My December ‘23 and my 2023 in Review

About Last Month

It’s the end of a month, but also the end of a year, so it’s time to look back on the month and the whole year.

The month itself was not very exciting. Shortly after finishing the task force, I took a vacation and haven’t thought about work for two weeks now. Another week of vacation lies ahead.

I spent Christmas with my family and got some relaxation. Finally, I found some time and interest to work on my blog software and explore the topic of self-hosting again.

About Last Year

Globally and environmentally, the year wasn’t good. One disaster after another. A negative headline after another. Yesterday, my girlfriend and I watched ZDF’s “Album 2023” and compared it with the “Album 2013”. The number of disasters attributed to the climate crisis has clearly increased. Unfortunately, there were also more reports of war this year. It’s hard to imagine what it will be like in another 10 years. One can only hope for a miracle.

Personally, this year was very stable for me. No moving, no changing jobs, no other major life changes.

Instead, I traveled a lot by train this year. Since May, I’ve been tracking my journeys by public transportation, totaling more than 17700 km with a total duration of over 8 days and 8 hours. This was mainly due to my vacations, all of which were taken by train this year. In July, I traveled from Germany to Romania by train, through Romania, and back to Germany. In September, I went to Scotland. And in November, to Strasbourg, France. I’ve managed to convince my girlfriend to embrace this eco-friendly way of traveling a bit.

Certainly, the double household management also contributed to the kilometers. I regularly commuted between my two homes. However, moving in with my girlfriend at the end of last year has proven to be a perfect decision.

Regarding fitness, I believe I made progress this year. After doing body weight training in 2018 and inexplicably stopping, I restarted in January. I’ve been regularly training with Freeletics two, three, or sometimes even four times a week, interrupted only by vacations, illnesses, or high temperatures. I now have a lifetime subscription for Freeletics and, with new equipment received at Christmas, I’ll be able to do more exercises.

I blogged very little this year, which is not a problem. I blog when I feel like it. Maybe I simply have less of a desire to express my opinion on every little thing and constantly share? Perhaps I have less of a need for attention? The blog may just reflect my personal development. Last year, due to all the negative news, I also paid significantly less attention to politics and consumed fewer news (and tech news) in general.

About the Coming Year

In the coming year, I’ll probably travel less because more vacation days will be spent finally clearing out my family’s home, from which I moved almost two years ago. Additionally, my girlfriend will finish her studies, requiring exams and papers. This will likely lead to another move and the end of the double household management by the end of the year.

Regarding work, I hope to finally move beyond the junior level. Though these words have little meaning; my previous job didn’t have such distinctions. However, I believe I’ve gathered enough experience to no longer be a junior. Over the years, I’ve developed both technically and professionally, as well as in terms of soft skills and teamwork.

Because I’m somewhat idealistic, in the coming year, I’ll try even more to replace more animal products in my diet with plant-based alternatives. I already eat very little meat and fish, usually only to be polite or due to a lack of alternatives in certain situations. I want to be more consistent. I also want to significantly reduce my consumption of dairy products. Switching from cow’s milk to oat milk for cereal and cooking has shown me that animal milk is not essential. However, I still consume a lot of cheese and cream cheese. But for both the environment and less animal suffering, it would be better to opt for plant-based products, which have also become more affordable in discount stores this year.

Interactions & Comments