over meals and evening walks through the city created a shared experience that’s hard to replicate online. It reminded me how important these moments are for building trust and alignment in a remote-first environment.