One of many traditions here at Rocket is our annual company trip. Since 2014, Rocket has taken its employees on various adventures: Lake Tahoe in 2014, Puerto Rico in 2015, Michigan Shores in 2016, New Orleans in 2017, and Zion National park in 2019 are just a few examples of opportunities we've had to visit a new destination while getting to spend quality time with our work colleagues. Unfortunately, during the past two years, the company trip tradition was affected by COVID, and we did not get to spend time with our work friends. Thus, it’s easy to imagine the excitement that took over Slack conversations when Senior Leadership announced, earlier this summer that, in October of 2022, we were all going to be headed to Scottsdale, Arizona. The company trip tradition is back!

A total of 168 people flew (or road-tripped!) to Scottsdale during the weekend of Oct 20-23. Thanks to the enormous effort of our incredible People Ops team, the team meeting and offsite activities were equally fun! Together, we had the opportunity to build and decorate ten dog houses that were later donated to a local animal rescue shelter. We also competed on a quick obstacle course and learned that not everyone masters the skills of hula hooping (no judgments, though.)

During the offsite activities, we had the opportunity to explore Scottsdale alongside our colleagues. Under the guidance of an experienced naturalist, a few of us went hiking in the desert; others had the opportunity to explore the Desert Botanical Garden and discover the incredible diversity of cacti and succulents from around the world. One group toured the famous bold architectural winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin West, while the last group relaxed during a kayak cruise at the beginner-friendly lower Salt River (where we spotted plenty of wild horses!)

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"My heart is so incredibly full after spending this weekend with you all. Best trip ever!” - Emma Hollister, Senior Recruiter

"I cannot express how wonderful it was to meet everyone in person and how thankful I am to be a part of such an amazing team!” - Laura McDonald, Commercial Project Manager

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The outcomes of the 2022 Rocket Travel trip are easy to see (and feel!) Besides having the opportunity to finally meet in-person teammates that have joined Rocket recently, we could also reconnect with colleagues whom we have not seen in a few months (or years!). The results? Refreshed energy, deeper connections, and a greater sense of belonging. We are excited to see everything we will accomplish together in the near future!

Here are to many more company trips! We cannot wait to see where we will be headed in 2023. Any guesses?

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