So! If you’re still reading this, I’ve obviously caught your attention, which means you probably want to learn a little more about me. My interests and hobbies cover quite a strange mix — technology, gaming, LEGO, Formula 1, reading, music, travel and whatever else happens to grab my attention along the way. This blog isn’t going to have a face attached to it (which is probably in your best interest, trust me!), but I’ll share as much as I can so you get a better idea of who I am.

How Technology and Gaming Shaped My Interests and Hobbies

I’m in my late 20s and have a background in IT. I grew up playing games across a variety of consoles, which is where my interest in computers really started. One memory that still makes me laugh is giving myself local admin privileges at school through Registry Editor so I could install GTA: San Andreas and Halo: Combat Evolved on multiple machines for myself and my friends. I even created hidden folders on network shares to store music and videos. Somehow, I never got caught, and years after I left I still heard stories about people discovering the games on random machines — that always felt good.

My first PC came along in 2015. It was an entry-level build for the time, with an AMD FX-8350 CPU, ASUS GTX 960 graphics card, 8GB of DDR3 memory and a 1TB hard drive. Up until then, I’d been playing games on an old laptop with a cooling fan putting out enough RPM to put a jet turbine to shame. I was only really playing RuneScape at that point, as it wasn’t powerful enough to render anything other than 1 texture at a time! RuneScape ended up becoming far more important to me than I could have imagined at the time, and I’ve since written about why it became my favourite game of all time. Building that PC was the gateway to world that would shape the rest of my life, both professionally and personally.  

That rig lasted me for a couple of years, until the release of the GTX 10 series when I put it through a considerable upgrade. I moved to a 1080ti which completely blew my mind, partnered with a Ryzen 2700X, M.2 NVMe storage and 32GB of RAM. It was night and day difference. Before I was only really able to play games on medium to achieve 60fps at 1080p, whereas I was now able to hit way over that on max, and even stable framerates at 1440p. Game changing.  

Nowadays I don’t use it so much for gaming. I’ve regressed into more of a filthy casual and use my Xbox when the mood strikes, so I’ve gone out of my way to repurpose it into a home server. I’ve only just started this journey so it’s currently just a Hyper-V host for a Veeam Backup server, but I’m planning to do more with it. My homelab contains UniFi Networking Infrastructure, with a UniFi Gateway Max, an 8 Port PoE switch and 2 U6+ AP’s. A bit overkill maybe, but I suddenly got into networking following the discovery of Home Assistant. I originally only wanted to setup a guest network and vlans for my IoT devices so I could secure my network, but the more I researched, the more I got sucked in. Technology is probably the clearest example of how my interests and hobbies have shaped my career as well as my free time.

Formula 1: One of My Longest-Running Interests

When I’m not messing around with my network, I’ll probably be watching the F1 or getting lost in a Lego build. Both have been go-to sources of fun and inspiration for as long as I can remember, and I never really outgrew either one. 

Formula 1 runs deep in my family: I grew up watching races with my parents, and these days, it’s a can’t-miss routine that my partner and I share every weekend. I’ve even managed to tick off two live races from my bucket list—Silverstone and Catalunya. For me, F1 is so much more than fast cars. I love diving into the strategy, the technical behind-the-scenes, and, of course, the non-stop drama that comes with each season. 

I’ve stood by Red Bull Racing since 2009 (back when Sebastian Vettel first joined the team), but I have huge respect for the whole grid. Legends like Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, and Max Verstappen have all won me over in different ways. Honestly, I could talk for hours about the sport and its drivers. 

The recent boom in F1’s popularity—thanks in large part to Netflix’s “Drive to Survive”—has been wild to witness. Suddenly, it’s everywhere: I can’t walk down the street without spotting someone in team merch, and social media is full of F1 ads and debates. As a lifelong fan, it’s been great to see so many people discover the sport and join in the excitement. So when I heard the news of F1 teaming up with Lego this year, it definitely got my attention. 

LEGO: From Childhood Hobby to Adult Collection

Lego was a huge part of my childhood—I spent countless hours with my siblings turning piles of bricks into sprawling castles and crazy imaginary worlds. Some of my favorite memories are those epic make-believe battles, and the secret code we invented to wake each other up for early-morning building sessions. The ritual was simple: three knocks on the wall, repeated three times. If you heard it, you knew it was time for another round of Lego adventures. A lot of my interests and hobbies seem to have nostalgia running through them, and LEGO is probably the best example.

That single set sent me down a rabbit hole. I dug out every old box of Lego I’d stored away and spent months sorting through them—three massive tubs packed with pieces and long-forgotten minifigures. It became a mission to catalogue every set I could remember from my childhood collection. Turns out, many of these were mid to late 2000s releases, now considered collector’s items. Of course, building and displaying them became its own challenge, and what started as a single three-tier bookcase is now a growing network of shelves and displays throughout my home. 

The best (and sometimes most dangerous) part of being an adult Lego fan? Having adult money. These days, I try to keep my collection focused on Star Wars, but it’s tough to resist all the newest releases. The recent Formula 1 Lego sets in particular have really put my willpower to the test—I’ve limited myself, so far, to picking up the small Speed Champions Red Bull RB20, but those big Technic sets keep calling my name… and honestly, it’s probably just a matter of time. 

Reading, Music and the Other Hobbies I Love

I’ve always been into reading so lately, I’ve started setting myself goals to keep things interesting. Last year I aimed for two books a month, and this year I’m seeing how close I can get to three. I mix things up a lot: sometimes it’s fantasy or sci-fi, sometimes it’s non-fiction or a biography, depending on what catches my eye. I’m trying to broaden my horizons and make sure I still read educational books alongside the more creative ones, anything I can do to learn more or become a better person. Right now, I’ve just started Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee, a book around understanding how you can find joy no matter where you are. I can be quite a serious person, and I want to make the most of every moment.   

When I’m not reading, I’m probably binge-watching TV, getting way too invested in movies, or listening to music. I’m a sucker for stories that make you actually feel something, and I’ll admit, The Greatest Showman still gets me every single time. As for music, I usually find myself looping through the same artists—Logic, Joyner Lucas, Post Malone—until I’m ready for something new. Playlists are great, but sometimes you just need that one album on repeat. 

Travel and Exploring Somewhere New

Travel is another thing I’ve really grown to love. Over the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to tick off some cool places like Rome, Barcelona, and Jamaica. City breaks have become a new favourite for me—there’s just so much to see and do, and every trip feels like a mini adventure. I used to be all about relaxing beach holidays, but after exploring cities, booking tours, and getting lost in new places, I’m hooked. My travel bucket list keeps growing, and I’m hoping to get a few more ticked off over the next year 

So that’s me, for the most part! Looking across all my interests and hobbies, there isn’t really one neat theme tying everything together — other than curiosity and the fact that I tend to throw myself into whatever I’m enjoying at the time. My goal with this blog is to share my experiences and thoughts and hopefully spark some conversations along the way. More to come soon—see you in the next post. Until next time, thanks for reading!