January 2024 - Life Update

Happy New Year from Riga, Latvia (where it's -12C)! I was just in Vilnius, Lithuania and have driven to Riga to spend the new year. With 2023 over, I've been reflecting on the year to understand where I should focus my attention on 2024. The process I used was to break my 2023 down into different categories and evaluate how I felt the year went. It was mid. While I made plenty of friends and travelled to cool places, I didn't grow in ways I felt I should. So for 2024, I've got ideas in mind for how I can make it a better year.

🤓 What I've been doing

I've visited Poland and Germany with a few friends. Warsaw surprised me the most. And as bad as it sounds, I was mostly surprised by how modern it was. It felt like a proper European capital, which it is. Berlin was full of museums and cool bars and pubs. Fun fact - German beer won't give you a hangover.
I then went to Amsterdam, this was my third time in Amsterdam and the first time I enjoyed it. It was also the first time going since moving to London and I think living in a big city helps you navigate other big cities when travelling.
A good friend stayed for Christmas, I love Christmas and getting to host a friend made it even more fun. The days were action-packed including a day consisting of farm brunch and board games with my closest friends. Exactly how Christmas should be spent.

👀 What I've been consuming

🎬 Wonka, Paul King - A delightful musical (that isn't advertised as a musical) starring Timothée Chalamet as an upstart Willy Wonka before he establishes his eponymous chocolate factory. Despite Roald Dahl not writing it, it still feels Dahl-esque.
📚 When McKinsey Comes To Town, Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe - A book detailing the darkness of the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey. At times, McKinsey would work for clients with competing interests, advise government on regulation for its clients. When McKinsey found "operational efficiencies" for Disneyland, deaths from accidents went up, safety records fell and compensation payouts increased. That's only one example of the evil they produced.

🔮 What's coming up

January is a quiet month of 'monk mode' - a month of reading, not drinking alcohol, work and study.
At the end of January (the 31st), I'm heading to NYC again for a couple of weeks with a short stint in Princeton.