The previous blog post went on a little too long so this is the second part in the series of “Best of 2025”

A link to the previous post is:

The next post will be posted tomorrow:

The theme of this part is Self Care and Non-Technical things. These are some of the non-work/technical related things that I found/did/stood out last year.

Building an Exercise Routine

One of the biggest quality-of-life improvements I made this year was committing to a real exercise routine. It noticeably increased my strength and had a surprisingly positive impact on my overall mental well-being. Unfortunately, an injury sidelined me for a few months, which was frustrating. Tracking my activity turned out to be essential; seeing tangible progress made it far easier to stay motivated.

Joining Sports Leagues

Alongside the exercise routine, I joined a few sports leagues and ended up making some genuinely great friends. It became one of my favorite ways to stay active and social at the same time. My WhirlyBall team, in particular, turned into a highlight of my week—it didn’t feel like “exercise,” it felt like fun.

Walking & Exploring Trails

I spent a good amount of time walking and exploring trails this year, mostly using AllTrails. While it helped me discover new places, its increasing number of paywalled tiers has made it feel like less of a good value. It is fairly limited on the content on the platform and the lack of users giving feedback on the platform. There are some promising open-source alternatives out there that I haven’t fully tested yet, but they’re definitely on my radar.

Still, I managed to explore trails around Chicago, Wisconsin, and even Taiwan. Getting outside, unplugging, and just being present turned out to a great way to disconnect and reset my mind.

Meditation & Tea

This might be the most meaningful habit I picked up all year. Meditation became my way to quiet the noise, slow things down, and re-center myself. Around the same time, I fell completely in love with tea. Tea was not a new thing to me, I regularly consumed black tea with meals (as is culturally normal), but it was the discovery of the high quality Oolongs and high mountain varieties I found in Taiwan. It delivers this deeply calming, almost heady relaxation that feels like a gentle reset button for your nervous system.

The Calm app played a big role in making meditation approachable and consistent. Together, meditation and tea became a small daily ritual that I genuinely look forward to.

Taipei From The Hotel Room

Learning to Take Breaks

This one has been harder than I’d like to admit. I’m not naturally great at stepping away, but I’ve slowly started to build better habits around taking real breaks.

Reading

I’ve also been reading more than usual this year, largely thanks to the Meebook e-reader I picked up. Being able to access my entire library on a high-quality screen. I couldn’t imagine using a Kindle which would lock me into Amazon’s restrictive and sometimes temporary ecosystem. It’s made reading far more accessible and enjoyable. It lowered the friction enough that reading became something I actually do again, not just something I intend to do.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks ended up being a surprisingly rewarding activity. This didn’t take off until I installed and built up an Audiobookshelf server to manage audiobooks and podcasts. I made it through five or six non-technical books this year, far more than I normally would, and it opened the door to titles I probably wouldn’t have had the attention span for otherwise. Project Hail Mary and the Bobiverse series were standouts, and they made walks, chores, and downtime feel richer and more engaging.