Jump to: Reading | Traveling | Running | Working
I’ve been slacking off on these yearly updates for a while, but this year I have a bit more time in my hands (more on this later), so here we go.
Overall, 2025… Fine, I guess. I can’t complain on any of the important fronts, and I feel very grateful for that, but it has felt like a long year. It’s hard not to feel deflated at times because of the whole …[gestures at everything], and to be honest I reached the end of the year with low energy levels.
Let’s focus on the good stuff though!
This year I started seriously tracking what I read. I tried many services and apps in the past but I ended up using just a Google Spreadsheet. Just some columns for title and date started/finished, plus ISBN code in case I want to do something fancier in the future and want to get the book details.
I won’t bore you with graphs, the summary is that I read 18 books and 51 comics, 31 of them loaned from the local public library. We are big fans, my kids and I go there once a month and stock up.
If I had to choose some random year favourites they would probably be One Day I’ll Write about This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina, A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, How Much Land Does a Man Need? and other short stories by Lev Tolstoi and Sharazad by Sergio Toppi.
A section of my bookshelves, in need of sorting and tidying up
As usual, a mix of pleasure and work-related trips this year. Last summer I went with my family to the Aragón side of the Pyrenees, near Ordesa. Some incredible geology and landscapes, and we got to do a couple of really nice hikes despite the heat.
Beatiful clouds and mountains at Los Llanos de La Larri
I briefly returned to Newcastle upon Tyne, the place we called home for almost eight years, for a short visit with friends. It was remarkably unchanged and we could visit all the nice spots in town and around it.
Saint Mary’s Lighthouse at Whitley Bay
In September I flew to Bologna to attend CSV,conf, where I helped deliver a CKAN workshop. I think it was my fifth attendance to CSV,conf and as usual it was a great event. Bologna was fantastic, I loved the laid back atmosphere and the never ending arcades (and the amazing food of course).
One of the beatiful arcades in Bologna
A month later I travelled for the first time to Vitoria-Gasteiz to attend the OGP Summit. I was pleasantly surprised by Vitoria, very walkable, nice old town and world-class pinchos.
And to end the year a short trip to the mountains near Camprodon to see the snow (we are southerners and get easily excited by it).
Snow-caped mountains around the Vallter 2000 sky resort
On the running front, this has been a quiet year. I run a half marathon at the end of 2024 and even though it was my personal best I didn’t feel super well, so I decided to take it slow after that. Besides, July and August were too hot, and I stupidly broke my toe in September when it was nice again to go out. Luckily I recovered quite quickly and ended up the year in a decent form.
The highlight was for sure the orienteering race I run with my eldest son, his first one! It was a 1.5 hours rogaine that took place in the beautiful town of Miravet, next to the Ebre river, with spectacular scenery. But best of all is that we managed to win our category! 🎉
The town of Miravet from the Ebre river, with its imposing templar castle
Work-wise, I was lucky to work with the talented team at Link Digital for almost two years. Besides some really important CKAN stuff, I got to work on interesting projects and to improve internal processes with some great colleagues. Sadly the circumstances were not right, so our engagement was ended amicably. Which means I am now idle, catching up on personal projects and learning new things, but definitely planning on looking for a job, so perhaps you want to consider hiring me!
I hope that you and yours have a great 2026.