2016 was a Pretty Good Year
My personal year in review
Globally, 2016 wasn’t a particularly good period. Personally, it was one of the best years I’ve ever had.
It started with two of my best friends visiting me from two different parts of the World. We had an amazing two weeks, where I showed them around my home city in a terribly cold weather.
It continued with a business trip to Berlin — the first one I’ve ever had. For a week I stayed at one of our client’s office working together with their team. It was a crucial professional experience.
I had a surprise visit from another two friends coming from abroad. That was an awesome weekend.
My girlfriend and I, together with another couple drove to Lefkada, Greece. We went to the gorgeous Porto Katziki, ate a lot of seafood and drank a lot of ouzo. We continued our road trip to the Meteora region, famous for its cliff monasteries. We slept in tents underneath the majestic stone formations. It was awesome.
Together with AngelHack, I organized the first AngelHack hackathon in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was part of the global series of hackathons taking place in more than 60 countries worldwide. It didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped, but I consider it a success and it was a unique experience.
My father had an upcoming art exhibition in Strasbourg. I had to organize the shipping of 40 paintings, after which I drove with my dad and my girlfriend to Strasbourg to set up the exhibition at the Art Gallery to the European Council. It was stressful, fun and unforgettable. On the way back we visited some friends in Germany and spend a lovely couple of days in Freiburg — a beautiful city. Oh, we also dropped by Zurich.
What followed were two summer months, where every weekend was a different adventure, somewhere in Bulgaria. My friends and I went to the sea, hiked in the mountains, visited small, hidden villages, went to several festivals. There wasn’t even one weekend where I stayed at home. Not one. It was an awesome summer.
I had another business trip around Germany, where a colleague and I visited two potential client companies. One of them went on to become an actual client. The whole trip was another unique experience for me. I got the chance to sit in a conference room against 4 people in suits all looking at me, while I’m explaining to them why we should work together. It was both scary and exhilarating at the same time. I got to explore several, beautiful German cities and by a weird set of circumstances I got to drive a Mercedes SLC on the Autobahn.
Just a couple of weeks later I had the opportunity to go to Web Summit 2016 in Lisbon. It was another unforgettable experience, unlike anything I’ve seen before. Lisbon is an incredible city with a radiant night life and crazy, super-friendly locals. I’ll never forget the stone-faced old lady, who I went to every evening to buy beers, while she was cracking jokes using the handful of English words she knew.
My girlfriend and I went on a short trip to Dublin. We’ve been talking about visiting Ireland for some time now, so we decided the time is right, even for a few days. Needless to say, the city is amazing. Delicious food everywhere, rivers of Guinness, overly friendly people all over the place. We had an awesome time in some traditional irish pubs. Not even the tourist-y ones. We specifically searched for the authentic stuff. I also made a new friend.
Last year, when 2015 was coming to an end, I remember thinking what an amazing year it was. I felt sad it was over and I felt scared that I’ll never have such a great year again. And then came 2016. It’s a good thought — a year can always get better.
I decided to write this review for myself to come back to in a couple of months, maybe same time next year. But thinking about the highlights from the past 365 days I realized something. The events that really stayed with me most vividly; those I considered worth mentioning; those that really matter and made a lasting impression on me — those moments were either some sort of challenge, an adventure shared with close friends or travelling somewhere I’ve never been before. Those are three goals that I’ll make a conscious effort to strive for in 2017.
Happy holidays, everyone!
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