Year in Review 2022

2022 was a good year. It was a year of settling up, building, travel, and growing. Looking back, the year looks like it went too quickly, although, it was a year full of experiences.

The year started in Mexico, it is always good to be there, with family and friends. It was the first time since we moved to Europe that we spent the winter holidays back home, and it was a good decision to do so ☀️😎. On the professional side, the start of the year was almost aligned with the start of my new job, and new project. As it turned out, it was a challenging project, but it turned out to be a good learning experience.

2022 was a year of settling up, having moved to Amsterdam by November 2021, it was this year that we got to set up everything. To make of Amsterdam our new home, to get familiar with a new culture, a new city, and become regulars in the new neighborhood. I can proudly say now, that the local barista, and the owner of the corner shop recognize me and we exchange hellos 👋 every time we see each other.

Getting into a new city also means building new relationships. Along this year we have come to meet new people and to make really good friends. Although we have only been here for a little bit more than a year, it feels that the friendships we have we have had them for longer.

On the professional side, the year saw me working with a team of colleagues on delivering a Python library and scripts 🧑‍💻 to model decarbonization processes in hard to abate industries. The code is currently powering simulations to find pathways to decarbonize the Aluminium, Ammonia, and Cement and Concrete industries. It was a challenging project, and a good learning opportunity. It is good to know that my work is contributing to build (or at least plan) a sustainable future.

Besides the decarbonization project, I also worked (and currently continue to work) on a web app using Django. I am working in this project as part of the developing team. This project has lead me to learn from senior developers, and it has been a great way to get to work with new technologies such as HTMX to build dynamic webpages only using HTML and just a little bit of JavaScript.

The year also came with travels 🛫🚆, along the year we got to go to Italy, Spain, Germany (for work), multiple cities in the Netherlands, and Mexico again. The traveling was not only for us, we also got to host family and friends while they were traveling. This year we hosted more people in Amsterdam, than the total of people we hosted while in Budapest for four years! 😱. It was great to have so many friends and family here.

As the year ends, and I look back to how it was, I can only close the year with a smile. It was a year of settling up, building, learning, travel and growing. It was a year of new relations and past relations. It was a good year.

What is coming for 2023? More of the same, possible some changes (there are always changes in life, no?), keep building and growing. Professionally, I am looking forward to keep learning, to keep working with incredible software developers in challenging topics. I am also looking forward to keep my life-work balance, in the right direction: life. 2022 was a good year, and 2023 looks very promising. Let’s see what the lays ahead in the next 365 days 🚀.