Today marks my first month of “funemployment” since I quit my job last April. That means it’s a great time to stop and reflect on what happened and what I’ve learned. While my goal for this period was initially to have fun, relax and to think about what to do next, unfortunately that couldn’t be further away from the reality of what actually happened.

The bad news 🦴

broken bone

Coincidentally, during my last week of work, I received news that my mom, who lives in Brazil, had broken her ankle really badly and would need surgery. I then proceed to freak out and buy a last minute flight to Brazil to go help her. I was lucky that I wasn’t employed during this time and was able to assist her with my undivided attention, however, that means my plans of relaxing and “having fun” were shattered.

One month later, she just had her 2nd surgery to install a plate and screws in her ankle. I will spare you of the post surgery photos, but rest assured they are very gruesome. This episode, combined with other equally tough things that happened to me in 2021 have made it an incredibly hard period, so this has definitely taken a toll on my mental health. As usual, eating well, exercising regularly and keeping a consistent sleep schedule have helped me make it through. Also very grateful I could rely on my girlfriend and some amazing friends for support. 🙏

Miami ☀️

I’ve recently been closely watching the #miamitech movement on Twitter, as more and more companies and tech professionals move from Silicon Valley to Miami. The hype is certainly real and it got me thinking about the idea of moving there. That, combined with the nice warm weather, beaches and, most importantly, proximity to Brazil, made it into a really compelling option. This episode with my mom showed me that I need to be closer whenever I need to visit again and Miami is roughly half the price and distance, when compared to Seattle. My girlfriend and I will have to discuss whether or not this makes sense to us, as in, I’ll have to convince her 😅, but I’m feeling optimistic about the idea.

Miami mayor Francis Suarez has demonstrated how to run a city like a startup CEO with the “how can I help” motto and his pro innovation, tech and crypto attitude. I find this whole movement very exciting, especially as it relates to crypto, which brings me to our next topic.

Learning DeFi 💸

DeFi TVL Total value locked in DeFi (Source)

I’ve been catching up on the latest developments on the Ethereum ecosystem, especially DeFi and NFTs. It’s been a journey to say the least. There’s so much going on in this space that it’s hard to ignore. Crypto is finally leaving the enthusiast/niche technology category and reaching escape velocity into becoming mainstream. With more and more companies getting involved, it’s just a matter of time until it crosses the chasm. There’s currently about 80 billion dollars locked in DeFi smart contracts. The best way to learn is doing, so I’ve been playing with it to familiarize myself with the tools and what’s possible. It’s clear that most of it is still very high risk, lots of scams and rug pulls everywhere. However, slowly but surely this market will mature and better tools will be created. Scaling is also still a bottleneck, with crazy high fees and transaction times, users have been flocking to alternatives like Binance Smart Chain and Polygon.

As a crypto enthusiast, I’m very excited about the idea of getting myself involved more deeply into this space and exploring what’s possible. I plan to keep hacking and researching more about DeFi in the upcoming weeks.