July 2024: Vacation

I spent far too long on vacation. Had a great time, but after around two weeks the amount of work I wasn't doing caught up with me and started to add stress. I managed to keep on top of customer support and the special edition ebook projects I have going on for Campfire, but fell behind on code review, starting new special edition projects, and Rehance.

I am very, very happy to be back. Being able to spend my days building a business (and soon, I continue to hope, two businesses) is fun enough for me that I missed it even while relaxing with a glass of wine on the beach in beautiful Portugal with my close family. That's a good sign that I picked the right career, I suppose.

Vacation

I started the month with a flight to Lisbon and a subsequent drive up to Nazaré, where my mom and sister were waiting. For the next two weeks, I went to a wedding, hung out with family, ate and drank a lot, swam in the ocean, and generally relaxed. I was also fairly able to keep up with work things during this time.

Then came the two-week blitz, where I was traveling around nonstop. The same day that I drove my parents to the airport and they flew home to the US, my friend from high school arrived and spent the following couple of days with me and my girlfriend. The same day she left, Kasia and I went to Morocco and visited Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakesh. When we got back, I drove us back to Nazaré around midnight, where Kasia's family was waiting—and we spent the next week showing them around Portugal. Porto, Douro Valley, Coimbra, Nazaré, Óbidos, Lisbon.

Nonstop. Action. And that's where I fell behind on basically everything.

Morocco

Traveling to Morocco last month marked my first time in Africa. I went in with low expectations, and those expectations were... accurate, for the most part. I can't say it was my favorite place to visit. There was certainly reasonably good food, but on the whole, I missed out on much of what I'm used to coming from a first world country. And I'm not talking about air conditioning. Things like functional ATMs, the ability to walk down the street without getting harassed, and a reasonable level of cleanliness.

I came to enjoy their tea, and the Medinas were something very new. But I doubt I'll be back.

Looking Forward

There is lots to do, and it feels good already to get caught back up on everything with Campfire. I've yet to revisit Rehance, which has been sitting untouched with zero customers for the time I've been away, sadly. I'll get back to writing more blog posts for it soon, but it seems like the AI things are in a weird place right now. I don't think the wave has gotten to most software companies yet, only the most startup-y and forward thinking ones. I still believe we are early.

At Campfire, I'm super excited to launch the upcoming special edition projects and see how they convert. We will become the top seller of fantasy and science fiction ebooks, mark my words!

Expect a longer and more impressive update in a month's time. 🫡