2022 has been another interesting year. The notion of a United Kingdom has become a total joke to me after the 3rd prime-minister in a year. UK Politics right now is on a knife edge with so many strikes due to the government and the cost of living crisis effecting too many people.
Finally getting Covid for the first time after 2 years was quite something. Not just Covid but Covid-Toe! That was bloody painful!
From a Quantified Self data point of view 2022 looked like this.
- My average sleep duration has dropped from 7hours 50mins to 7hours 30mins. Deep sleep dropped from 3.30hrs to 2.40hrs. Not great!
- Tasks wise I switched from todolist.txt to todolist and have 148 open tasks and completed 1,919 over the year
- Been to a few places in 2022 but no new countries. Manchester, Brussels, Lisbon, Cardiff, London, Bristol, Bath, Weston, Tetbury, Amsterdam, York, Ledbury, Birmingham, Lancaster, Durham, Bournemouth, and Paignton this year.
- According to Trakt (which had a database problem recently), my most played show is Last week tonight with Jon Oliver. Film wise it was Everything everywhere all at once, which is also my most highest rated with 9/10. Black Panther 2 and the woman king were both 8/10. For the first time the most watched actors and actresses are Viola David and Idris Eiba (both black). Likewise the most watched director was Erin Lee Carr. Most listened to podcast is podnews.
- I watched 151 movie and 288 hours of TV. I also read 647 articles via Wallabag.
And the thoughts a year later…
- Live in another country for a short while
This hasn’t happened and looks to be on this list for quite some time. The biggest blocker is understanding the cost (if any) for the company I work for. From my understanding and what I have read, there is no additional costs as taxes & insurance are paid as usual in the country (in this case the UK) with additional taxes paid on goods and services in the other country (Portugal).
If anyone has any experience of a digital nomad as a full time member of staff in another country? Do get in touch! - Spend more time getting to know the tech community in Portugal
I did spend a week in Lisbon getting to know the city as a non-tourist, looking around coffee shops, co-working spaces, etc. I also gatecrashed a Web3/crypto party along side the block crypto house. - Finish my dating book
I am some way off this but I have made some progress, hiring illustrators and possibility another editor. I also considered my paths and decided Amazon self publishing is the way. I really want to get this finished by next year.
- Head even further a field with the scooter
Not much happened this year but partly due to meeting wonderful woman who drives, meaning some of the journeys I had planned were done via car not scooter. - Send a email out to friends and family once or twice a year
Another thing which didn’t happen, its still something I think about. - Find an alternative to the pebble watch
This did happen, as blogged about here and here. Although I am managing with the Amazefit GTR4, I certainly would like to see something closer to the pebble’s interface.
- Listen to a Audiobook every month.
This is one I completely blew through the 12 books for the year, with 17 finished, a few started and potentially one more will be finished before the end of the year. The Bluetooth mp3 player with waterproof headphones was a great investment for the spa and gym. - Host more film nights and dinner parties
From pretty much zero to 2 or 3 in a year isn’t bad but I can do much better. - Go to a new Rollercoaster park
Never happened but thought about it a lot. Got a feeling next year Walibi, Efteling and Europa park are calling me.
- Take the Diabolo skills up a level
My diabolo skills has gotten really good, I undid some of the bad habits but the later part of the year not really had the chance to practice as much. This showed when I entered a contest at work and dropped the diabolo way too many times. - Put some attention into dating and love
So while seeking more compatible women, I met Alison and we have been going out for 10 months now and is been a joy. - Seek out a better regular spa
I looked and looked but decided having a pretty good spa within a short walk was big advantage compared to getting public transport or scooting to the spa each time. Plus now I’m mainly listening to audiobooks, I’m not listening to some of the awful conversations which happen around the spa.