The last couple of days have been fun, intense, and tiring at the office. With team offsites, it’s always socializing on steroids, but with this specific offsite, given it’s our very first time all meeting in person, and many of us have been colleagues working at this company for nearly two years, it was even more intense. We were all trying to make up for lost in-person time, and it felt like almost every minute I wasn’t talking with one person, I was talking to another or getting tapped or waved at by yet another person. It felt almost surreal to finally meet all my colleagues I’ve worked with closely over the last two years… finally in person and not in a Zoom box on my computer screen. It was also funny to see how some are much taller or shorter in real life than I had imagined!

I always knew this before, but this week has made me more aware of it: nothing can ever replace in-person meeting and interaction. While Zoom, Google Hangout, and FaceTime can bridge the gap when in-person interaction is not possible, there is nothing more refreshing or revitalizing as people being in the same place and talking and laughing together. I almost felt like I was a new employee here meeting everyone for the first time even though that was clearly not the case at all. Our team has a really good, healthy vibe, and I’m grateful to work among people where toxicity does not even remotely exist, and where we actually do all have good intentions and support each other both in and outside of work. This is the healthiest, most balanced workplace I’ve ever been in for the last 14+ years of working. It feels good to be an employee here.