Beside efficient communication and faster execution, the approach also helps break the lethargic monotony a one man show has to face, be it as a freelancer or an employee in a distributed team. One month 'off' is also a great way to say thanks to everyone for their endless hours and bang-head-against-wall solo session.

Before my time, IBM regularly held a WebSphere Services Technical Conference (WSTC) in Las Vegas and annually flew in a big portion of the team for a week to learn about the hottest features. I am sure my colleagues learned a lot, but the stories I am told these days about those days also go beyond and usually start with someone getting lost on The Strip at 3am.

It probably doesn't have to be that expensive though. I would assume that renting a house wouldn't take away too much from the experience and benefits but would be significantly cheaper (we had a house which could easily fit up to eight people at the ocean, 60km away from Venice in Italy for 500EUR/week). When the team is right, doing simple stuff such as cooking together can be quite fun and bonding.

A related approach: Designer Stefan Sagmeister gives up some of his retirement years and instead takes a one year 'creative break' every seven years. Here's his TED talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time...