2022, my year in review

2022 has probably been one of the best years of my life, so I’d like to do my best to document everything that has happened - away from social media, and on something a little longer form! Who knows, maybe I’ll be posting something similar at the end of 2023. I’m writing this not so much for other people to read, but moreso for me to remember.

I try to take the possibility that every day could be my last pretty seriously, and I’m really happy that I can look back on this year and feel like I’ve made the most of it.

I’m starting writing this several months before the year ends, but I’d like to publish it in January 2023. Hope all is going well, future me!

This is another photo-heavy post from me, as I’m telling a story and that’s best done with imagery!

Tech

iPod

After visiting the design museum in London and seeing some old iPods, I was inspired to have a go at modding one. I did this in a couple of hours after spending the day at a motorcycle show, posted some photos online, and it really took off. First a lot of attention on Twitter; then a bunch in the press - including a small interview and feature with Vice.

Atuin

This year I continued to work on Atuin - albeit fairly slowly. We had a couple of magazine features (which I still can’t believe), and gained even more contributors! Thank you to everyone that has helped make Atuin better <3

I also opened up a GitHub sponsors. This was for two reasons really. Firstly, I was paying for a server to host the public sync instance, and wanted to reduce the financial burden. Secondly, I want to try and ensure Atuin has a sustainable future.

So far this is paying for the server bills, with a little left over! I never thought this would happen, thanks everyone 💖

Work

I started the year working on the infra team at Coinbase. As a subset of the cloud team, I was mostly managing the dedicated resources we used for macOS CI.

However, in August, due to a bunch of factors + after 2.5yrs, I left Coinbase for something fresh. I’m currently leading the infra team at PostHog and solving some different challenges!

We’re also hiring, so if you’d like to work on some cool problems with me (you poor soul), then please check us out!

Adventure

I’ve always wanted to travel more (who hasn’t?). Prior to COVID, a combination of not enough money + working way too many hours meant that I barely left London, let alone the UK. Seeing as there were fewer travel restrictions + both my finances and work/life balance were doing better, I tried to fit in some more adventure.

The first trip of the year was to the Pyrenees, where I tried snowboarding for the first time. I wasn’t really a fan of the sport, but I’ve always loved mountains. So instead I spent some time messing about with snowmobiles and hiking

I was actually in the middle of a valley, alone, with super spotty phone reception, when the news of Russia invading Ukraine broke. I didn’t have good enough data to find out if the world was ending, so tried to make the most of the alpine calm.

At the end of the trip, I spent a day in Barcelona by myself, while my friends finished up the snowboarding. I wanted to work on my self confidence last year, so I had challenged myself to spent more time exploring alone. I think this went pretty well, and is definitely an exercise I’ll be carrying into 2023!

In March/April, I went for a trip to California. I’ve always fancied visiting, so booked it in a bit of a YOLO moment. I spent just over a week in San Francisco, renting a motorbike (CB1000R) and working from the Coinbase office for a bit. I really enjoyed the Bay Area, and certainly made the most of how accessible the countryside is from the city!

For the second week, I met some friends from London in LA, where we attended the Bike Shed LA opening party + rode some canyons (I rented a Panigale V4, as it was also my 23rd birthday…).

The bay was great, but to be totally honest LA wasn’t really for me. Driving everywhere was super annoying, as I like walking. It also felt far too fake and ingenuine for me.

During the SF part of the trip, I made some absolutely fantastic friends - I actually went back later in the year to visit them! A special thank you to Michelle, who let me stay in her spare room and borrow her motorcycle the second time around. I stayed for 6 weeks that time (with a little trip to Hawaii), and it was only possible because of her. We also had a fantastic weekend riding trip to Yosemite, which is probably up there as my favourite few days this year.

I’ll be back soon!

Over the summer, I toured Europe with my friend Laura, doing 2000 miles in a week on a bike I’d bought just before leaving (Husqvarna 701 Supermoto). We rode through France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and also visited Monaco! My first ever time at a casino was the Monte Carlo, where I managed to make 10 EUR 💪

Motorcycles

If it’s not already obvious from the above, motorcycles are a pretty big part of my life. I attended a whole bunch of track days, learned to get my knee down (and got much faster in the process), and went on a tour.

Along the way, I made some new friends too! Motorcycles have had a huge impact one me, and are now a pretty strong part of my social life.

In 2023 I’m hoping to get some more track time, try some riding disciplines I haven’t had much time for (hello off-roading), as well as more moto-travelling. I can’t wait to meet more people along the way 😊

Photography

I’ve always fancied trying photography - and in 2022 I did! I bought an A6400 and a couple of Sigma prime lenses from a friend, with their first proper outing being the Europe tour. I’ve really enjoyed taking photos this year, and I’m really looking forward to learning more in 2023.

Gym

2022 is also the first year where I pretty consistently went to the gym! I’ve been on-and-off forever, but starting in November 2021 I starting regularly lifting weights. The impact on my health and mood has been immense, and I’ve now found a new hobby.

I’m hoping to really up the intensity in 2023, and also work some more on getting my diet right.

London

Towards the end of the year, I realised what was important to me with where I lived. If anything, this was highlighted by visiting SF.

I spent most of my summer outdoors - and the best outdoors (imo) is not in London. So I could also say that I spent a good portion of my summer driving/riding in and out of the city. This lead me to the conclusion that living in London doesn’t really fit my life any more.

I also work from home, so paying London rent, London cost of living, and having to travel to get good green spaces just doesn’t make sense.

In early 2023, I’ll be moving to St Albans. Still close enough to go into the city, but with the countryside being much more accessible. And the rest of the world too! I’ve living in London all of my adult life, despite growing up in a very rural area.

Hopefully I’ll be writing my 2023 review and saying that this was a good decision :)

Conclusion

2022 was great, and hopefully 2023 is going to be better. I wrote this as a total afterthought + missed a LOT, so next year I’ll be trying to keep little notes as I go.

I’d like to learn more, explore more, write more, and meet more people. Let’s see how it goes!