My 2024 Wrapped

Overview

Welcome to my third installment of My Year Wrapped! You can read my previous articles here:

• 2023
• 2022

As you may notice, each year the format changes a little bit. While I do like routine and consistency, at the same time, each year the article’s form reflects what I want to understand about myself at the end of that year.

• For instance, 2023 showed the peak of my obsession with time. However, around April this year I wrote a note to myself titled “knowing how i spent my time isn’t useful”.
  • In it I argued that knowing how you spend time in your year is interesting, but ultimately unhelpful at a micro level.
  • Streaks, peaks/troughs, and other things might be better to understand than strictly duration, and a year is too long of a period.
  • Something monthly might be more manageable to reason about, and it also allows you to make adjustments and iterate quicker.

This year I wanted it took look something like “my year in data”. This is accomplished by synthesizing the various data tracking applications that I use and analyzing the areas that I am interested in over time.

• I have a reflection about my year and more about my mental state in my 2024 Word of the Year reflection.

Things I started this year:

• Eating vegan at home (started January 9th)
• Reading more
• Hosting more
• Dating with an abundance mindset (went on 5 first dates!)
• Working out intentionally/seriously
• I got my first tattoo!

Beer

I drank at least 424 Beers from 170 different breweries and my average rating was 3.8.

• This is definitely less beer than in previous years. I can feel myself slowing down on drinking and trying new beers, but I still enjoy a good beer shared with friends/family.

My breweries I drank the most of were:

1. The Veil Brewing Co. (Richmond, VA)
2. Other Half Brewing Co. (Brooklyn, NY)
3. Crooked Crab Brewing Company (Odenton, MD)
4. Black Flag Brewing Company (Columbia, MD)
5. Tripping Animals Brewing Co. (Doral, FL)

Books

This year I read 25 books (two webnovels, one graphic novel, and an essay printed as a book).

• 13 Non-Fiction, 12 Fiction
• 3 for a book club
• I read at least 167 times for 9,175 minutes or 152.92 hours.
  • This only counts me tracking reading, I usually read for most of the time on public transit too.

I read the most books in January and kept up a fairly steady pace until after August when I burnt out. I read here and there in September and October and then a webnovel kept me until the end of the year.

I bought at least 104 used books (Thriftbooks or in-person) and at least 15 new books this year (Amazon, in-person, and Bookshop.org).

• For all the books I read this year except the webnovels and graphic novel (I borrowed a hard copy), I own a copy of the book.

Home Updates

There wasn’t a place untouched in my apartment this year.

• I’m starting to feel pretty comfortable with my apartment and how its decorated. I think that I have most of the big stuff down and now I am just filling in the finer details. I really like how everything has been going so far!

Hosting

I hosted a total of nine events in my apartment this year:

• Super Bowl (February)
• Game Night (April)
• Soul Food Saturday (April, Co-Hosted)
• Book Exchange/Dinner (May, Co-Hosted)
• My Birthday Party (July)
• We Have Brunch At Home! (August, Co-Hosted)
• “Game” Day (September, Co-Hosted)
• Friendsgiving Potluck (November)
• Souper Saturday (December, Co-Hosted)

This is compared to 3 times in 2023, but I moved half way into the year. However, even if we extrapolate that out to 6 for the full year, this year is still a big improvement over last year regardless.

• Both of these counts are only for formal events where invites are sent out, I have plenty of other people/groups over at my apartment that I don’t count. A home is for hosting people!

Movies

This was the year where I went back to watching things in the theater (and started watching plays in a theater).

• I have a movie theater down the road that does half priced movies on Tuesdays which I have definitely been taking advantage of.

I saw 33 movies, 14 of which were in theaters and 5 were on an airplane.

• I didn’t rate any five stars, but I had few 4.5 stars:
  • Perfect Days
  • Problemista
  • Monkey Man
  • The Iron Claw
  • A Quiet Place: Day One

I saw two plays!

• POTUS
• Babbit

Music

I listened to at least 51,056 minutes of music.

My top artists were:

1. Bladee
2. Adrianne Lenker
3. Ragana
4. Jane Remover
5. 2hollis

While I wasn’t listening to an album a day, I do feel like I discovered a decent amount of new artists this year, all of which happened very organically.

I bought 28 records across 23 artists.

I went to one concert which was Noseda conducts Wagner: The Ring without Words at The Kennedy Center.

• It was not my typical musical genre or concert experience but it was a work event.

Socializing

I hung out with friends at least 257 times for 34,550 minutes or 575.83 hours.

• 2023: I hung out with friends at least 455 times for 48,935 minutes or 815.58 hours.

This is mostly a logging problem because I was less on my calendar this year, which I think is a good thing. I feel like if anything I was more social this year. I made a lot of new friends and I also hosted or went to events hosted by other people and I didn’t log them as hanging out so that is a large amount of time that is unaccounted for.

Transportation

I spent time in transit at least 277 times for 12,895 minutes or 214.92 hours.

• 2023: I spent time in transit at least 256 times for 10,815 minutes or 180.25 hours.
• I carpool with a friend to work now so I take the metro less, but I still take the Metro to work sometimes and have been trying to go to more events in DC or hang with friends in Arlington and take the Metro.

I spent time in a car driving at least 165 times for 13,300 minutes or 221.67 hours.

• 2023: I spent time in a car driving at least 229 times for 13,870 minutes or 231.17 hours.
• Most of this is driving to and from my parent’s house or long road trips because I don’t really drive on a day-to-day basis at all.

Travel

Overall:

• I travelled less for work this year.
• I went to Princeton, Nashville, Italy, and the Finger Lakes for the first time.
• I flew to Italy, Chicago, and Dallas; everything else was a road trip.

Trip Timeline:

• Princeton (Jan): day trip to see my friend and had a nice lunch and small tour of Princeton
• Philly (Feb): got to see cousin, museum, my fav bookstore
• Nashville (April): went to go see a high school friend and went with a big group and a fun time
• Italy (May/June): first time in Europe and was very busy but lot of fun with family
• Finger Lakes (July): a more relaxing trip but got to see a beautiful hike and had good shopping
• Chicago (September): cousin’s wedding nice family time exploring the west loop
• Philly (September): Oktoberfest was too packed, went to some really cool shops and had some great food
• Richmond (September): had a fun time with my friend when she went down to see her team and i got to see mine too had some great food and beer
• Boston (October): had a blast for a friend’s bday, got a tattoo, saw friends who live in the area
• Dallas (October): Reducetarian conference learned a lot and got to try some yummy food and watch a movie
• PA (November): friends wedding kind of in the middle of nowhere but had a fun time in the drive and wedding with friends

TV

I watched at least 118 hours of content across 170 episodes of 16 different TV shows.

• Compared to 2023 where I watched 81 hours of 173 episodes of 20 shows.
• I feel like I’ve watched less anime, maybe a small uptick in K-Dramas, and watched some reality shows with friends.
  • This really astonishes me because I used to watch so much TV.
• I mostly watch YouTube instead. I have been watching YouTube less actively recently, but have been doing lots of podcasts in the background, which I think evens it all out.
  • I watched YouTube at least 108 times for 5,260 minutes or 87.67 hours. I don’t track it as religiously.

Working

I switched teams in the middle of the year because I wanted to do more programming. I had a slow start to the year on my old team and then a short transition period before diving into the deep end on my new team, which I think the numbers reflect:

• I was deep working at least 195 times for 12,495 minutes or 208.25 hours.
• I wrote at least 73 times for 3,685 minutes or 61.42 hours.
• I was in meetings at least 166 times for 7,895 minutes or 131.58 hours.

Working Out

Exercise	2024	2023	% Change
Back and Biceps	68	26	+161.5%
Chest, Shoulders, Triceps	67	26	+157.7%
Core	3	0	-
Elliptical	2	1	+100%
Stationary Bike	45	159	-71.7%
Treadmill	78	29	+169%

I started seriously lifting in July and I have definitely noticed results in my strength and in my body. I hope that I can keep consistently working out next year and continue to get stronger. I want to do more cardio so I might try to do the bike again or stay consistent with the treadmill, I’m not sure yet.