And that’s a wrap! 2018 was filled with fun times and good people. It was also a period of adjustment and uncertainty as I hit the later half of my 20s. I love putting these posts together because it helps me to unwind from the busy holiday season and to practice gratitude for the adventures and accomplishments of the past year, while looking forward to the year to come.
At the start of last year I wanted to focus more on the quality of the things I love, by whittling down and being more selective of my time and energy while still pursuing my passions. As I scroll through the lists and fun facts below, I do see doubling down as a common theme and I’m happy with the results. 2018 turned out to be an incredible year!
Major 2018 Accomplishments
- Hit my 5-year mark living in San Francisco!
- Completed a major homepage redesign for my company’s core product
- Took on a freelance writing gig for an online sportswear company
- Continued co-leading church community (small) group, hitting the 3-year mark
- Continued volunteering for Back on My Feet morning runs, hitting the 2-year mark
- Learned to ride switch on my snowboard and spent 20 days snowboarding this past season
- Rode my motorcycle on some of my favorite roads in the Bay Area on 11 separate sessions
- Stayed active with swimming, basketball, hiking, and yoga
Cities Visited in 2018
- Whistler & Vancouver (1/20 – 1/23)
- Salt Lake City (2/10 – 2/12)
- Denver (2/24 – 3/5)
- New York (6/29 – 7/3)
- Mexico City (10/27 – 11/4)
- LA (x6)
Concerts & Music Festivals in 2018
I think doubling down was most evident in my live music selection this past year. You’ll see mostly house & techno, with some metal and rock thrown into the mix. About 7 of these shows/festivals were done solo, which allowed me to further enjoy artists that I would’ve otherwise missed.
- Ben UFO @ The Great Northern (2/22)
- Gareth Emery: Laserface @ Bill Graham (3/17)
- Daniel Avery @ The Great Northern (3/30)
- Coachella @ Indio (4/13 – 4/15)
- Yaeji @ 1015 Folsom (4/19)
- Power Trip @ Great American Music Hall (5/31)
- Splash House @ Palm Springs (6/9 – 6/10)
- Bicep @ The Independent (7/19)
- Mat Zo @ Audio (7/20)
- Justin Jay @ The Great Northern (8/3)
- Deafheaven @ August Hall (8/14)
- Greta van Fleet @ Masonic (9/19)
- Jon Hopkins @ The Regency Ballroom (9/20)
- Nina Kraviz, Helena Hauff @ The Midway (9/28)
- Zeal & Ardor @ Bottom of the Hill (10/12)
- Secret Project Festival @ Los Angeles (10/13 – 10/14)
- The Black Madonna, Honey Dijon @ August Hall (10/19)
- Charlotte de Witte @ Public Works (11/9)
- Amtrac @ Halcyon (12/15)
- Dirtybird Quarterly @ Mezzanine (12/21)
Hiking/Camping & the Outdoors in 2018
This past year included the most camping I’d ever done and also included a good variety of camping, from solo jaunts to glamping to huge groups to backpacking. Every year, I appreciate the Bay Area’s beautiful outdoors more and more. There are so many hikes, views, and activities that it’s truly a special place.
- Mare Island Preserve (2/17 – 2/18): rode my motorcycle up to Mare Island and camped inside an abandoned 1940s military bunker
- Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (4/28 – 4/29): a very fun glamping experience in Napa with wine tasting and oyster shucking involved
- Mt. Shasta (5/19 – 5/20): first time backcountry snowboarding and using a splitboard, made the descent during a hailstorm
- Big Basin Redwoods State Park (6/2): day hike to Berry Creek Falls, ~10 miler with some motorcycle riding to/from the park
- American River (7/14): first time tubing on American River near Sacramento, we’ve only gone tubing on Russian River in the past
- Mendocino Coast (7/21 – 7/22): solo motorcycle camping trip, rode 10 hours over two days on Highway 1 enjoying incredible coastal views
- Desolation Wilderness, Rockbound Pass (7/27 – 7/29): three day, ~25 mile backpacking trip in the South Lake Tahoe area
- Mt. Umunhum (8/4): day hike in the Mt. Umunhum area south of San Jose, took the wrong trail but ended up hiking ~7 miles
- Point Reyes (8/25): hiked the Sky Trail along the coast, a beautiful 11 mile day hike in Marin
- Half Dome, Yosemite (9/8 – 9/9): one night camping and an epic 15 mile day hike to the top of Half Dome and back to Yosemite Valley
- Big Sur (9/22 – 9/23): a leisurely one night camping trip at Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground, planned this trip out for 12 friends
- Castle Crags State Park (10/6 – 10/7): late-season one night camping trip in the Mt. Shasta area with a smaller group of friends
- Yosemite Valley (10/21 – 10/23): another last-minute trip with a night of camping at Hodgdon Meadow and some late-season sightseeing
- Mt. Tamalpais (11/24 – 11/25): hiked a 6 mile loop near Cataract Falls and solo camped one night at Pantoll Campground
- Lake Tahoe (x8): continued with the Epic snowboarding pass, and picked up the Ikon pass in addition to Epic for the current season
Glen’s Favorite Movies of 2018
2018 saw the rise and fall of MoviePass. We all knew from the get-go that the deal wasn’t sustainable without major partnerships or pricing changes. I’m just happy I got my money’s worth and watched a ton more movies than I would’ve watched otherwise.
I averaged about 2 movies in movie theaters per month. Below are my favorite movies watched from 2018:
- Phantom Thread
- Black Panther
- Avengers: Infinity War
- First Reformed
- Hereditary
- Blindspotting
- Crazy Rich Asians
- BlacKkKlansman
- Beautiful Boy
- Shoplifters
Glen’s Favorite Albums of 2018
On the recorded music front, this past year was a year of listening to DJ sets and mixes on SoundCloud and YouTube. But I couldn’t forget about all the amazing artists putting out albums as well. Below are some of my favorite ones from 2018:
- Isolation, Kali Uchis
- Singularity, Jon Hopkins
- Tell Me How You Really Feel, Courtney Barnett
- Love Is Dead, CHVRCHES
- Cannonball, Sen Morimoto
- Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, Deafheaven
- Lost & Found, Jorja Smith
- ASTROWORLD, Travis Scott
- Be the Cowboy, Mitski
- Compro, Skee Mask
Checking In on 2018 Goals
These goals were taken from my 2018 New Year’s blog post:
- Proficient at riding switch on my snowboard: Check!
- Set aside time each month to write: I was pleasantly surprised with how this one turned out. In April a friend of mine reached out with a freelance blogging opportunity for a sportswear company he was working at. I’m so glad that I took it on. Over 9 months, I woke up earlier every Tuesday to write a blog post (500-700 words typically) for the company blog. Writing so consistently led to positive results in my own writing as well – my personal blog this year saw my best quality and output in recent memory.
- Get more comfortable with the snow: 20 days on the snow and my first backcountry trip. I look forward to more of these trips in the near future!
- Stay involved with volunteering in SF: Check!
Goals for 2019
I really liked the themed approach that I took for 2018, so for this coming year I’d like to focus on big-picture goals instead of specific bullets.
My main theme for 2019 is health – primarily staying injury free, getting old injuries checked out, and building healthier lifestyle habits. I’ll likely take a deeper dive into this theme in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned!
I’d also like to learn a new fun skill this year, whether that’s something entirely new like making cocktails or something tied to an existing hobby like maintaining/repairing my motorcycle.
That’s it! I can’t wait for 2019 and more adventures to come!
2019 at www.RandomTidbitsofThought.com.
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