Start of Something New

Posted on 3 mins read

Introduction

Hey everyone, I am Derek. I am a software engineer currently living in Orange County.

I’ve always been passionate about software, from trying to pick up and learn the latest technologies to finding ways to using software to improve a platform or solve problems. At the same time, I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of being a digital nomad, being able to live anywhere you want while working remotely. That is truly a testament to the truly amazing times we’re living in.

My reasons for wanting to travel is simple. I want to see and experience new and extraordinary parts of this world, while being able to work on what I enjoy, which is software.

To that end, I am starting this blog as a place to write about my personal journey as software engineer, with an affinity for traveling. Although I am far from what I believe a true digital nomad, I want to share my journey in attempting to become one with all of you.

From posts talking about learning a new framework to overcoming a obscure issue to more digital nomad related content such as tips to get good WiFi so you can get your work done to top cities for digital nomad.

My other interests that I won’t be diving into deep about here but may mention on this blog include:

  • real estate investing (site and instagram coming soon)
  • travel, landscape & aerial photography, you can find my Instagram at @derekrliang.

While the initial goal of this blog is share with everyone my journey, the ultimate goal still remains to be determined. It could be that in a few years, it will be more than just me writing these articles. Who knows.

A Short FAQ

How does this site run? And where is it hosted?

This site is entirely statically generated using Hugo, hosted for free on GitLab!

What is your background?

I grew up in Alameda, CA up which is the east of San Francisco, across the bay. I graduated from University of California, Irvine in Spring 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, with specalizations in Embedded Systems, Information and Artificial Intelligence. Stayed in Orange County for work.

What kind of software engineering do you work on?

I’ve worked on everything from frontend stacks (JQuery, HTML, CSS, Angular, React) to backend stacks (Node, Go, Postgres, NSQ, Kafka). From my 3 years of professional experience, I definitely prefer a backend stack because I find the challenges there a bit more interesting.

Spaces or tabs?

I use to be a tab kind of guy. Then, I switched to spaces. Now, I’m torn between using 2 or 4 spaces.