My 2022 was about adjusting to the new normal and prioritizing my mental health.
For the 20th straight year — and perhaps the last time I publicly post my annual review — here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2022.
My 2022 was about adjusting to the new normal and prioritizing my mental health.
For the 20th straight year — and perhaps the last time I publicly post my annual review — here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2022.
My 2021 was about Covid. I can't sum it up any more succinctly than that. I feel like I didn't grow at all…but of course, this is one year I will remember for the rest of my life.
For the 19th straight year, here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2021.
My 2020 was about Covid. I can't sum it up any more succinctly than that. I feel like I didn't grow at all…but of course, this is one year I will remember for the rest of my life.
For the 18th straight year, here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2020.
The job’s not finished. We still need to win Georgia in January to win the Senate.
But after 240,000+ deaths being dismissed as “just a flu”, being ridiculed for wearing a mask to protect everyone I directly/indirectly cross paths with, being mocked as sheep for trusting ongoing scientific research around the world, watching the president convince his followers that “it’s us against the world”, watching social media surface the most vile thoughts & theories from the darkest parts of the internet, and waking up every single day for the past four years, bracing myself for some sort of new controversy coming straight from the top of our government…All that election anxiety I’ve struggled with for months has suddenly just disappeared, and I’m once again hopeful for some sort of normalcy in America.
The job’s not finished. But for the first time in a very, very long time…I can breathe.
My 2019 was about one last hurrah before I dedicate the next couple years grinding to buy my first rental property. One last solo adventure. One last holiday of gluttony. One last year of indulgence.
For the 17th straight year, here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2019.
My 2018 was about crossing things off my bucket list. Traveling solo, eating and exploring my way through Japan. Also attending WWDC festivities in San Jose to hang out with fellow Apple geeks. Just throwing myself out there into places I've always wondered about…I finally got to experience them.
For the 16th straight year, here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2018.
So I'm a sentimentalist and a digital hoarder who is particularly OCD about original photos & videos.
Last year, I wrote an email to Apple's SVP of Software to point out a common, real-world problem that comes up every time a group of friends get together:
Hey Craig [Federighi],
The iPhone is the best and most popular camera on the planet…yet sharing photos & videos in full quality with friends & family is so hard! I wish sharing full-quality photos/videos was as easy as sending stickers to a group chat in iMessage.
I was recently on a trip to Hawaii with a dozen of my childhood friends. 10 of us had iPhones and 2 had Samsungs. We’re all taking photos, with plenty of candid shots, great group shots, and just living the moment. But when we wanted to share each other's best photos on Facebook, we were faced with several options that all have downsides:
Send over iMessage — but then everyone receives a downscaled version of each photo and video.
Send via AirDrop — (my Samsung friends were getting a jealous about this, lol) but AirDrop assumes all phones are unlocked and within bluetooth range, which isn't always the case. It forces us to take ourselves out of the moment just to make sure all our iPhones are unlocked and ready to accept the AirDrop.
Share folders via Dropbox or Google Photos — but not everyone has an account on either of those.
Use iCloud Photo Sharing — but not everyone has that enabled. And even if I send them a link to the album, photos/videos are downscaled to lower quality.
I take pride in the quality of photos I take with my iPhone! It’s a shame though that with all these priceless group photos on our phones, we either have to take ourselves out of the moment to coordinate an AirDrop with everyone, or we have to settle with downscaled versions of photos that are meant to last a lifetime.
I feel that of all the companies in the world, Apple is the only company that could solve this elegantly. Hope you take this into consideration!
-Mel
He read my email that day, but he never emailed me back…
Fast forward eight months later.
On Monday, at Apple's annual developer conference, Craig Federighi announced an awesome new photo sharing feature for the upcoming iOS 12 (skip to 0:30:21):
I'd like to think this feature was created 100% because of me — that way I can justify the celebratory chocolate chip cookie dough cinnamon bun I ate before bed — but even it wasn't, I'm just glad all you guys will be able to use this feature coming this fall.
So buy the best smartphone camera you can afford, take lots and lots of photos, and always, always, always keep the full-quality originals. Because the reality is, you can NEVER go back in time to take better photos of your loved ones.
For the past eight months, most of my purchases had been towards things that would help me in my first trip to Japan and first time traveling alone.
There were four key ideas I adopted in preparation for this trip:
Bite-sized vlogs with my iPhone. GoPros are great and all, but I couldn't justify $350+ on an action camera I'd rarely use ever again. And the last thing I want to do when I come back from vacation is spend hours compiling a highlight video for YouTube. With a 256 GB iPhone, I'd have plenty of space to record 4K video, plus I'd be able to edit & upload bite-sized videos on-the-fly.
Carry-on backpack only. Having everything in a single backpack means not dragging around secondary luggage as I explore the city between the 10am hotel check-outs and 4pm check-ins.
"Capsule wardrobe". Bringing only neutral-colored clothes & layers would give me plenty of possible outfits for the trip, making it easy to adapt to the weather as needed.
Unique experiences instead of typical hotels. Standard hotels are expensive and for the most part, the exact same. With Airbnb, I can stay at better locations, pay way less, and experience what it's like to live like a local.
With that said, here's a list of everything I brought, what worked, what didn't, and what I'll bring next time.
Overall, my first solo adventure was a huge personal success. I learned how to get by with much, much less. Solo traveling — especially with one backpack — is so freeing, I could do whatever I want, whenever I wanted. I didn't have to wait up for anyone. I didn't have to rush for anyone. Everything I did, I did on my terms, and no one else's.
I can't imagine traveling any other way anymore.
Before using your smartphone abroad, always make sure your phone is unlocked. For me, my iPhone X was already unlocked as I purchased it through Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program. ↩
Merino wool shirts are well-known among backpackers as the best base layer for travel. The fabric is finer than typical wool, handles moisture very well, has a natural ability to regulate temperature, and is odor resistant. As long as you air it out every night, rotating a few merino wool shirts can last you for days without wash. ↩
In just a few short days, you’ve taught me how beautiful an entire country can be when every single person practices courtesy & respect, and crafts their work with the thought & care of a true artisan.
I have yet to hear an impatient driver honk their horn. I have yet to see an angry customer arguing with a worker. I have yet to come across restaurant staff, a store employee, bus operator, taxi driver, or subway worker who will give up on me because I don’t understand what they are saying. I have yet to even find a public toilet here that isn’t clean!
You have warmed my heart the way your toilets have warmed my bum...and I will carry that with me forever.
Love,
Mel