Onwards
Once again we have come around to that moment. A year has gone past since I last made my reflections.
I’ve written in past reflections about how I’ve wanted to move away from this idea of setting goals for each year, as if there’s specific outcomes that needs to be met or I’ve not done what I set out to do.
That seems silly to me now in hindsight, as if merely by achieving these goals I’ve accomplished something. But they should never be goals by themselves, but rather objectives towards a larger goal, that of a satisfying life.
It is why last year I put my mind to make 2025 the year that I would seek more moments of joy and spontaneity. In reflecting back on this year I would argue I have done much of that but yet find myself thinking I didn’t do enough of it.
My year officially started being comfortably snug wrapped in my throw watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (the 2013 one) and munching down an amazing Mexican meal of huevos rancheros verde and tacos i had saved from earlier in the day. The truth is that the year took a deep-dive from there because at no point have i had anything as amazing as that meal throughout the whole year.
That isn’t to say that things didn’t take a turn for the better though. The reason i decided to focus on seeking joy was simply because i sorely lacked some during my stay in Lisbon, and decided that a change of scenery once again would be just the cure.
Before the month was over i was already in Rome and shortly afterwards found myself for the first time in Bangkok, Thailand. It was not the first time i set out to travel to Bangkok, but it was the first time i was successful in actually getting on the flight and not forget my passport at home. While Bangkok was not my final destination, i spent a full week there just travelling through its myriad streets taking photos and enjoying as much street food as i could.
Chiang Mai and spontaneity
Eventually i did land myself in Chiang Mai where i spent the next two months, once again eying the amazing variety of street foods available and even a trying a few new things like silkworm.
While my Thailand adventures continued for a little bit longer, one of the very first impromptu travels i did was a quick trip over to Taipei to visit some of my colleagues who were there for RightsCon. Conspiring with just one of my colleagues i took turns to surprise many of the others and enjoyed what brief time they could spare from their work and the conference.
While i did shortly after return to Chiang Mai this spontaneous trip made me excited to go on on another short trip elsewhere soon again. This wasn’t simply because i was bored or wanted to try something new, desires i had given into many times in the past, but because it did genuinely feel exciting to just pack a simple backpack and with very little to no plans travel onwards to somewhere else, an experience i had not allowed myself for a long time.
It was during this time of pondering on and planning further trips that i also went on the first of only two hikes i got around to during the year. The Wat Pha Lat (Monk’s Trail) hike was certainly more challenging than i thought, or rather it showed me just how unconditioned i was, but it was such a joy to stand at the end of the trail and drinking deeply in the heat of the mountain top.
My second hike came during a brief sojourn to Singapore, having trekked through the gorgeous McRitchie park and explored the island city more, taking the time to snap some more photos of the gorgeous surroundings, from the beautiful gardens to to the busy streets. As someone who is ever prone to sweating at the drop of a hat whenever there is any heat, the combination of Singapores heat and high humidity levels also made it a challenge albeit a fun one.
But it did occur to me that as much as i thoroughly loved both Thailand and Singapore, the copious amounts of sweat running down my back on a regular basis the moment i went out in the heat did start to convince me that i should consider new pastures, even if it’s for a change of scenery.
A tired Seoul
The next destination was Seoul by way of a quick trip to Japan. It was always my goal to return to Seoul after i lived there in 2023, as i thoroughly enjoyed my time and wanted to experience some of those things again. This time though, i went there during late spring/early summer instead of October/November time, which provided whole new experiences.
But first up was Tokyo, Japan which i hadn’t returned to for a number of years and i had no direct plans to do anything. All i knew was that it was cherry blossom season and prices were absurdly high. The cherry blossom season always brings a ton of crowds, from Tokyo locals to people visiting from further away as well as many tourists.
This time around though i found myself in Akabane, a little further up north in Tokyo with not as many crowded touristy areas as some other parts of town. Thankfully this also meant that there was a gorgeous park nearby, the Asukayama Park, with plenty of cherry blossom trees in full bloom.
Having come in with very little to no plans beyond seeing the streets and parks with cherry blossoms, Tokyo showered me with many great opportunities to finding little bits of joy.
From the random jazz performance in a bar where i was invited in to drink despite clear language barriers to the friendly whiskey bar owner who kindly chatted with me about her family who happened to live in Sweden and she’d been to visit a few times. It is not lost on me that there has been an uptick in far right activities in Japan and some foreigners reporting harassment and racism, but my experience as a whole was very much a friendly one.
In an odd contrast to my time in Japan, my time in Seoul was very much a quiet one with very little social outings and experiences. Part of it may be attributed to my social batteries running dry after multiple short trips where i tried to be as outgoing and social as possible, but there were also some stress and worries around work.
We experienced our very first layoff and i lost a number of great colleagues who had contributed so much and were so integral to my experience there that it was hard to fathom that they were gone as quickly and suddenly as they were.. This did mean of course that many teams, including my own, had to find ways to deal with doing more with less as we also started taking on more and different kinds of tasks.
Whenever i did venture out to gather air, just relax in a park, or catch some photos, it felt like such an odd swing in atmosphere. From largely working from home and trying not to worry or stress out to the gorgeous and sunny Seoul street walks, the difference couldn’t be felt more.
Thankfully though i was saved from mulling further on just workloads and projects by the grace of a good friend who happened to be visiting Thailand. This couldn’t have come at a better time, i was in sore need of some joy in my life and i leapt for the opportunity to travel down again to Thailand and have food, drinks, and merriment with a good friend.
Between gorging ourselves down with the abundant food and drinks that were available to us, we partook in some friendly sporty competitions between ourselves and even ended up watching a Muay Thai fighting event. While this ended up being a very short trip of only 3 days before heading back to Seoul, this was definitely one of those moments of joy that i was very much in need of.
Greener pastures
In the past whenever i was unhappy anywhere one of the first things that came to mind was always to go back on travelling foot, go somewhere new, find a new place to live. But those opportunities always came at the cost of having to find a new life, new social circles, new routines, new food, etc. which wasn’t always easy. But provided with the opportunity to work from anywhere and being able to travel anywhere, i decided that if i was truly unhappy at the moment, whether it was from work or otherwise, i should engage once more in those spontaneous desires and leave, find my happiness and excitement in travelling.
Sure enough, the next few weeks of travel were some of the most exciting and fun i got to do the whole year. From Seoul i decided to head to unchartered waters and set out to visit Sydney with a quick stopover in Singapore for a couple of days.
Sydney was a fantastic stop as i got to see more movies and cinema than i had in Seoul, but felt a renewed social battery. This of course turned into a number of social occasions but none more fun than the street photography tour i got to go on during my brief stay there. I found Sydney to be such a delightful place that i definitely wish to return to and experience some more of, in particular to go outside of just Sydney and explore a bit of the surrounding areas beyond the cities.
Worries of work and stress put behind me for a little while, i set out to continue my travelling adventures and head back to Europe, it was time to see some friends again.
As some of my colleagues and friends were also going to WordCamp Europe, which happened to be in Basel, Switzerland this year i decided to do just that spontaneous thing and travel down there on short notice and see them before they went back home and i wouldn’t see them for months or a year to come.
Having never been to Switzerland either, it felt similarly exciting to me to travel around in Zurich and onwards by train to Basel. While the Swiss people definitely felt a little less friendly than the famously friendly Aussies, i was happy to be there just to meet with friends or i might have been let down by the lack of any real social energy there.
In Basel we found ourselves with some days off from work and i decided to go on a road trip with my friend back to his home in Lisbon. It was also around this time that it dawned on me that i had an upcoming travel date. Just before the end of 2024 i had signed myself up to travel on to Dashcon, or rather Dashcon 2 to properly refer to it as instead of the more infamous first iteration. While i was under no obligation to travel to it, it was happening in Toronto and i was certain i didn’t need many excuses to travel to Toronto. I quickly booked my flights to Toronto in a weeks time from Dublin, as it was the cheapest flight i could find in such a short notice.
Knowing i had to be in Dublin in a weeks time and having signed up for this road trip while at the same time having promised one of my friends i’d come and see him with his newborn son, i realised i had very little wiggle room to get this done. But this was it; a ton of places to get to, some spontaneous travel, and chaos ahead to make sense of… I was finding my groove once more.
Our road trip start from Basel and went down south towards Lyon and on to Barcelona to finally stop at Lisbon. But all plans have to meet reality at some point, and ours meant that our enjoyment of the road trip meant we were slower to get through all our destinations in quick enough of a time that i had to cut it short at the city of Figueras, home of Salvador Dali.
From there, a quick trip by train to Barcelona where i almost got lost badly enough almost miss my flight, meant that i ended up in London in very short order.
While i had very little time to enjoy it with my friend and his family, it was truly a joyful moment to just sit down, converse and talk about fatherhood, expectations, the unexpected journeys that led us down to where we now find ourselves and more. Those are truly important moments though as they anchor you down a little bit more in our reality; truly being grounded for a little while during all this jet-setting moments.
From London onwards, i find myself arriving on the very evening of Pride festival in Dublin. While i had arrived towards evening, the festivities would continue on for a more hours i knew. I also had a flight in the next 14 hours. That said, it wouldn’t be a proper craic in Dublin if you didn’t at least attend the festivities while they were on. As it happened an old friend who was living there was already on site, and i tried to quickly (but to avail) catch up in sobriety-levels despite knowing i had to get up early in the morning. Thankfully though i quickly noticed that my accommodation of choice, the Trinity College campus, was closing at midnight which meant that i at least had a cut-off time.
The following morning was thankfully lacking in any hangover and i was more than in good time for my trip to Toronto.
Apropos of nothing
Dashcon 2 was upon us. For those who might not be aware of it, the original Dashcon has a very infamous story and has been memed on for years and years. So when organisers decided to create Dashcon 2 it was obviously met with some trepidation.
But there wasn’t any need for concern it turns out, the event was amazing. Tumblr users from all over the world decided to turn up. I met people who travelled from the US, England, and even Sweden to come down to this event despite the intentionally limited number of attendees. But it turned out to feel much like any local con, just with a ton of Tumblr flair to it, from people dressing up as Tumblerinas to Tumblr related merch, workshops and presentations. There was also a replica of the infamous ball pit available as well, which was such a nice touch.
It was an absolutely great time and while me and some colleagues were largely incognito, it really made that feeling of community much stronger.
Despite that great start, my time in Toronto ended up in a similar fashion to my time in Seoul, a big dud in all the ways that matter. This time though it was largely just being in a bit of a funk but also due to a lack of sleep and odd working and sleeping hours. I attributed at first to just jetlag but this went on for much longer than anticipated.
I tried to reenergise myself with going out more and taking street photos again but despite having a great time with it, my energy-levels were still low and i was continuously sleep-deprived and thus not up for anything exciting. It’s why it was such a disappointment to leave Toronto having not done as many things as i wish i had.
Eventually though it’s time for me to return, but while my initial plan had been to return back to Europe and maybe stay there for a little while longer, i wanted to try and return to Asia once again, and shake off this current funk i was on.
First up though was a return trip to Lisbon for a few days before heading back to Chiang Mai. While this was just for a couple of days, i tried to make up for the brief time and really enjoy the city once again. Lisbon has always been a city i’ve felt i could come back time and time again and still discover new things and enjoy it just as much as last time. This was no different and the brief time spent there was very much needed, specially for what was upcoming, i just hadn’t known how much it was a much-needed break at the time.
From Lisbon i set out to travel to Athens, the meeting place for the annual in-person meetup for my team. I made sure to travel down a week earlier than anyone else to both acquaint myself with the city more in person and enjoy it, but also to prepare my social batteries for the intense experience that these meetups can be, as enjoyable as they also are. From experience i know that my social battery tends to run out fairly quickly from these types of meetups, but for once i managed it quite well and had a blast. It was also the first time meeting some of my colleagues in person as we had both a new team lead and a new colleague, not to mention another colleague who had been away on parental leave during the last team meetup.
Athens in late summer, early September turns out to be a great time with not as many touristy crowds (but still plenty) but plenty of days with great warm weather. We got to get around to plenty of enjoyable things,most of which i’ve written about here.
Nomadic worries
After the brief but enjoyable meeting with the team, i set out back to Chiang Mai and Thailand. Upon my return to Chiang Mai i found that my previous accommodation wasn’t available so i set out for one that was not that far off as i found that i had come to enjoy the neighbourhood i was in.
Unfortunately it turned out that this spot, as great as the apartment in general was had a number of small issues that’d annoy me to no end repeatedly. From some of the weakest water pressure in a shower i’ve ever come across to the building noises from next door, i found there was really little joy to be had there. Even the little things i had come to enjoy in the previous location i was at such as the friendly security guard and the small but well-equipped gym were sorely missed.
While these were all minor inconveniences in the larger picture, they combined to prickle me. Thankfully though i received an opportunity from work to volunteer for the TSPA’s APAC Summit in Singapore. Having been there not long ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, i realised i’d welcome the opportunity not just to get away from my current situation but also meet and talk with fellow industry professionals.
The Summit itself was a fantastic two day event, with the first day comprising all kinds of industry professionals and TSPA members. Some amazing talks and workshops were held with topics ranging from digital age-verification to AI misuse and many more fascinating conversations. As much as i took a number of ideas and insights away from that first day, for my own records though it was the second day that was the most fruitful, as we got to have an opportunity for coaching sessions. This session, which i intend to write more about shortly, was everything i could’ve hoped for and more. I was lucky enough that i was able to instantly connect with my coach and have a long and valuable session of gathering ideas for my career, other life goals and more. I certainly came away with it brandished with renewed energy and new career insights.
Although much of this newfound energy puttered away upon my return to Thailand. During the border control, i was taken aside and asked repeatedly about my repeated comings and goings to Thailand and my intention this time around as well. While i had not spent more than a month and a half, less than the 60 days i had available to me for my tourist visa, i had left and returned to Thailand a few times for different short trips earlier in the year. I had tried to explain this to the border guards at the time and eventually i think they did believe me but asked me to be sure i had my papers in order and a return flight if i left and came back again. Although i had noticed that the border agent that let me through eventually had spent a significant portion of time writing something up before letting me through.
When i returned to my apartment, i tried to wrack my brains of how that had come about or if i had done something wrong. While granted, i had certainly generously used up the tourist visa to visit Thailand a few times over the course of the year i hadn’t spent more than 45 days in any one time and inbetween my visits had certainly spent much longer time in other places or even travelled back and forth between Thailand and other spots like Singapore and Japan. I didn’t think that any of my actions or travels would fall into the pattern of those who usually do visa-runs between different countries in order to extend their stay in places like Thailand.
But the larger concern was what to do with my upcoming trip to Japan in a few days time. I had already planned much earlier in the year to be in Japan by October to get to see one of my favourite comedians performing live, and i didn’t want to miss this opportunity. If i were to return from Japan without an onwards ticket to somewhere else i might get into trouble after all. So i decided that i’d purchase a one-way ticket to somewhere else that was cheap enough, which turned out to be Athens as a direct flight.
While my stay in Japan was ever so brief, only two days, it was an enjoyable one. The comedy show was amazing, i had plenty of great food and despite the more chill and rainy time i had fun walking around.
But upon my return to Thailand, i ran afoul of the same issue. Despite showing my onwards one-way ticket, i was still questioned with the same questions about my previous stays here, my financial situation, what i intended to do while there and my plan for returning, etc. It definitely did not feel good to be interrogated this way but i was also patient because i knew i had done nothing wrong but also that this was just them being cautious.
Nonetheless though this gave me enough concern about any other short trips outside of Thailand for the near future as i didn’t think they’d be as kind to me the third time. After much deliberation, i decided that i’d put a pause on the nomadic travels for a little bit. If i was going to continue travelling around as much as i was, i needed to find a longer-term digital nomad visa first. But i had no intentions of getting one just yet, as my thoughts were also on the new ideas and thoughts i had about where my career would go after my coaching session in Singapore.
I decided i’d finally return to Europe, and start to make more long-term plans, whether that was a return to Asia with a digital nomad visa to somewhere or a longer stay in Europe and settle down somewhere for a little bit.
Thus i boarded the flight to Athens that i hadn’t anticipated i’d go on, and spent the next few weeks there, digesting the recent changes and decisions i’d made but also trying to plan for the near-term future.
Eventually, i had made up my mind. I decided i would settle down for a while in Spain, specifically Barcelona. While i had previously spent some time in Valencia and it was tempting to return to familiar grounds, i decided on Barcelona for a number of small reasons which i’ll write up in the next little while in more detail.
For now though it’s been a great time here in the last weeks of 2024 in Barcelona, as i’ve slowly started taking my new situation, from trying to find time to practice my Spanish to all the little things i need to do to consider long-term settling down.
With plans and ideas aplenty, it’s going to be a very interesting year of 2026.
While any details of what the future will bring continues to elude me, i know at least how i will approach things this year. Analytically. More than any other time in my life, i’m beginning to notice just how quickly time slips away from your grasp not to mention my continued lack of faith in my own memory getting any better or remaining the same.
So for this coming year i intend to write things down more than ever, i intend to record and list most of the things i do. I’ll track my habits more often, i’ll write down in more details where i go and my thoughts around those places, i’ll journal more often, i’ll scrobble my music to know what i continue to listen to and discover, and much more.
I used to find people who did this somewhat boring, but i’ve come around to finding the amazing value that this can bring, and while i’m still uncertain as to how i’ll do it i still intend to find myself at the end of 2026 with a long and detailed record of how my year has progressed. It will be nice to see where i find myself once again as year turns once more.
Published: 2026-01-01