Year in Review: 2023 | Daniel Bachhuber

A reflection on business, family, and my quantified self. See also: 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2013.

Highlights

It’s hard to pick highlights from the year when the entire year was a highlight. My kids are the perfect age, and we make the most of every day.

Leah and I organized a Newspaper Club at Bridgeport this fall. Over several Wednesday afternoons, the kids learned how to interview, write an inverted pyramid, and draw comics. A local journalist even visited! At the end, we published their best work in a four page edition of The Barking Bulldog.

Leah and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in September with a three night stay at Minam River Lodge. The lodge is one of the four remaining private properties in the Eagle Cap Wilderness and is only accessible by foot, horse, or small aircraft. The food is even more amazing than the location. First, imagine a nice, four-course meal in Portland. Next, imagine having such a meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days straight. My favorite was the carrot gnocchi with brown butter sauce, toasted sage, and chanterelles.

In October, we visited Taos for a long weekend to celebrate Will and Ariel’s wedding. It was a super fun opportunity to connect with old friends. The kids hiked to 11,040 feet! We had a great time exploring the town, and soaking in our hot tub under the vast, dark night.

Charlie and Ava both had great spring and fall soccer seasons. Coaching them is always a joy. One favorite moment: in the last couple minutes of Charlie’s final game, I said “go score a goal” and he quickly went on to nail an impossible shot.

I flew through Heathrow several times for work this year. My reward for completing the red-eye was sushi from Itsu — always a fun treat. I sent a picture each time to make sure Leah, Ava, and Charlie knew I was eating sushi.

Skiing was fantastic last winter. I made it up to the mountain for multiple deep powder days (my friend Jordan pictured on the top left). We also had a great time taking the ski bus as a family, and Ava did her first black diamond (twice!).

Quantified Self

According to Goodreads, I’ve read 29 books so far this year. This is the second year I didn’t hit my goal of 35, so I think I’ll drop it to 30 next year. My favorites were:

Elon Musk. It’s funny to me how some people have such strong opinions about Elon. He’s just a human like the rest of us! But his production function is amazing and, while I don’t aspire to it, I am inspired by it.
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. We are very lucky there haven’t been any accidental nuclear explosions (knock wood).
Damascus Station. A pretty darn fun spy thriller.

My running is way down this year but my soccer is way up! According to Strava, I ran 366.8 miles in 65 runs (average of 5.64 miles per run), played soccer 48 times for a total of 50 hours, and swam 79 times for a total of 50 hours. I also lifted a couple days a week. I’m pretty fortunate to be able to work out seven days a week.

According to TripIt, I traveled 53,908 miles in 56 days on 9 trips. The destinations included NYC, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Costa Rica, Barcelona, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Taos, and Munich. Working with a European team has meant a fair bit of international travel.

2024

The biggest thing coming up in 2024: Leah’s graduation from NP school (knock wood!). We’re super proud of her ability to balance life and school, and looking forward to seeing where she takes her career.

Aside from that, I’m excited to try out Nodoguro in January, survive solo dad mode in February, and take the kids on a longer backpacking trip in the summer.

YOLO!