One of my favorite perks at Resource Guru—aside from our annual Guru Gathering, of course—is our unofficial work trip budget. It’s one of those rare benefits that manages to be simple, flexible, and genuinely impactful.
At its core, this perk is about connection. We give everyone £500 ($650-ish) a year to visit local or international colleagues. And, if someone’s not planning to use their learning and development (L&D) budget for a course or conference (another amazing perk!), they can flex that allowance up to £1,000 ($1,350-ish). That brings their total annual unofficial work trip budget to £1,500 ($2,000-ish).
This flexibility means people can shape the experience around what suits them—whether that’s a quick coffee with a teammate in their city, or a full-on trip to another country.
This June, eight of us travelled to Budapest to visit Dana, our Customer Support Specialist, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the year. 🥳
In this article 📖
Co-working in the heart of Budapest
We based ourselves at Kaptár, a welcoming co-working space in central Budapest with big tables, strong air con, and just the right vibe for a group of remote teammates easing into shared workdays.
The crew:
🇬🇧 UK-based
- Katherine – Senior Content Marketer
- Stuart – Marketing Lead
- Mike – Lead Product Designer
- James – Senior Engineer
- Me 😊
🇷🇴 Romania-based
- Andrei – Senior Engineer
- Cristian – Engineer
🇭🇺 Hungary-based
- Dana – Customer Support Specialist (our host!)
📸 Cristian and James pretending they can’t see me taking a pic of them
We worked full days. No special agenda, just our usual routines in a shared space. And yet, between coffee breaks and lunch chats, we learned so much more about one another. Who’s deep into woodworking? Who dreams of living among the Canadian Rockies (spoiler: more than one of us). Who wants to live in Cuba? And, who insisted we see the bats at Parliament? Which turned out to be seagulls, btw. 😆 (Kat, we’re looking at you.)
📸 Looking for bats 🦇
Unstructured, but so valuable
One of the best things about this trip was how unstructured it was. Unlike the Guru Gathering, which brings the entire company together and has a full schedule (it’s honestly like planning a wedding), this was relaxed and informal. People arrived when they could. There were no presentations or workshops. We simply worked side by side and made space for further connection in the evenings.
Highlights included:
- Dinner at Dobrumba. Incredible food, but, the stand out memory from that dinner was Mike eating so many pitas. Like, nine. Respect. 🤝
- Cocktails and nibbles at Leo Rooftop, perfectly timed with the sunset and a view of the Parliament building across the Danube. 🤌
- A private boat ride just after work with Hungarian music, champagne, and unbeatable views. 🚤
- A visit to Aliz! They’re a customer based in Budapest and we had the chance to meet their team in person, put faces to names, and hear how they use Resource Guru day to day. It was such a meaningful part of the trip and a great reminder of the teams we’re building for. 💪
📸 The team enjoying sunset drinks at Leo Rooftop
Dana was the ultimate host. Translating, recommending spots to hit up, and showing us her favorite cafés, restaurants, viewpoints, and bars. Getting to see the city through her eyes made the experience that much more special. 🙌
📸 Our amazing host, Dana, giving us the Hungary low-down during our private boat ride on the Danube
Why this matters
We’re a remote-first company, and with that comes flexibility. Not just in how we work, but in how we connect. Some teammates are happy with their setup at home and prefer to meet just once a year. Others want more in-person time, more often. And that’s exactly what this perk is designed for: creating options. ⚖️
For this trip, most of us dipped into our L&D budgets to make the most of it, but others have used the same perk in smaller ways. Like two people from London meeting up for dinner, or grabbing coffee while passing through another city. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be available.
📸 Golden hour rooftop!
The result? Deeper trust, better collaboration, and a stronger sense of belonging. When you’ve sat across from someone at dinner or swapped stories on a rooftop, your Slack conversations shift. Even just a little. 🙌
Interested in life at Resource Guru?
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A recommendation for other People teams
If you’re supporting a remote or distributed team, I’d highly recommend experimenting with a perk like this. Make it opt-in. Make it easy. And above all, make it flexible. 🤸
There’s no one-size-fits-all, but giving people the option to connect in person—when and how it works for them—is one of the best investments we’ve made in building a thoughtful, human company.
Remote-first doesn’t mean sacrificing connection. When we design for flexibility, we make space for real human moments—the kind that build trust, empathy, and stronger teams. 🤝
