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We’re about to embark on a month-long trip to Southern Germany, allowing our kids to see some real mountains for the first time. I knew we had picked the right travel destination a couple of days ago, when our four-year-old son walked up a small hill and called it “a big mountain.” That mistake is understandable, considering that the highest elevation in Berlin is barely 115 meters. But I can't…
A full year has passed since I herniated a disc in my lumbar spine . I’d love to be able to report that my injury has fully healed and that everything is just as it was before, but sadly that is not the case. Instead, my back pain has been a constant companion throughout the year. But there is some good news too: although I can count the number of pain-free days on one hand, the pain has greatly…
The Christmas bell is ringing for the second time when I suddenly hear the sound of footsteps approaching quickly. The sound ceases for a moment, after which the door to our living room opens with a long, drawn-out creak. The first thing I see is the face of our three-year-old son. His eyes are still trying to adjust to the dim candlelight, but he is already scanning the festively decorated room.…
Once every quarter, my wife and I get together to review our family finances. We do this mainly to keep our spending and investments aligned with our goals. But it also helps us to get on the same page, to exchange financial knowledge, and to make important decisions together. It took us a couple of iterations to arrive at the current process, which is broken down into four steps, takes us less…
I made my first website at the age of 14. Back then, I felt that the world needed to know about the team we had just formed. After all, we were going to revolutionize the software industry with our own software and games. Or at least, that’s what we thought. Being young and naive, we believed that it didn’t matter that we had just learned to program , spent most of our time in school or playing…
Although I’ve had my driver’s license for almost two decades, I’ve never owned a car . That’s because I prefer living in the city, where getting around on foot, by bike or by public transport is more relaxed, cheaper and usually faster than driving a car. What’s more, no car means no maintenance costs, no traffic jams, and no desperate hunting for parking spots. Also, I never felt like I missed…
It’s been four weeks since I stopped working . But somehow, I’ve felt busier than ever. Keeping our kids happy, hanging out with friends, exercising, and looking for a therapist have taken a good chunk of my time. But luckily, I occasionally managed to find some spare time once the kids had gone to bed. I used most of that time to rediscover a hobby I had neglected for many years: working on side…
Shame is guilt’s evil twin. Where guilt is feeling bad about things you’ve done; shame is feeling bad about who you are – The Daily Dad, Ryan Holiday For many years, I was stuck in a job that I loathed. That time took a hefty toll on my mental health, limited my opportunities for personal growth, and ultimately led to me adopting a cynical and overly negative outlook on the future. But despite my…
My last day at work was surprisingly undramatic. The day began like any other: the entire family got up, we had breakfast together, and got our kids ready for the day. Our son was fairly cooperative that morning, so I managed to drop him off at daycare a little earlier than usual. I made my way back home and began working around 9am. Having opened the lid of my work computer, I went through my…
I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but never managed to consistently write. One day I heard about a simple technique called freewriting , which promised to make writing effortless. Writing had always felt excruciatingly difficult to me, so naturally I was thrilled! But sadly, after several months of stream-of-consciousness writing, filling hundreds of pages along the way, I still struggled with…