2025: Mid-Year Review

We are 50% done with 2025.

This year, I started wondering what I could quantify to get a sense of how I actually live my life. Most of my journaling is qualitative, but I began tracking a few numbers. They’re not perfect. Not entirely consistent. Some of the things I track don't make any sense. I probably made mistakes. So if some of the math doesn’t add up, please don’t come at me.

Places

I spent time in 103 different places—defined here as places where I spent more than an hour, but not places I actually slept in overnight. I’m a very spatial person, and certain rooms, cafes, corners of cities, they stay with me. This list doesn’t include airports, gyms, or hospitals, but includes offices, parks, stores No particular reason, but I think I forgot to capture those.

The places I frequented the most in 2025:

    1. Brooklyn Bridge Park: 49
    2. Nako: 25 times
    3. Transition office (London): 18
    4. My NYC office: 12
    5. Books Are Magic: 8
    6. Hibino: 4
    7. Brooklyn Botanic Garden: 4
    8. Elizabeth Street Garden: 4
    1. The Interval (SF): 3
    2. Foyles (London): 3
    3. USV office: 3
    4. Anthro office (SF): 3
    5. Scent Bar: 3
    6. Ministry of Scents (SF): 3
    7. Museum of the Home (London): 3

People & conversations

I've spoken to 228 people (this includes both people I already knew and new ones). It just doesn't repeat. For example, Asmaa is captured only once.

The people I saw the most in H1 2025 are (don't include Transition team & don't include people I lived with, like my family, when I'm in Saudi):

  1. Surprise, Surprise: Faisal, my brother!!! I expected this to be one of my sisters, to be honest. But Faisal came to visit me in May and extended his flight. So we spent 21 days together.
  2. My friend Shahad: 19 times
  3. My friend Michael: 18 times
  4. My sister Asmaa 10 days in SF and 3 in NYC
  5. My sister Amal and my nieces: 7 days in London.

I’m surprised by how little time I spent with some people I love and feel deeply close to. And just as surprised by how often I saw people I don’t live in the same city with, or people I’m not especially close to, but still care about and enjoy. For example: Asmaa’s boss: I met him three times! David, one of the founders, I work with: six times! I wouldn't have guessed any of that if I hadn’t tracked it.

Experiences

Things that felt like a good experience that touched me in some way: 34. These include:

  1. Do Ho Suh: Walk the House
  2. The Bubble art at the Copenhagen Contemporary museum
  3. Sufi concert and sleeping in the mosque
  4. Riding bikes in NYC with Faisal
  5. Creating a playlist of my 20s
  6. Listening to music while driving through the mountains in Colorado
  7. The Transition portfolio day
  8. My birthday in Saudi

Days

I spent 99 days in NYC. 77 days traveling (the numbers below doesn't entirely add up because sometimes I calculated flying days in NYC, other times I calculated traveling days as days in my destination).

  • 29 days in Saudi
  • 28 days in London
  • 10 days in SF
  • 5 days in Colorado
  • 4 days in Denmark
  • 2 days in Chicago
  • I spent 43 days in Solitude. I spent 63 days with family!!!!!

Other things

  • Thanks to Oura. I know I walked 939k steps this year. According to ChatGPT, that's like walking from SF to LA. Or like running 18 marathons
  • I did yoga 60 times
  • I read 21 books
  • I used Anki 98 days. I blame the app being broken for two weeks for the number not being higher

I'll report back in December for all of the final numbers! For now, I'm leaving this playlist that I'm still tweaking.