2025: Notes From a Year of Moving

This year, I left Hong Kong and landed back in Canada. That’s the headline, but it barely captures what actually happened.  Moving across continents forced me to slow down, notice patterns, and re-evaluate routines I didn’t even realize I was carrying with me.

Relocation: Learning to See Life Anew

At first, everything felt bigger: houses, streets, coffee shops, even the way people walk and talk. In Hong Kong, life moves like a high-speed train; in Canada, it feels like a tram--or should I say, street car-- that occasionally stops and makes you think.

The change wasn’t just geographic.  It was mental.  I had to ask myself: what do I bring with me, and what can I leave behind?  The discipline, curiosity, and late-night ponders came along.  The constant rush, the pressure to always perform, and the noise quietly fell away.

Perspective arrived almost automatically. In a new place, it’s hard not to notice the context you’ve been operating in your whole life.  What seemed normal in Hong Kong now looks different from the quiet, slower backdrop of Canada.  And with that perspective comes freedom: freedom to remake routines, to reconsider priorities, and to finally design days on purpose.


Chess, and the Long Game

Chess remained a steady anchor this year, but it may also soon become a teaching experiment.   First I had to teach myself patience.  I am getting into a mode of what works and how not to fall into the trap of spending time chasing points effortlessly.  Can I turn this hobby into a business in 2026? 

Investments

Can be better... enough said. 
 

Work and Conversations That Matter

Relocation also clarified my approach to work and networking.  Careers aren’t just all about advancements through titles or promotions—they’re shaped by conversations that challenge your assumptions.  I got back to full-time work with a familiar boss, thinking that Canada's slower life style demanded that I spend a good part of my day occupied with purpose, albeit' someone else's for now.  

I spent time asking better questions: about startups, leadership, and strategy.  Not just “what do you do?” but “why do you do it?” and “how do you think about it?”  These conversations became the real currency of the year.

Health and Quiet Progress

Health in 2025 wasn’t dramatic.  It was consistent: sleep, small adjustments, living pain free and keeping fit.  I was successful at most of it except for my weight--can lose a good 8 pounds to get back to my best shape.  Much like relocation itself, it was about removing friction rather than adding spectacle. The quieter approach pays dividends you only notice months later.

What 2025 Taught Me

If there’s one line to capture the year:

Moving isn’t just about changing locations—it’s about changing frames.

Some days felt like two steps forward and one step sideways, but looking back, the pattern emerges: subtle shifts that accumulate into meaningful change.

Looking Ahead to 2026

I’m entering 2026 without a long list of resolutions.  Instead, a few guiding intentions:

  • Continue learning, but also move to teaching

  • Approach work and investing with patience, not impulse

  • Keep thinking, slowly, deliberately, and in public

If 2024 was about exploration, and 2025 was about refinement, then 2026 will be about execution without noise.  Not flashy.  Not loud.  Just steady work, shaped by curiosity and context.


- PTS

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