2020
December Sunset ( Santa Teresa, Costa Rica )
Here are highlights from my year. Enjoy!Full Disclosure: This page contains links to affiliates, products I've created, and companies I'm invested in.
Overview
This year was filled with exciting travel adventures and personal growth. I spent seven months in Guadeloupe, reaching new heights by climbing La Grande Soufrière twice. I expanded my language skills with fluency in both French and Spanish, sailed through the Caribbean, and kept up with fitness goals. Overall, it was a year of exploration, learning, and fulfillment.
Highlights
- 7 Days sailing
- Travel with Sean
- Travel with Danielle
- Healthy friends & family
- 7 Months in Guadeloupe
- Fluency in French (B2) & Spanish (B2)
- Traveled to 7 countries & territories (4 new). ~73 Lifetime
- Climbed (Twice) La Grande Soufrière – The highest point in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean at 1467m
Title
- Itinerary
- St Lucia
- Barbados
- St. Vincent & The Grenadines
- Guadeloupe
- France
- Spain (Layover)
- Costa Rica
- Mexico
- Costa Rica (Again)
- Completed on Bucket List
- Get certified to sail ( St. Vincent & The Grenadines )
Title
- Studied Spanish, French, & Portuguese with Preply.com ( Guadeloupe, Costa Rica )
- Certified in monohull sailing at Barefoot – ASA 101, ASA 103, & ASA 104 ( St. Vincent & The Grenadines )
- Completed & recommend these online courses ( Guadeloupe )
- Finance – Stocks 1 – Premium ⭐
- Finance – Stocks 2 – Premium
- Become a Pro With FL Studio 20 – Premium
- Lucid Dreaming – Premium
- Become a Pro With FL Studio 20 – Premium
- Wim Hof Method – Breathing – Premium
- Finance – Stocks Options Track 1 – Free
- Creative Thinking – Free ⭐
- Cultural Diversity in USA – Free
Title
- Climbed (Twice) La Grande Soufrière – The highest point in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean at 1467m ( Guadeloupe )
- Golfed 4 days at Reserva Conchal ( Costa Rica )
- Hiked 22 days ( Guadeloupe, Costa Rica )
- Bought a Fitbit Charge 4 with GPS. Highly recommended!
- Weekly workouts
- 5k run x 1
- 20-minute swim x 1
- 30-minute core workout x 4 (Since December 2020)
Title
- Social Media
- Samuel Asher Rivello – YouTube (1k Followers)
- @WhatsNextSam – Instagram (11k Followers)
- Books
- (None)
- Comic Books
- Music
- Caribou – Suddenly ⭐
- Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
- Tame Impala – Currents
- Movies
- Palm Springs (Hulu) ⭐
- Chadwick Boseman – Retrospective (Black Panther, Da 5 Bloods, Thurgood, Get On Up)
- Series
- The Undoing (HBO)⭐
- Ozark S3 (Netflix)
- Emily In Paris (Netflix)
- The Queens Gambit (Netflix)
- I Think You Should Leave (Netflix)
- Love On The Spectrum (Netflix)
- The Watchmen (HBO)
- The Duchess (Netflix)
- A Teacher (Hulu)
- Insecure (HBO)
- Devices
- Oculus Quest 2 (VR) ⭐
- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2020)
- Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet (2020) – With the Google Play Store sideloaded
- Fitbit Charge 4 with GPS
- Apps / Sites
- NY Times (iOS / Android) ⭐ – The switch to paid news instead of free news aggregators and social media has been a dramatic quality of life improvement
- Freeletics – Train with bodyweight
- Algo Expert – The ultimate resource to prepare for coding interviews
- Fluent Forever – Learn Any Language & Never Forget It
- Trusted House Sitters – Travel the world offering in-home pet care in exchange for a free place to stay
- Games
- Last of Us 2 for PS4 ⭐
- FrostPunk for Windows Game Pass
- Tetris Effect (VR) for Oculus Quest 2
- Grand Mountain Adventure (iOS / Android)
- Ghosts of Tsushima for PS4
- Red Dead Online for PC
- Half-Life: Alyx for Oculus Quest via Oculus Link
- Software
- Privacy.com – Makes it easy to safely shop online with temporary debit cards. (PC & Mobile)
Title
- Updated WhatsNextSam.com to inspire travelers and share adventures
- Launched Art.SamuelAsherRivello.com to showcase creative projects
- Published Unity — uEvent & ScriptableObjects on Medium w/ Video
- Published Unity — Project Structure Best Practices! on Medium w/ Video
- Published Unity — C# Coding Standards on Medium w/ Video
- Published Unity — Game Architectures — Part 1 on Medium w/ Video
- Published Unity — Game Architectures — Part 2 on Medium w/ Video
- Created original music including “Thinking About You“
Title
We are born perfect (not wrong, not sinned, not bad) and during our life or lives, we rediscover that perfection. Each individual works at a different pace at rediscovering that perfection and that pace may change over time. Our spirit is perfect and our mind and body try (or not depending on the situation) to follow that perfection. Being authentic (to our spirit) is the most direct path to realize that perfection. The more we can be true to our spirit, the closer to our own perfection we are. Following our heart (i.e. spirit) is most perfect.
Title
- Taught “Intro To Stock Trading” 3 times ( Guadeloupe, Costa Rica )
- Taught “Intro To PlayCanvas” ( Guadeloupe )
Title
- Booked 3 projects for 10 months of work within my focus: education and productivity
- SaganWorks – 3D solutions to everyday problems. Bringing a new media type to the masses: explore, consume, and engage with information like never before
- Intro To Unity – Created and taught 40hr online course on game development
- Beamable – The creator-centric platform for building live games in Unity
- Created Documentation – docs.beamable.com
- Created Videos – Beamable YouTube
- Promoted New Video Course on Udemy: Unity 3D Game Physics
- Available for Remote, Contract Hire (SamuelAsherRivello.com/contact/) as Unity Software Developer & Unity Software Educator
Title
- Revolutionized my investment education and retirement planning
- Setup & track monthly budget w/ Mint.com. Highly recommended!
- Setup and funded a Solo 401k
- Added streams of active and passive income including; Interest, dividends, capital gains (stocks, ETFs, commodities, mutual funds, EU pensions, crypto), royalties (online courses), affiliate programs, advertising income, real estate maturity, startup equity maturity, & business
Title
- Donated to NGOs
- Donated to political causes
- Distributed 1430$ in funds (16,200$ lifetime lending) in microloans via Kiva.org/lender/srivello to support entrepreneurs in the developing world
- Donated 10% of ( Guadeloupe ) visit expenses to a local charity