What was my 2024

2024 is over and it's finally time to sum it up.

Being a parent - it's getting fun

My kid is 3.5 years old at the moment. It passed really quickly. The threenager era is difficult - it turns out that a small child can learn things like negotiations pretty rapidly and those aren't easy negotiations. On the other hand, we have more and more moments where I feel he's just a human being, but in a smaller body. We do more things together, we read together, or we prepare coffee together. It's truly amazing.

Of course, it's not easy but overall every year shows me that parenting can be an unbelievable adventure.

And we love cycling together:

Working at Patchstack

Last year I switched jobs and I started working at Patchstack. In my summary last year I wrote:

I already had a chance to participate in the company workshops and now I'm 110% sure it was a great decision. Next year will be full of creative challenges.

I was wrong, I'm 200% sure it was a great decision. It's crazy, creative and I learned a lot of new stuff.

Based on 2024 and everything we did, I can't wait for what 2025 will bring. I'm certain we will achieve great things.

My greatest memory? Spending time with Darius and Mart at WordCamp Gdynia.

WordPress

I already was testing the waters outside of WP for some time. Also, I'm not a full-time developer anymore. When WordCamp US happened (and the whole aftermath) I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I was sad about what was happening in my community, on the other I was really happy with the choices I made before. All those saying about not keeping all eggs in one basket are true.

I spoke at many conferences this year

Last year I mentioned that:

I hoped for more. As a DevRel, I thought I would have a chance to attend more conferences. Also, most of my talk submissions were rejected.

This year was the opposite of 2023. To sum up:

• I visited 16 conferences

• I spoke at 13 of them

• I co-organized one

• Once I was an MC and led a discussion panel

So much happened, that I will create a separate entry about this.

I have so many great memories from those conferences. My favorite one? Visiting Come to Code and the whole travel through most of Italy to get there. It wouldn't be that fun if I would go there alone - my amazing friend Carlo Daniele made this amazing. I hope that in 2025 we'll have a chance to visit at least one or two conferences too.

Cycling and gym

As a parent, I have a limited amount of time. I can't spend every day of the weekend cycling (even if I would like to). But I still had a plan to cycle at least 1000 km. And I did it. I was even able to find some time to cycle a part of the Vistula Cycling Route. On the other hand - we have some health issues in our family at this moment, which prevented me from doing one longer trip. This year, I'm also aiming for 1000 km, but I hope to cycle around the Polish lakes this time for the longer trip.

Also, I spent quite a lot of time at a gym. Based on my Garmin watch I went there 103 times and altogether I carried 760K tons of weights. But I'm not surprised. I love going there. It's a great way for my mind to reset.

It's also amazing to see the progress. When I visited the gym for the first bench pressing 20kg wasn't that simple. This year I managed to set my PR at 80kg.

I hope that in 2025, I will have a bit less stress, so I will be able to focus a bit on my weight. I have too many "hidden" muscles right now.

Best games I played

2024 wasn't the best year for gaming. I spent a lot of my gaming time playing Civilization 6 and Baldur's Gate 3 again. I have mixed feelings about the latest Dragon Age - it wasn't as bad as some said, but you could feel that HR was present during the writing process.

• Red Dead Redemption - it took a while, but RDR finally was released on PC. While it's not as great as RDR2, I had a lot of fun playing it. The story and characters are amazing.

• Banishers Ghosts of New Eden - when it got released I saw a few mixed reviews, and I decided to skip it. Luckily it was on sale and I decided to give it a try. While the mechanics could be better, the story, characters, and setting are amazing. I almost missed this gem.

• Ghost of Tsushima - I had to wait a bit longer for it. So, story-wise it could have been better. But the graphics, environment, and setting were just WOW. I have never been so amazed by wind behavior.

• The Thaumaturge - a really cool Polish RPG set in 1905 Warsaw. While the battles could have been solved better, I loved the writing and the setting.

On the other hand, 2025 will be packed with amazing releases. Civilization 7, Kingdome Come Deliverance 2 and Avoved are on top of my list.

What I listened to

Like every year, I listen to Archive, IAMX, and Rammstein - so I'm skipping those.

• Electric Callboy - this is my biggest discovery of the year. Great mix of metal and pure fun. Give Ratatata a try.

• Anneke van Giersbergen - I've been listening to her since she was singing in The Gathering. But this year was really her year.

• Diary of Dreams - I have known DoD for many years, but this year was a great comeback for them. I still enjoy their gloomy atmosphere. It reminds me of Castle Party.

Best TV Shows

• Fallout - I was afraid that Prime would mess it up, but they didn't. Again Prime delivered an amazing series. It clicked so good, that I decided to play Wasteland 3 again.

• The Boys - despite not-so-good opinions about the fourth season, I love it. It's getting darker, Homelander is losing his mind and I love how they portrayed Firecracker.

• F is for the Family - amazing cartoon. While not as good as Bojack Horseman, it's similar in many ways. It can be funny (Colt Luger parts) but also can be very sad and real (relations between the Murphy family)

• Warrior - I didn't suspect that this series would be that amazing. Great setting (Chinatown San Francisco), interesting times, and a lot of action. The only sad part is that there are only 3 seasons.

Time for 2025

After two weeks already, I feel it won't be an easy year. On the other hand, no one says it will ever be easy.

I already can't wait for some things to come like:

• seeing my kid in kindergarten (I hope he'll like it)

• start of the cycling season

• some conferences

and for some pleasant surprises.

What worries me, is the fact that I will hit 40 later year. It kind of scares me.