I wanted to write down my thoughts and share some photos from my recent trip to Malta to meet the team.
Preparation
Travelling from Ukraine takes some time, so I always prefer to book extra vacation days to have proper time to rest before and after travelling. As usual, I planned my trip like this:
Mykolaiv to Kyiv (9 hours): 4 days in Kyiv to spend some time with a friend and visit a book festival. It was a good one, even though I bought just one book. I always feel inspired being around books and seeing so many new publishers.
Kyiv to Lublin (13 hours): I’m glad we have a direct train, so I can sleep and relax. Also, I had 4 days with my family to unwind from the road and relax.
Lublin to Krakow airport train (5 hours).
Krakow to Malta: a 3-hour flight (plus my flight was delayed).
Total: 30 hours
First impressions of Malta
The next day, I was surprised to see completely different architecture and style. I liked the colorful doors, and I thought each building wanted to be special in its own way. It looked very beautiful, neat, and authentic.
The driving there is crazy. Sometimes the roads were so narrow that I thought they were one-way roads. But no! I would never want to drive there.
Food-wise, it was okay and tasty. Some dishes were very close to Italian food. The coffee was bad, honestly. Even though I’m not a coffee expert, we definitely have better coffee at home.
We mostly stayed on Gozo Island, and it was really nice because we could keep a slower pace.
Meeting the team was an amazing experience, and I think it helps us work better together. You get used to people’s habits and jokes :D, and just seeing real people helps reduce stress.
We had a really nice electric bike trip (thankfully, because I injured my knee right before the trip, so I didn’t know what to expect), a treasure hunt, and some nice dinners together.
Some more photos
Getting Back Home
I like counting how long it takes me to travel (as you may already know). So, my trip back went as planned (even though I had 2 tickets just in case something went wrong 😀):
- Malta to Krakow flight – 2 hours
- Krakow to Lviv by bus – 8 hours
- Lviv to Kyiv by train – 7 hours
- Kyiv to Mykolaiv by train – 8 hours
Total: 25 hours
Summary
Malta and Gozo were an interesting experience. I would probably never travel there by myself, so I’m glad I got the chance to explore it with the team.
Next stop: WordCamp Europe 2026 in Krakow and a trip to Prague with my sister in June.
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