Off the grid, on the same page - Club Xata Iceland 2025

As a fully distributed team, we don’t take face-to-face time for granted. Our offsites are where we connect, sync up in person, and share the kind of moments you just can’t recreate over Slack. With partners and even kids joining, the offsites feel more like a gathering of friends than a corporate retreat. Over the years, the offsites have become a tradition, taking us to sunny spots like Portugal, Spain, and Italy. For our 8th offsite, we went in a different direction. We traded in flip flops for snow boots and set off for Iceland.

Why Iceland?

We wanted something remote, refreshing, and a little unexpected, and Iceland delivered. We stayed at the Grímsborgir Hotel, about an hour and a half from Reykjavík, tucked into a quiet stretch of countryside, with just the right mix of comfort and isolation. Drizzle and fog rolled in most days, but that only added to the atmosphere.

More than meetings

After arriving, we kicked things off with a cocktail hour featuring a signature purple Xata drink, followed by a team dinner where we handed out weather-appropriate swag and goodies. The week unfolded in a rhythm of its own: a mix of strategy sessions, breakout groups, off-the-cuff conversations, and one particularly rowdy Viking-themed evening complete with axe throwing.

Early in the week, we also announced the winners of our pre-offsite hackathon. They were awarded Viking hats, prizes, and a good dose of glory. More than the prize, it was a chance to crash test our new product together and celebrate the creativity that came out of it.

Midweek, the group split for one of the more memorable outings. Team Soakies made their way to a steamy hot spring, while Team Horses trotted and tölted through the Icelandic countryside on famously fluffy-hoofed ponies. Back at the hotel, spontaneous hot springs sessions became a recurring theme, and each evening wound down in the lounge, where the conversations stretched long past the last logs in the fireplace.

Golden Circle & grand finale

Our Thursday Golden Circle tour included geysers, tectonic rifts, waterfalls, and a guide who could’ve had a side hustle as a stand-up comedian or folk singer. Iceland kept the drama going until the end: on our final night, the skies cleared and we got a proper northern lights show. The timing couldn’t have been better.

What stuck with us

In the feedback, one theme came up again and again: the people.

• “Hanging out with the Xata fam. I've made some really good friends at the company and I look forward to spending time together.”
• “The after-dinner conversations were my highlight.”
• “Meeting and connecting with the team. All the diverse cultures and people and conversations around lives of others.”

These offsites are how we invest in each other, and in the kind of culture that makes remote work at Xata thrive.

Ciao for now

We’re hiring. And we’re not done building: our product, our team, or our tradition of unforgettable offsites. The next one? Let’s just say it wasn’t built in a day.