This month, I went to the GitLab Summit in Crete. This was an absolutely fantastic experience. It was lovely to be able to meet so many amazing people whom I work with every day. I think it is really interesting to finally meet outside of a work experience and in real life. You learn so much and really get to know people who have many similarities with you, yet are still very different from you. It is an amazing way to learn more about other cultures and truly expand your knowledge and culture.

Afterwards I couldn’t just let my journey end so I have continued on to experience Europe with my dad! Neither of us had ever been before, so it seemed like a fantastic opportunity to explore Europe for slightly cheaper (since GitLab paid for my flight). Our itenerary includes Athens, Rome Amsterdam/Utrecht, and Paris. Another unexpected but awesome thing is that a few other GitLabbers have also been travelling and we were able to meet up in Athens. This was really cool! It was completely unexpected and I had a ridiculous amount of fun. Perhaps too much fun? Is that possible?

In Athens, we visited the Acropolis, the markets, and the Ancient Agora. I’m sure we did more, but those were the highlights that I can remember while writing this, though I hope to share pictures at a later date.

We stayed in an awesome Airbnb with a great view of the Acropolis. It was simply beautiful at night.

As I write this, I’m on a plane to Rome and I can’t wait to experience what Rome has to offer. I was given a meal on this flight which was so unexpected. That is fairly rare in the US! So far for Rome we have planned to go to the Colliseum and St. Peters. I expect this to be a great experience and really look forward to it!