One of the hardest things about working with a remote team can be the isolation you experience from working mostly on your own. Fortunately, Automattic prevent this feeling with regular meetups and WordCamps.

Since starting at Automattic in January, I’ve already been given the opportunity to attend my first meetup in Charlotte, NC. The product team got together for 4 days of focussed team work, and after a recommendation from my colleague, I extended my trip a few extra days in order to visit Asheville, which was a 2 hour drive away.

Firstly, the area of Charlotte we stayed in was very nice. It felt safe, clean, and well-kept. Walking back to our apartments as the sun was setting felt idyllic.

To my surprise, Darren had brought his Exploding Kittens set, which meant we played at every opportunity. It was a great way to get to know my new colleagues and the perfect ice-breaker.

We were working together from Monday to Thursday at a place in central Charlotte called Tabbris.

Though the room did tend to get a bit hot, the location was ideal for us in terms of size and amenities. They actually had a racing sim and flying sim in the tabled area (pictured). I tried the flying sim but couldn’t quite figure it out! After having seen Dune in IMAX the weekend before, I wanted to try my hand at flying an Ornithopter, but I couldn’t figure out how to take off 😅.

Working together in person was great. It meant we could cover a lot of ground that we normally might not discuss. We were able to use our time here together effectively and ideate on a variety of WooCommerce-related topics.

Part of the experience was getting to know my colleagues better, and Charlotte presented a lot of opportunities to do that. As well as a fancy brewery with a tree in it (which offered 222 types of beer on tap), we also had a planned trip to play some duckpin bowling.

I’m sure like me you’ve never heard of duckpin bowling. Well, it’s much the same as bowling, but the pins and balls are smaller. The pins are also attached to strings and pretty precarious in terms of how they get replaced. I had a few strikes because the pins had already fallen over before I’d even thrown the ball.

This place was also a retro arcade. There were tonnes of arcade games, including classics like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and the popular Burger Time. On top of that, myself and William played some games of foosball and table tennis. Of course, Exploding Kittens also made an appearance.

Overall, a great time was had by all and the meetup was a success. As I mentioned earlier, I extended my trip by 3 days in order to visit Asheville. I wanted to go somewhere to do some photography, and Laura on the team suggested Asheville. Interestingly, the Appalachian Mountains found around Asheville are the same mountain range as the Scottish Highlands, originally connected in the Paleozoic era (Pangaea).

So I did what anyone would do. I extended my trip and hired an American sports car (Dodge Challenger) to take the 2 hour drive over to Asheville. I stayed at a B&B in Asheville called The Chestnut Street Inn, selected because of their vegan breakfast options.

It was also located just 5 minutes walk from an incredible vegan restaurant called Plant. I had the Crusted Seitan Marsala one night, and a double helping of Ravioli the next. Both were exceptional.

Emilie, the B&B host, suggested a great trip for me the following day. I drove down to High Falls in Dupont and spent a few hours there taking photos and exploring a few of the hikes.

I was able to convince someone to head down to the bottom of the waterfall to be in, what I described as, “a cool photo” (see below).

After that I drove 20 minutes to Looking Glass Falls (picture 3 below). This was just off the side of the road, but was well worth a quick visit.

Finally, I joined onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and spent the next few hours driving the quiet windy roads and regularly pulling into the overlook areas. This drive made the whole extra trip worth it, particularly in the Challenger with the windows down.

On the final day, I was told I had to visit the Biltmore Estate, by multiple people. They were right! I was slightly reluctant to spend $70 on it, as I only had a few hours before I had to drive back to Charlotte for my flight, but the time I spent there was well worth it.

I regularly visit places like this in England with my family, but nothing of quite the same scale. The Biltmore House resides in 8000 acres of land, which results in a 5-10 mile drive between the different locations contained within. Definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in Asheville.

In summary, the meetup was a great experience and something I’m looking forward to doing again. I came back feeling very tired as it was a jam-packed experience. Someone suggested I should do the touristy stuff before the meetup in future, as after the meetup and getting so much work done, you tend to feel pretty spent.

Here’s to the next one!