The next chapter
This is a now page.
January 25, 2026, from Squamish, Canada.
Just over two years since the last update. Time flies, heh?
Squamish
Iām well settled in Squamish now. Two years already!
As an introvert and working remote, it was a bit of a slow start rebuilding social circles from scratch. It really takes being intentional about it. Facebook groups and the Oak app are pretty sweet, and believe it or not, talking to strangers IRL also works! The good thing is that the more people you know, the more people you meet, so it gets pretty effortless over time.
Mountains šļø
In 2025 Iāve been out in the mountains like crazy, and hit 130,000 meters of elevation gain all sports combined (ski touring, trail running, gravel and mountain biking). Itās my biggest elevation gain year lifetime, 30,000 meters more than 2024. šŖ
That includes scrambling Sky Pilot, climbing Star Check (3 times lol), Cloudburst, Goat Ridge scramble, Blackcomb Peak ridge scramble, a marathon to Castle Towers, Gentian Peak and Panorama Ridge, Ossa Mountain, Rainbow Mountain, the Armchair Traverse (Mount Cook and Mount Weart), Locomotive Mountain and its loop scramble, Coliseum Mountain, and finishing with the Howe Sound Crest Trail (with extra Harvey, Brunswick and West Lion lol get rekt). What a year!
About part-time work
If youāre wondering how I go in the mountains that much, you need to know Iāve been working part-time as a software contractor since 2021. Going part-time was the best thing Iāve ever done in my career (other than connecting a ping-pong table to the internet š) and Iām incredibly grateful to have worked with companies who gave me that opportunity.
Maybe I should write more about this because itās still really uncommon in the industry, but believe it or not, those years have also been the most productive of my career.
Itās definitely a combination of factors. Despite working only 20 hours a week:
- Iām naturally more experienced now than I was years ago.
- I have been intentional about working with small companies (read: less than 10 people) where I can have a sizable impact, without being slowed down by corporate friction, processes and politics.
- Parkinsonās law is a thing (āwork expands so as to fill the time availableā).
- And of course since a few years and increasingly, using AI.
Still, this means that thereās a sweet spot for time-to-productivity ratio, especially when it comes to creative work like building software, and in many cases Iām not convinced that itās at or above 40 hours.
Travel āļø
Mexico š²š½
Went to Mexico for a work retreat.
Montreal
Did a pit stop by Montreal to catch up with friends and the š„ food scene there.
Toulouse
Did a quick pit stop in Toulouse, which I visited for the first time, since my flight landed there.
Andorra š¦š©
Visited friends in Andorra, also first time for me there. Thereās some sick mountain biking and trail running. Lots of ridges to scramble, everywhere, and all the mountains are connected by trails, so it feels like thereās really no limits to the terrain!
Camargue š¦©
Another pit stop at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to cut a long drive in half. Also first time here, very pretty!
Metz & Nancy
Finally some family time around Metz and Nancy.
Cakes š°
I also happened to turn 30 on that trip. While I donāt believe the specific number means much at all, I still see no reason to not treat myself to 3 different cakes. š
Nova Scotia š¦
I bundled all the above destinations together in July. Nova Scotia was a separate trip.
A good friend of mine was getting married there, and I got to stand at his wedding. Took that as an opportunity to go explore around the Cape Breton and particularly ride the Cabot Trail on my friendās road bike that I borrowed. Around 300 km and 3,000 meters of elevation that I split in two days. It was beautiful.
Shortest move ever
At the end of the summer, my landlord sold the place I was renting, and I had to move. I got lucky and found a place in the same building just across the floor the same day I got the notice. Still canāt believe this happened. š
This made for a pretty easy and quite ridiculous move, with me dragging my stuff across the hallway.
The big jump š
Remember how I was writing about part-time work earlier? Well all good things have an end, and this was not an option anymore at the company I had been working until then.
Going full-time right before ski season didnāt feel exactly right, and it really felt like a sign for me to 1. take some proper time off and 2. get out of my comfort zone and try something a bit scarier.
The time off consisted of a fuckton of climbing, then skiing. Being in BC, we eventually got a few of the usual warm storms where it rains all the way to the top of mountains and destroy the skiing conditions until it snows again. This gave me some solid windows to start building again.
We got together with my friend Ben and started EveTools, where we make apps for developers.
The first app is Flame, and its goal is to remove as much friction as possible from the Firebase local development experience, especially when it comes to dealing with the emulators.
Weāve been working with Firebase quite extensively for over 3 years now, so we have a pretty good understanding of the pain points of the current experience. Thereās a lot to do, and I hope we can have a positive impact on that platform.
At the time of writing itās in private beta, but weāre planning on opening it up pretty soon! If you find about Flame via this post, shoot me an email and Iāll send you a discount! š«¶
Two interesting realizations since this happened.
Buildingception
First, building a product, and doing so end to end (read: not just the tech), reveals a lot more pain points and problems to be solved. Some specific to the stack we work with, and some broader ones too. And the good news is, a lot of them can be solved with more tech!
In other words, the more I build, the more ideas I get about what to build next.
Granted itās not the best way to source ideas if youāre optimizing for maximum revenue, but it seems to be doing a decent job at optimizing for maximum motivation, and I do enjoy that for the time being.
So much for part-time
Second, is that despite advocating for the benefits of part-time work for the past 4 years, including higher up in this article, Iām actually having a really good time working every single day right now, weekends included. Working on your own thing does hit different.
I hope my fellow coastal BC skiers donāt read this, but Iām lowkey grateful for this rain-into-dry-spell event a few weeks ago, so that I feel no guilt and FOMO to be so much on my laptop.
Ultimately, I still believe in part-time work, and in fact, being an independent developer is my current best bet on building that lifestyle back one day or another. But it also seems like a futile dream until I generate any sustainable income.
Letās see where the snow takes meā¦
On coffee āļø
Iām back to drinking caffeine, after years of being on decaf. š¤·āāļø
Seems to pair well with the business hustling for now. Weāll see if I build up a tolerance again. If it stops being a net positive Iāll readjust.
And weirdly, after being into specialty coffee for years (read: small batch micro roaster beans I weigh and grind before brewing), Iām back with my moka pot and sous vide Italian pre-ground. Who would have thought?
A few words on 2024
I know, I know, I skipped the routine update last year. To be fair there was no important update to write about, which is probably why I didnāt feel the need to write. Still it included many cool adventures and trips that I might as well slide in this post.
First there was the northern lights. Took the camera out for the occasion.
Of course, the usual local mountain adventures. Including skiing Panorama Ridge, scrambling West Lion and Black Tusk, Mount Currie, running a 60K to Diamond Head and Mamquam Lake, Sigurd Peak, biking the Triple Crown (Cypress, Grouse and Seymour), and finishing with a marathon to Overlord Mountain!
Went to Jackson Hole for a work retreat, and took some extra time off there to explore the mountains and do a lot of road and gravel biking, including riding around Yellowstone, with a colleague whoās an absolute triathlon machine. Those few weeks are probably the most volume Iāve done in a continuous stretch to this day, although the Andorra trip from last year was a close contender.
Also went sailing in Majorca with a few friends!
And finished by some trail running in the Vosges.
On reflecting
Putting together all those photos is pretty time consuming, but honestly it feels valuable to take that time to reflect on the past and really appreciate everything that I experienced.
Itās easy to get caught up in the fast paced train of life and never take a step back to contemplate the big picture. Those ānow pageā updates help me do exactly that.