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2015 in review

Scott van Looy

• 2 min read
2015 in review
…Because everyone’s doing it…
and that makes it right, right?

So this year was pretty odd. A mix of bad and good. I’m not really gonna talk about the bad stuff, those of you who know me will know about it anyway. This year was all about the travelling.

Whee!

I love travelling, but up until now haven’t really gotten to do very much of it. It’s funny, considering how easy it is, that I just keep making internal excuses. I do a thing, I’m all like “well, that was easy. I should do this again” and then don’t. So I’ve been moving myself a tiny amount outside of my comfort zone, which tbh is probably the best place to be anyway.

Last year, David announced plans to have his 30th birthday in Iceland. So began what was to be probably the most interesting year of my life to date.
This year has included:

Iceland was amazing. Stunning scenery. Beautiful apartment. Just a shame the only bits I really enjoyed were the bits where I was on my own. Took a lot of photos and definitely want to go back, this time with fewer high maintenance people.

In India, I was staying in Gurgaon, just outside of New Delhi, possibly one of the most polluted places on earth. Driving from the airport at 4am through utter poverty whilst seeing the silhouettes of towers in the distance lit up with unblinking neon signs. It’s what the 80s believed the future would be. Dust everywhere, animals roam the streets, shacks built from corrugated iron lean against the shining brick and marble of brand new five star hotels.

Such a juxtaposition. Such a mix of cultures. Such a stark line between the rich and the poor. It was certainly an eye opener. Photos here.

My favourite by far was definitely Japan. After the lulz of Iceland, I said to David “next time we go away, let’s just make it us two…”. He told me then about his plan to go in September to Japan. As it coincided with my birthday too, I figured why not.

Almost 3 weeks of awesome. I am definitely going to go back. Starting in Tokyo, we explored the Ikebukuro district, then a flight to Hiroshima for a few days in a gorgeous 4 star hotel overlooking islands, a bullet train to Osaka for 5 days of hanging out and making new friends and then back to Tokyo for another 5 days.

Both India and Amsterdam were work related. I did some training in India and a talk in Amsterdam for http://techinsight.io

Work!

Spent the last half of this year getting my head around ES6 syntax. Fighting with Babel and launching a couple of sites. Training in India was awesome. Nice to drop people in the deep end and help them learn to swim. Far more important to train people on how to find answers than what to do, hoping I managed both in my 2 weeks there.

Launched a website for Rolls-Royce through work. Launched one for Panerai. Some stuff for BP. My own personal photography website. Currently playing with IBM Watson. Kinda fun.

Kicking around my idea for a “Fuck Frameworks” demo/project/talk. Thanks to Morgan for the naming suggestion. :D

Personal stuffs.

Nope. Nope nope nope.

the future.

Next up, I’m going on an adventure…