2022 — Year in Review

Overall, 2022 was a pretty average year for me. I’m settled in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and though I did spend around two months in Singapore, I continued to work my four jobs, spent time with friends, went to the gym almost every day, and did a bit of traveling. I put away a decent chunk of change, joined a Dungeons & Dragons group, bought a PS5, and extended my Thai Education Visa, which will need to be extended again in August 2023. I got my third COVID-19 vaccine (Moderna) in February 2022.

As I, and the rest of the world, look forward to 2023, I don’t expect to make any big life changes. I’ll continue to stay in Chiang Mai and expect to continue with my current job lineup provided they don’t suddenly see a need to fire their writers. I have been thinking more about buying a condo or apartment in Thailand, though that’s something I’m continuing to mull over.

I’d like to thank everyone who visited and/or read my blog in 2022. It's hard to tell who exactly is reading it minus the numbers that Google Analytics spits at me, but I appreciate anyone who took time out of their day to visit this little project of mine. I’ll continue posting on a regular basis throughout 2023 and will aim to do more writing per post. Travel plans for 2023 include Brunei and Timor-Leste so I can close out my Southeast Asia travel map, though I still need a few smaller island countries that I’m unsure when I’ll get to.

In 2022, I published my second novel — A Viral State (technically late 2021, but who’s counting?), as well as my fifth short story, The Place Beyond.

Here are some other highlights from 2022:

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Conceived and developed a new column for KrASIA — The Bullet (Will continue in 2023)

• TOKEN2049 — No Frills, Just Crypto

• Laos Needs to Show its Startups Some Love

• Metaverse Madness

• Here’s a Solution You Didn’t Ask For

• We’re Not Using NFTs to Their Full Potential

• Temasek’s $100 Million Bet — Brilliant or Brash?

• Autonomous Agony

• Southeast Asian Billionaires: The 4% of the 1%

• Why Technology Isn’t Moving As Fast As We’d Hoped it Would

• Deepfakes — We May Never Need to Perform Again

• The Solution to Over-Connectivity — Analog-Only Experiences

• Is AI-Generated Art Still Art As We Know It?

• Southeast Asia — Simple Innovation Solving Big Problems

• Generative AI — The Good, the Bad, and the Scary

• More Than Just a Check — Investing in Social Good

• Buzzwords — There’s a time and a place

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Read 10 books (link to review)

1. Bangkok Tattoo — John Burdett

2. A Treachery of Spies — Manda Scott

3. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle — Haruki Murakami

4. Talking to Strangers — Malcolm Gladwell

5. Artemis — Andy Weir

6. Outliers — Malcolm Gladwell

7. Bangkok Haunts — John Burdett

8. Look Who's Back — Timur Vermes

9. Later — Stephen King

10. The Bangkok Asset — John Burdett

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Traveled to:

1. Phuket, Thailand

2. Chiang Rai, Thailand

3. Pai, Thailand

4. Bangkok, Thailand

5. Pai, Thailand

6. Singapore (Token 2049 & Formula One)

7. Bali / Sanur, Indonesia