The JBS annual review for 2025
From Nomad to Neighbor (or How I Traveled the World and Fell for My Hood)
I’m writing this reflection mostly to make sense of the year. And also so I don’t forget what happened!
I’ve been told annual reviews can come off a bit self-centered (fair), but I still love reading them. They force you to slow down long enough to notice the pattern in the chaos… and to name what you want more of.
If you’re someone who writes personal reviews like this, I’d genuinely love to see yours. Drop it in the comments or send it to me privately.
2025 was a year with a lot of changes in the land of JBS.
In past years, I sometimes sleepwalked my way through the months: work, commitments, routines, repeat. This year we forced ourselves to do something different. Became more intentional. It was more demanding. More alive! It stretched my relationship, my identity, and my sense of where “home” is. It also reminded me (repeatedly) that real personal growth comes from people, community and relationships, not AI or algorithms.
The year started in the sky
My wife Johanna and I began 2025 on a skyscraper in Bangkok in Thailand , and then we kept going: Bali, the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii, Colombia, Mexico.
This wasn’t a quick vacation. It was one of those rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities where you realize: we can do this right now. I’m grateful for being able to run a remote business.
Many years ago I took a long sabbatical traveling around Southeast Asia sabbatical that changed my life. I wanted Johanna to have her version of that. Not just photos. The deeper shift. Life can be designed.
A surprising travel lesson: safety first!
Johanna notices things I don’t. One big one was how safe daily life felt in parts of Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Japan.
People left belongings out and they were still there later. Lose something and someone held it for you. I left my keys in my motorbike multiple times, not recommended, and nothing happened. When I killed the battery, strangers helped.
It made us ask a real question.
What does life feel like when your nervous system isn’t on alert all day?
That’s not a travel thought. That’s a life design thought.
The Philippines: fun times
Some of my favorite memories this year came from shared moments.
In Cebu, we met Dalia from my team and her husband.
We also met my friend Richard, who had a newborn and still traveled from Dumaguete to see us. Absolute legend.
He took us to a lechon spot famous for two things. The food and extremely enthusiastic singing. He convinced me to pretend it was my birthday.
Suddenly the whole staff was singing to me, with multiple encores and absolutely no restraint :)
Unhinged. Joyful. Perfect.
Colombia, friends & family
We spent extended time with Johanna’s friends & family in Colombia, which always grounds us in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived far from your partner’s home culture.
Colombia isn’t just somewhere we visit. It’s somewhere we feel rooted. A place we love, and one we know we’ll keep returning to.
Homecoming: choosing how home feels
By early summer we were back in New York and did a full reset. Repainted. Bathroom upgrades. New shower head. New sofa. New carpet.
It wasn’t just decor. It was a decision.
This is home. Let’s make it feel like it.
Coming back after months of travel could have felt like a letdown. But Jackson Heights is known as the World’s Neighborhood, and Queens is the World’s Borough, for a reason. If we miss Thailand, we head to Elmhurst. If we’re craving Colombia, it’s already around the corner. Instead of feeling like the opposite of travel, home started to feel like an extension of it.
Unexpectedly, I feel more emotionally attached to Jackson Heights than ever. Not theoretical. Not “NYC is cool.” More like wave-to-your-neighbors, know-your-routine, feel-the-belonging.
The big plot twist: I went local
Starting Jackson Heights Insider changed how I relate to where I live.
Jackson Heights, and Queens more broadly, is wild in the best way. Messy. Loud. Warm. Absurdly human. Walk a few blocks and you hear half a dozen languages. Eat cuisines from everywhere. Meet people who arrived last year alongside people whose families have been here for generations.
Queens also happens to be the largest borough in New York City, which sounds like a fun fact until you realize it means endless neighborhoods and endlessly overlapping worlds.
The newsletter gave me permission to plug into the ecosystem. Mutual aid groups. Local artists. Community builders. Small businesses. Neighbors doing genuinely beautiful things.
The best thing I built in 2025, no contest
I officially launched the Jackson Heights Insider newsletter on July 21, 2025.
If you were trying to optimize for “smart business decisions,” a tiny neighborhood newsletter probably wouldn’t be your first pick.
Still, I couldn’t not do it.
Five months later, it’s one of the most satisfying things I’ve built. Not because it’s big. Because it’s real, local, and actually used by people who live here.
As I write this:
Around 1,200 subscribers (all acquired organically, no paid advertising.. yet)
75% percent open rate
Quarterly newcomer meetups that feel like networking without the cringe
A crowdsourced audio podcast capturing voices in many languages
I applied for and won the Awesome Foundation grant on the first try
Our local State Senator told me she’s a fan and hugged me at a mural opening!
Work: following the energy, not forcing it
I still love podcasting, but long B2B sales cycles were starting to drain me.
This local project gave me momentum again, and that energy spilled into everything else. Spotlight Podcasting is growing again, with new clients and team members.
Jackson Heights Insider has also become a learning engine. It’s teaching me about audience growth, partnerships, and real-world community systems.
I’m now exploring what going broader across Queens could look like.
There is some tension here. A few people I trust think I might be spreading myself thin. They might be right. But after years of “pick one thing forever,” I’m glad I let myself explore this year, and now choose what to double down on.
Health: basics over hype
Overall, a solid year with room to improve.
I cut down alcohol a lot, now mostly limiting drinking to special occasions. My energy improved noticeably as a result.
Running 3 miles in 30 minutes has become a daily habit.
I think I can do better diet-wise in 2026 (making better food choices + cutting out sugar and caffeine)
I also dealt with a stretch of insomnia, waking around two or three in the morning. Weirdly, I found that listening to The Power Broker audiobook (66 hours long) was the biggest help! Fortunately I seem to be sleeping better lately.
What I’m taking into 2026
I’m ending the year energized, more grounded, and much more local.
A few commitments:
Add at least an additional $10k of monthly recurring revenue with Spotlight Signal, a new local SEO/GEO service
Add a daily morning exercise in addition to going to the gym or going for a 30-minute run outside
Go through Matthew Walker’s sleep masterclass
Fully commit to relationship therapy and the associated exercises (see video below)
A note on what stays private
Not everything from 2025 belongs on the internet.
This year included some hard moments and personal losses, including the sudden passing of my uncle Andrew, who was one of the funniest people I’ve ever known. We all miss him.
There are other parts of this year I’m choosing not to share here, out of respect for other people’s lives and privacy.
That said, if you’re reading this and feel like reaching out, I’m always up for a proper conversation. A chat over Zoom, coffee, a walk, or a long voice note all count.
Your turn
If you made it this far, thank you.
What was the real theme of your 2025? What are you carrying into 2026?
And if you wrote a personal annual review, public or private, I’d love to see it.
Here’s to a grounded, connected, very human 2026.