Alas, 2012 is quickly coming to a close.This has been an absolutely incredible year — easily the best of the mere twenty-four I’ve experienced so far. I became a member of the Python Software Foundation, traveled all over the world, met several thousand inspiring software developers, and collaborated on dozens of incredible projects.

It’s important to reflect; perspective is everything.

## Heroku

I officially joined Heroku exactly one year ago today. It’s amazing how time flies.

Heroku is directly responsible for the majority of my satisfaction of the past year. I feel incredibly privileged to work with this fine group of individuals — the most talented, classy, supportive, attentive, and caring group of people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

Words can’t serialize how much I recommend working for Heroku. If you are speaking at a conference, Heroku will fully fund your trip. If there’s a natural disaster in your area (e.g. Super-Storm Sandy), you will be contacted by a dedicated member of the Vibe team, ensuring your family’s safety, accommodation, and well-being.

The strangest part of the Heroku environment is our unlimited vacation policy. My job consists primarily of two things: Making Heroku awesome for Python, and Making Python awesome for Heroku. I took a week off after a six-week world tour last month, but kept finding myself doing what I love to do — my work.

I’m looking forward to many more years with Heroku.

## Accomplishments \& Goals

For years, I dreamed of being a well known member of the open source community. I spent hundreds of nights obsessing over other’s code and developing my own development style and philosophies.

Much to my surprise, all of that work really paid off. Today, I’m the #1 most followed Python GitHub user and the #17 most followed GitHub user in total. Requests has been downloaded 1,500,000+ times and is indirectly helping change the world. OSX-GCC-Installer reached over 46 TB of downloads and directly inspired Apple’s Command-Line Tools.

It’s humbling to look at those metrics, as vain as they are. Validating your work is important.

## Traveling the World

I’ve spent the majority of my time this year traveling. It’s a bit daunting to think about, honestly:

One year ago, I had given only one talk in my entire life (PyCodeConf) and didn’t even own a passport.

This year alone:

• 139,669 miles traveled by air
• 139 hotel nights.
• 29 talks given.
• 20 conferences attended.
• 11 meetups attended.
• 8 countries visited.

I also rediscovered my deep love for Photography:

(More over at 500px)

And even got the chance to reconnect with friends from past lives:

## Lessons Learned

I spent most of my life moving around the country. Between 8th and 10th grade, I attended seven different schools. Being out of my element is my element. I’ve learned a lot during my travels. You have lots of time to reflect and get to know yourself.

Considering being a developer evangelist?

• You’ll get lonely.
• Personal time is essential. Relax and enjoy yourself.
• Window seats are awesome. Anyone who disagrees has no soul.
• Less is more. My travel kit has slowly shrunk to a single small backpack.
• You’ll meet more people than you can imagine. You won’t remember names. Just ask.
• Your influence and audience is much larger than you think. The majority of your users are unspoken. How often do you reach out to the author of a library you love?

It’s the best job on earth.

## Personal Values

In closing, I’ll leave a short list of my personal values. They haven’t changed much over the years. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

• Life’s not a race, but there’s no speed limit either.
• Positivity. Negative atmospheres are toxic. Remove yourself from them.
• Fallibilism \& Open Mindedness. There is only one thing I can be certain of in life: that I am prone to error. Nothing saddens me more than someone who is unwilling to listen.
• Attention is your only currency. Allocate it sparingly. Don’t spend a single moment in life doing something you don’t want to do.

Here’s to 2013! Hopefully the Mayans based their calendar on the Twinkie.