My fingers run quickly across the keys of my MacBook in the back seat of a taxi that seems intent on leaving reasonable speeds behind. The asphalt reflects the lights of the huge number of motorcycles on the road, which is the preferred vehicle in Indonesia. I mutter the words of this very article while the engine noises momentarily echo beside me as they pass. The taxi driver, who charged us 450,000 Indonesian Rupiah (about 20 euros at the current exchange rate), is driving us toward Ubud, Bali, where my partner and I will spend the final remains of our vacation.
The return date, immovable, is getting closer and closer. We will take a plane to adjust our watches to the time zone of Chiang Rai, Thailand, where we will spend Three Kings Day before returning to Chiang Mai, which has been our base for two months. And being a digital nomad, why shouldn't I be able to escape the cold, dry winter of Madrid?
It's early January 2026, the whistles of the New Year's firecrackers still ring as I put together the list of experiences, trips, talks, anecdotes, and lessons that I want to recap from 2025, since introspection is a core value for me. I'm surprised to see the overwhelming list of things I want to share. What an interesting year, I say to myself.
Shall we begin?
One Year Ago
January. 2025. Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain, my hometown. Cold. My friend Guillermo LópezOpen in a new tab (one of those lifelong friends) tells me while we're climbing at our usual climbing gym that they are organizing talks at the high school where he works as an economics teacher to tell students about different professions. He tells me they don't have any freelance-frontend-developer-digital-nomad and asks if I'd like to share my experience. I say yes, of course.
In the talk, titled Entrepreneurship and Digital Nomadism in 10 Simple Steps, I explain what my modus vivendi is like, traveling while working remotely and everything that entails. Obstacles and opportunities. It's a way of traveling that opens new worlds, where you travel with a one-way ticket and can explore as you please, besides being able to experience the country not as a tourist but more as a local.
“”Digital nomads usually practice slow-traveling, where they buy a one-way ticket and move around for seasons as they meet people or discover new places.
And travel is a path that has brought me not only personal growth, but professional growth as well. Like the collaboration I did with GorkaOpen in a new tab, from TabaibaOpen in a new tab.
Do you want to know how to build a frontend architecture for a React Native application? You can read the case study of our collaboration here.
Gorka was referred by Germán DelgadoOpen in a new tab, friend, former colleague at Autentia, and a great person I met during my first trip as a digital nomad to Tenerife.
Traveling is where I really test the theory of 6 degrees of separationOpen in a new tab, which says that every person on Earth is separated by merely six social connections. Besides travel, where else do I make connections? At tech events.
Tech Events
I love sharing knowledge and helping. I firmly believe that if we all practice empathy, consideration, and help others, we will create a better world. In the technology ecosystem, this is clearly seen with Open Source.
Open Source code means you can see how the code is made, and you can collaborate to maintain it or reuse it under certain conditions.
That's why I'm extremely lucky to be part of the committee of one of the largest events in Europe: CodemotionOpen in a new tab. This means I help review about 2,000 talks a year for the Codemotion MadridOpen in a new tab event and, this year, also for Codemotion MilanOpen in a new tab to shape the Frontend track agenda. I've been on the committee for 6 years. Additionally, I'm also part of the exclusive group of AmbassadorsOpen in a new tab where I represent Codemotion, as we are aligned in values and principles.
And I'm not only involved in the world of events from behind the scenes, but also from the stage, as this year I've also been able to give a dozen talks at events all over the world.
Thank you very much to all the people who have invited me to speak and offered their space so I could share my knowledge.
If you'd like, here is the full list of talks I've given over the years.
Building Community
One thing I'm clear about is that new ideas, projects, and initiatives arise in community. Becoming a freelancer doesn't mean I have to be alone. However, while in Madrid, I longed to be part of a community of freelance developers, where we could share our concerns, failures, and successes. And so Freelandevs was born, a private WhatsApp community where we have monthly video calls, refer clients to each other, and help one another.
Are you a Spanish-speaking freelance developer? Do you want to join a community of 25+ developers? Contact me. Limited spots available.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the group members for their support and participation. Thanks to David EspinolaOpen in a new tab and Gabriel MenorOpen in a new tab from AledadevOpen in a new tab, Alberto BarrancoOpen in a new tab from OsohubOpen in a new tab, Ramón MorcilloOpen in a new tab from MapmelonOpen in a new tab, Pablo MagañaOpen in a new tab, Joan LeonOpen in a new tab, and I'm still leaving out many other colleagues.
Building a community has helped me find new collaborations, such as CTAA, which was referred to me by Ramón Morcillo. Coincidentally, Ramón, without us having met, had a great influence on me. Ramón is a digital nomad and met Adrián FerreraOpen in a new tab (whom I will mention again later in this post) in Tenerife.
Ramón was telling Adrián about his wonderful experience at Nine ColivingOpen in a new tab, where he was living and working remotely. Adrián and I are friends, and 4 years ago when I asked him about traveling to Tenerife and working remotely, which place did he recommend? Indeed, Nine Coliving. Years later I would discover that Ramón and I would not only become friends but would also collaborate on projects.
Word of Mouth
Getting back to the client. CTAA needed to optimize the validation of extremely large PDFs and verify that there were no blank pages.
This was my first project charging a fixed price and more focused on performance, as the project's goal was to improve performance and simultaneously reduce false positives. Something that helped me was dividing the project into phases, with clear deliverables. I did research work and used continuous integration to create an execution history, because if you don't measure, you can't improve. The project, implemented in JavaScript, turned out not to be the ideal tool, so I migrated to Rust, and we saw a performance improvement of up to 86%.
“”If you don't measure, you can't improve
Word of mouth is definitely what has worked best for me. The connections and bridges we build with people are what often lift us up. So much so, that it was exactly how I started my collaboration with HaliooooOpen in a new tab, an AI Venture Capital Studio. Diego GonzálezOpen in a new tab, a former colleague from Autentia, connected me with them. Thanks, Diego.
Over several months, I developed a solid architecture base using a monorepo, with an architecture library and design system so they could develop multiple projects without having to reinvent the wheel. The collaboration was a huge success and I'm grateful to the team for the opportunity to have collaborated on such a cutting-edge project as creating synthetic people with AI.
Do you want to know more details about the collaboration? You can read the case study here.
Thirty
And suddenly, thirty arrived. This year I have surpassed 10,958 days on this Earth. If my 20s had meant establishing myself professionally, being mentored, and finding my place, my 30s will involve building my professional project, mentoring, and anchoring myself in my place. I can't wait. One way to consolidate new reflections is to internalize them with an action of impact. In this case, my partner gave me a skydive as a gift.
Experiencing flight and soaring through the sky was an unprecedented experience. I was very struck by all the systems and security that had been implemented. I always appreciate it when smart and safe systems are created. The first few seconds of free fall were the most impactful for me. Veering through the sky and even passing through a cloud will be memories burned into my brain.
Summer
In summer, after finishing collaborations with clients, I found myself looking for new opportunities. When I have availability, I announce it on social media and notify my contacts. At first, it was something that was hard for me; I thought I was intruding. I changed my mindset from thinking I was selling to thinking I am helping.
However, summer ironically cools the market. Nothing was coming up. CTOs and team leaders are my main clients, and it seemed it wasn't the time to establish new business relationships. I tried and tried but there was no way. So I pivoted.
I prepared and taught two courses. A private course on migrating from Vue 2 to Vue 3 and another public one on architecture and best practices for EscuelaITOpen in a new tab, with whom I have been collaborating for years. The reason for creating courses was twofold: it allows me to prepare material and content that I can later reuse, and it's a fantastic way to attract clients.
You can see the Advanced Frontend Architecture course hereOpen in a new tab.
This year 2026, in summer, I want to dedicate 1 month to creating my own course platform and publishing my first course.
I also took my first official holidays as a freelancer in a coliving in Barcelona called Wonder HouseOpen in a new tab, where I collaborated only by creating content. I also recorded and directed a science fiction short film. At some point I'll finish editing it. Oh, and my partner took the leap to become a freelancer and we are setting up her integrative health project. I call that a holiday.
After a summer with relatively little movement... movement started. A lot. Since I had barely invoiced in the summer, I started saying yes to too many projects, which was a great lesson. I had to learn to say no. I got overwhelmed, but I knew how to navigate and redirect the situation with perhaps a few too many Matcha teas.
The project saturation coincided with our first trip as digital nomads as a couple. And we couldn't choose any other place than Galicia, the land where Adriana and I met 11 years ago. This trip would also mark our first year as a couple. I'm still surprised by how many turns life takes. And within Galicia we chose a remote village called Anceu, which hosts one of the most famous colivings in the world.
Anceu Coliving
Agustín JamardoOpen in a new tab and I have known each other for 2 years. I learned of his existence through Ramón, since as the host of a podcast about colivings called Colivers ClubOpen in a new tab, he recommended that I interview him, as he and África had set up a coliving oriented towards art and technology in a remote village in Galicia: Anceu ColivingOpen in a new tab. He is a programmer and remote worker and has this passionate project, where he and his partner host different initiatives and projects at the coliving. One of those projects is Hacker DaysOpen in a new tab, an initiative they collaborate on with Rural HackersOpen in a new tab.
Rural Hackers is a non-profit organization that aims to revitalize the rural area with technology. Hacker Days is an event organized at Anceu Coliving where different professionals from the world of technology gather, stay for free at the coliving, and try to provide a solution to a local problem. This year we wanted to tackle the problem of common water management in remote villages in Galicia.
For a week we were programming side by side to launch a mobile web application that would allow the volunteers who take measurements, manage incidents, and record data—and who have all the knowledge that is gradually fading—to have a system that would help alleviate their problems. Thus Punto de AguaOpen in a new tab was born.
As tech-lead, my job was to ensure we had a solid foundation to build upon. It was a challenge to reach a balance between the pragmatic and the ideal. Many lessons learned that I published in this article about my experience at Hacker Days.
After a Hackathon that was a total success, I needed to (dis)connect. And what better way than doing the Camino de Santiago with Adriana. Besides being a tremendously moving experience (it's already my fifth Camino de Santiago), this time I would do it following the same paths where I met Adriana 11 years ago, as we met on the last stage of the Camino de Santiago.
New Paths
After a reinvigorating experience and searching for sustainability... I began to find it. Because those who don't look, don't find. A new collaboration emerged that continues to this day: AstroKubeOpen in a new tab. They contacted me through my website, as they knew me from my talks. It's incredible how many dividends giving talks has paid me and the number of doors it has opened for me.
AstroKube needed to establish architectural foundations that would allow them to scale their ResiliencyOpen in a new tab project. We established requirements, an action plan to propose architectural improvements that could be undertaken in phases, and deliverables so the success of our collaboration could be measured. I am very grateful for our collaboration and hope we can continue developing this professional relationship.
Red Carpet
Upon returning from Codemotion Milan, where I attended as a speaker with my talk on AI-Ready Frontend Architecture, I dressed in my finest attire as I was lucky enough to be nominated for my blog and an article I reshared on the Sirviendo CódigoOpen in a new tab website. I had never been nominated for anything before.
The experience was surreal; being surrounded by so many familiar faces, friends, former colleagues, mentors, and idols was unimaginable. For me, it was an honor to be in a group of nominees that included MouredevOpen in a new tab and Anaís SolísOpen in a new tab. I was amazed when the presenters for my category were David BonillaOpen in a new tab and Laura LacarraOpen in a new tab, great references within the tech sector in Spain. My most sincere congratulations to the final winner of the category: Brais Moure. His contributions to the Spanish-speaking tech community are commendable.
What a great experience. The organization did a spectacular job. Jazz band, professional presenters, catering, awards, surprises, and an evening worthy of the Oscars. I wanted to highlight the work of Isabel RodríguezOpen in a new tab and Pablo VallésOpen in a new tab for their great work.
TRG Con
I've been wanting to attend TRG ConOpen in a new tab for years. Years. It always coincides with something. But this year I decided to prioritize it and mark a spot on the calendar. The event arose from the Bonilista, a newsletter created by David Bonilla to share his thoughts on the world of development and technology. As a show of appreciation to his subscribers, he decided to organize a "small" meetup. Well, after 10 editions, more than 500 attendees, and rated as one of the best events in Spain, you could say the small meetup got a bit out of hand.
Did you know that the Bonilista is the only newsletter I read regularly? I recommend it. You can subscribe to the Bonilista hereOpen in a new tab.
This event was doubly special, not only because of the desire to experience the event from the inside, but also to be able to meet up with friends. And I was able to coincide with Carlos BléOpen in a new tab, Adrián Ferrera, María Blé, Alberto Barranco, Isabel Rodríguez, and even Nico from AstroKube. It was an event full of creativity, surprises, I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E food, and great talks.
And... also... during the event I received the physical copies of my first published book: "Software Cafrers: Making Code That Would Make a Goat Vomit". I could hardly believe it; years of effort finally came to light. Published by my friends at SavvilyOpen in a new tab, a Canary Island publishing house oriented towards sharing technological knowledge in Spanish.
Do you want to buy the book? You want to buy the book. It's about comedy and programming. Here is a link for you to take a look at the bookOpen in a new tab.
Heartfelt thanks to María from Savvily for all her support and understanding, to Carlos Blé for his prologue and sensitivity, and to Adrián Ferrera for his epilogue and friendship.
I presented the book on October 30th at the UtopicusOpen in a new tab offices, surrounded by friends and family. Thank you very much for your support, I adore you.
New Continent
And with this chapter closed, a new one opened: Thailand. I've never been to Asia. Better fix that, right? 10,000 km and 42 hours of travel later, Adriana and I landed in Chiang Mai, the city we would call home for the next 2 months. We chose Alt ColivingOpen in a new tab, a project in Chiang Mai by John HoOpen in a new tab that has two coliving projects: Alt Chiang Mai and Alt Pingriver.
Alt Pingriver, where we stayed, has 30 rooms, a dream coworking space, sauna and ice bath, a cafe where weekly events are held, and a vibrant and active community. It has been a good choice to pick this place to discover a new continent and at the same time have an environment that allows me to concentrate on my business. So much so that it was during my stay in Thailand that I published my Frontend Architecture Newsletter.
Diving into the Depths
After a year full of incessant activity, travel, and expansion, it was time to end 2025 with a well-deserved rest. And what better rest than going to an island where you can't go by car or motorcycle, only by bike or horse. And that's how Adriana and I ended up in the Gili Islands, north of Lombok, Indonesia, to spend Christmas Eve. Since we are unable to stay still for a couple of days, on the second day of our holiday we signed up for a 3-day diving course. We swam with turtles.
And that's how I want to say goodbye to this year 2025, where I have soared through the air and submerged myself in the depths, to close a year that has given me so much.