While I totally concede that it is rather silly, I get immense joy from my Sleeping Around data-keeping project. Keeping the data is just half the fun; the other half is analysis! So, as is my yearly wont, here is my partially scientific and partially objective dive into the past year's worth of Sleeping Around data.
In looking at the daily visualization, I've kind of been thinking I might be starting to move back to my more standard distribution of nights of roughly 1/3rd each for home, housesitting, and travel. I was surprised to see home accounting for more than half. While I know a data scientist should be impartial, I found myself a little let down. I feel this project encapsulates my life and I guess I was hoping the data would say my life is more exciting than it is. But maybe there's more to be seen if we dive deeper.
Observations:
Thank you for bearing with me during this yearly tradition. Like I say all the time, I feel this data encapsulates my life, in a way, so an analysis of it is like an analysis of me. I guess that's what passes for soul-searching for me; I find the pie charts quite helpful. |
Tuesday August 1 2023 | File under: data |
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Sunday January 29 2023 | File under: travel, data |
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Another year, another blog post recapping where I've been sleeping, or, as I look at it, a snapshot of my life. This year's data completes my 14th year of knowing where I slept every night, all of which can be seen at any time by clicking "Sleeping Around" in the header. (If you want access to just this year's data, it can be found here.)
Initial impressions: it's about what I expected. I'm somewhat surprised by the low prevalence of housesitting. And, of course, I always like having that "At Home" percentage lower (which, in my mind, equates to out doing more fun stuff.) I really like seeing the full 15% in the International Travel slice. But overall, very little in the way of surprises. Let's take a closer look.
I say it every year, but doing this data recap helps me understand my year that was. Armed with that better understanding, I'm currently thinking about what the next year might hold. I've got hopes, ideas, and goals. If any of them come to fruition, I'm sure you'll hear about them here. |
Sunday August 7 2022 | File under: data |
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On of the things that I do upon returning from a trip (besides looking through photos and sharing stories IRL) is to wrap my head around the costs of the trip. This helps me see the big picture, after so much attention paid to whether that albergue is worth €2 more than this one or if I'm the kind of guy that pays for taxis rather than taking public transport. And I really like knowing. So without further ado, here's what my recent trip to do the Camino de Santiago and then some R&R time in Africa cost.
In grand total, I spent $3,621 which comes out to about $65/day all inclusive. I'd say that's a small price to pay to have an experience of a life time that gave me new perspectives on myself (the Camino) and a glimpse into how others live in a totally different part of the world (Senegal/The Gambia), not to mention a long overdue visit with a college friend (Jerez, Spain). (P.S. I know that travel is about more than doing it as cheaply as possible. And I know that caring less about money while traveling is something I need to work out. This analysis is a tool to help me do that. And I would have said more about all that, but this post is long enough as it is.) |
Sunday January 9 2022 | File under: travel, data |
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Frequent readers of BdW know that July 31st represents the end of my Sleeping Around year, this past year being the 13th of which I've kept data on where I've slept every night. Traditionally, I've used the end of the year to summarize the data, identify trends, etc. And while circumstances hardly make any comparison meaningful, consistency brings me calm, so here's the data and what jumps out to me.
The continuing pandemic and the loss of my life, work, travel, and adventure partner led to a record number of nights at home, 274, more than the 4 years spanning 2015-2019 combined. Also, for the first time in Sleeping Around history, there wasn't a single night of international travel.
Other observations:
Who knows what next year's Sleeping Around wrap-up post will hold. I have hopes and fears for it, but as I was reminded this year, everything can change in the blink of an eye. I guess I'll take it as it comes and do the best I can. |
Sunday August 1 2021 | File under: data |
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As I mentioned back in January, I've been keeping a database of all the trivia nights I go to (or my regular team attend without me). We've now reached the 1 year point on the data and I'm like a pig in shit analyzing it. I think I really missed my calling in life: data analyst. Anyway, I wanted to share some of the fun stuff I've found. I'll try not to data you to death.
October 1, 2013 - Sept 30, 2014
In the past year, I've attended 118 trivia nights at 16 locations (mostly bars) in 5 states and international waters, though the vast majority of them were my local 3 goto spots (previously covered here). That's a lot of trivia, averaging more than 2 events per week. And while I'm in it mostly for the fun, the prizes aren't bad either. A compilation of the prizes we've won is ridiculous. From the inset, you can see that we did quite well for ourselves. And in addition to that, we had some real great one-off prizes: kayak tours, bike lights, Star Wars Trilogy on Laser Disc. But there were also some real doozies: finger painting of Steven Tyler by 9 year old, mini cupcake machine, a gift pack of variously-sized googly eyes. As the prizes seem to suggest, we're not bad, winning about half the time. Of the 141 events in the year, we logged 70 1st place wins, 34 2nds, 16 3rds, and 22 non-top 3 finishes. At one point in the year, we had won so many consecutive weeks at one bar that when our team was announced, from the back of the bar came the shout "Nobody likes you". Good times. The data has much more to reveal, like per capita winnings as a possible metric of contribution, but I won't bore you with that. Instead, I'll just keep nerding away until it is time for me to go to another trivia :-) |
Thursday October 2 2014 | File under: trivia, data |
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Pub trivia (or trivia of any kind, for that matter) is becoming a pretty big part of my life these days. I do my darnedest to attend the three local events (as covered here) and always try to hit up new spots whenever I travel. It's fun. It's engaging. And it can be pretty dang lucrative.
Well, as is my way, I decided to start tracking me and my team's showings just for kicks. Not only will it be neat to look back at how we did, etc., but it will serve as a way to track winnings. At one spot alone last year, we earned an estimated $2000 in gift certificates. Not bad for a bunch of nerds. Much in the same way I keep my sleeping around online, I've put the trivia data up as well, just for yucks. You can check it out here. Take that NSA. No need to bug my phone or e-mail. I've got it all laid out nicely for you right here on my blog. |
Friday January 10 2014 | File under: games, data |
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