Hello everyone!

It’s been a bit, but I’m glad to say that I’m back to work! I started at Ashby about two weeks ago, and I'm coming back refreshed and genuinely excited to work again.

Nine months ago, I took a career break, and I finally sat down to write about what my time away taught me.

I did more than I thought I would: a solo climb up Kilimanjaro, a few months in China with family (including an unplanned two weeks in a Nanjing hospital), and a side project that showed me just how hard the non-coding parts of building something really are.

In the post, I dig into why so much of the AI hype turned out to be noise once I had some distance from it, and how my relationship with money and work shifted along the way. There's also some advice I got from one of the two brothers I met on my trip to Kili that has stuck with me ever since. Plus, I share what actually worked for me while job hunting in this tough market.

If you've ever daydreamed about taking a break, I hope this one gives you something fun to chew on.

Take care! Hopefully more regular updates on my end soon 🤞