Motivated, energized software engineers are the best people to have on your engineering team. It's a principle we've always strongly believed in and it's why we put so much effort into our community. Instead of a loosely defined group of engineers who mostly operate on their own, X-Teamers are part of a tight-knit community that values continuous learning, personal growth, and mutual support.
And that makes them better software engineers.
The X-Outposts are an integral part of our community. Organized a few times a year, they are opportunities for X-Teamers to meet in a beautiful location to get to know each other, work together, and create memorable adventures. In February 2024, X-Teamers traveled to Bariloche, a small town in the foothills of the Andes. This is how Giulia Martins, one of X-Team's People Wizards, experienced it.
When I traveled to Bariloche in Argentina, I'd been working at X-Team for ten months. This would be my first X-Outpost and also the first time I'd travel out of my home country Brazil. So I knew it was going to be a special occasion for me. Bariloche's fresh morning air and astonishing mountains only reinforced that feeling when I arrived.
The X-Outpost lasted for one week. During that time, we found the perfect balance between working and exploring. Every morning, X-Teamers would gather for breakfast at the hotel, where we would plan our day, share the activities we wanted to do, and then visit a cafe or coworking place to get started with work.
That's right. The X-Outpost isn't a vacation. It's an amazing opportunity to meet X-Teamers in a wonderful location, but work still gets done every day. This being said, we also went out bowling, ice skating, and rafting. We toured around the city, played escape rooms, and swam at incredible beaches like Playa Serena and Playa Bonita.
We also did the X-Change, where every X-Teamer brings something from their country to gift to another X-Teamer. It's a great way to learn about other countries while creating a bond with an X-Teamer you've never met in person before.
We tried a lot of restaurants, always on a quest to find the best asados, pasta, ice cream, and medialunas. We also had an alfajor contest where every X-Teamer presented their favorite alfajor to compete for an X-Team Keep Moving Forward hat. The winning alfajor was the Havanna 70% cacao puro, which has a pinch of salt added to it. Trust me, the salt makes a huge difference.
Almost every night, after dinner, we would run to a shop called Rapanuí for amazing ice cream, chocolate, more alfajores, and franuí, which is a kind of frozen raspberry dipped in chocolate. If you happened to be in Bariloche when we were there, you might have heard a big group of people shouting “franuí franuí franuí” in the streets. We apologize.
On our last day, as per good X-Outpost tradition, we had the EPIC event. And it was indeed epic. We toured Circuito Chico, which had the most amazing views of the Patagonian mountains. At the end of the tour, we stopped for a three-course lunch at a place with a great view of Playa Bonita.
I had guessed it would be when I arrived in Bariloche, but the whole trip was an unforgettable experience. Bariloche is a beautiful place to visit and we had a lot of fun with the activities we did, but it wouldn't have been nearly as incredible without the amazing group of X-Teamers I had the privilege of meeting.
Do you want to join a community that organizes X-Outposts like these? You can! X-Team is always looking for experienced software engineers. Create your candidate profile today.