I've seen this post coming since months, although I of course didn't know how final it'll finally turn out to be.
I'm still a bit unsure, but it's been a few days since my main decision fell, and it's about time to inform all of you guys of my current outlook on the future.
About a day before the chain froze I dropped out of the top 20 witnesses. I took a break from chats and the communities to take care of my personal life. Not without making sure that my tools and services stay up, and every couple of days I made sure there's no important inquiry. But I was prepared that that won't be enough to keep the required big voters support forever.
Now the freeze was of course absolutely unexpected. I was able to bring the witness node back up after a day of resync, but the public cluster would require considerably more time to bring back up stable, and I don't feel much pressure to do so right now.
As all my other services use this node, they're obviously down too.
I'll set up a script to reimburse the unprocessed steemdice bets soon (TM), due to the legal insecurities it brought with it I'm actually quite happy to get rid of it. I'll sell the domain if anyone thinks there's a way to make it profitable...
Steeminvite may eventually come back up, certainly faster if someone else wants to take over.
I'm still in the PEvO discord, and if it actually gets a small community working on it I'm happy to get involved with them.
My voting bot is gone, not sure yet what I'll do with my SP in the future, but asking for delegations will still be futile.
Personally, I more and more come to think that's the only right way for me right now. I've been working with systems and code since more than 20 years, 8 of those in a day job I never wanted to have. That pretty much took the fun out of it for me. Crypto brought new motivations into play, but in the end the work wasn't that much different.
I embrace the possibility I have to change my way of life, and get back to traveling. I have always been somewhat of a gypsy, moving from one place to another every 3-5 years. For this move I decided to get out as much as possible - and explore Europe in a van. If you're interested to keep in touch, I set up the Steepshot blog @jukatravels - don't expect me to suddenly become a blogger who shares all his life though 😉
There will not be a list of people I thank. You all know who you are and what you do, and I'd be so glad to meet lots of you in person on my trip (@steem.camp anyone?) .
See you in discord, or for a beer!
❤
Schade dass Du aufhörst, Deine Fullnode war eine der Besten und Zuverlässigsten.
I'm very sorry to read this. You have been my favorite witness. Bye @pharesim, have a good time. Thank you for all your upvotes.
Thanks @pharesim for all you did and your support for @SteemFest. I wish you great travels and a great summer ahead. Unfortunately I can't make it to Steem.camp, as we have in that week a trip pre-booked with the fam to an island in the north, but it seems like a GREAT event!
I hope you manage to get the van up to next SteemFest in november. Announced very soon (tm too) now.
thanks man, danke, schoene gruesse an die Juka!
and btw congrats with your drivers license :) :)
You're a very good guy and I hope you have a great time traveling. You deserve the break. For your votes, while you are out, might I suggest following @steemstem or @curie or using votes to support great content in another promising community? None of them would ask for any compensation or do any self-voting, plus you could keep the curation rewards. Feel free to contact me if you need other suggestions. Best wishes.
@donkeypong I agree with your suggestion for following @smartsteem or @curie both always doing a great work. I'm also a singular curator supporting the portuguese comunity.
Very sad to hear that. There is a lot that I could say, but the only thing, that I will say is THANK YOU A LOT for your steady support in the past. Without you a lot of projects would not exist (even my own project @steembay got the biggest support from you, and possibly wouldn't exist without your regular vote).
I will be at steem.camp , perhaps we can share a beer and one or two thoughts there.
Best of luck on your future ways (Seen your VAN, there will be many of them available)
I often smiled when I saw your name and, if it was on a post of mine, thanked you, inwardly. 🙏🏼
You’re doing the right thing to buy your freedom back. Hope your travels bring you joy and inspiration. If so, hope you might share them :)
✨ Many blessings 💫
I've been happy to give you my witness vote and am now happy to see you choosing to do what you feel will bring you the greatest satisfaction in life. You've given a lot, and it is important for givers to also get good at prioritizing their own happiness.
I've recently "retired" myself, though from a completely different "job," and can totally understand the appeal of some years traveling. (Commitments to others are delaying that a bit for me.) Travel has a way of making it easier for us to discover new aspects of who we could be, if only because nothing is where we expect it to be and those we meet aren't all projecting the same well-worn patterns onto us.
If you've spent a lot of your life using talents you're good at using without feeling the joy of it, then what a wonderful phase to enter in which your only responsibility is to discover who you wish to be and become him. Bon voyage.
I've always loved your reassuring, kind presence here, even when I haven't always spoken to you to tell you so — since it's been a while, here it is in the chain.
I hope you have the most amazing time traveling; maybe we'll run into each other someday. <3
I gave you an upvote on your post! Please give me a follow and I will give you a follow in return and possible future votes!
Thank you in advance!
It's been a pleasure knowing and talking to you over the last 2+ years, even if it's been sparse. Happy travels man.
Thank you pharesim for your work here. I wish you all the best with your traveling and enjoying life. Life is too short for spending it on things you don't really enjoy.
Safe travels and have fun! :D
Running a bunch of services regardless of the platform is no easy task, especially if you've been going it alone.
As to your uncertainty regarding what to do with the SP, I'm sure many others will have suggestions and so I'll go with it's your stake, do what you want and whatever makes you happy.
But for funsies I'd likely go winfrey/drphil bot running on a freebie host of choice, hahaha.
Thanks for all the support unasked for, you'll always be a legend in my book.
Enjoy the travels, stay safe and may the road treat you well.
Congratulations @pharesim
Believe it or not I freaking mean it... many people get so caught up chasing wealth they actually find it and become really poor. I think what you are doing is precisely what a rational man should do in your position.
You only get one run at this, better make the best of it! Wherever the road may lead... I wish you collect the best memories.
Thanks for all that you've done @pharesim. So much of the technical aspect of this is over my head as much as I've tried to understand it. I really considered a deep dive in to attempting to witness and a friend [...whom I deeply respect], told me to stick with what I know. I've continued to post photography and travel and I think you'll find a lot of happiness in pursuing that. It sounds like it's where your heart is. I appreciate you being an early pillar here on Steemit. Be happy, my friend. Following your travel account.
You will be missed, you are one of the good ones but, I wish you well on all your travels and will keep an eye on your adventures. Drop in from time to time to say hi.
Among all the Steemian whales, one name pops out with distinction: @pharesim. When I started my journey on Steemit I didn't know much, but I saw your name everywhere, on the chat and in a lot of upvotes. Later I understood the amazing curation job you've been doing for minnows. I was a minnow myself and I'm extremely grateful for your support. I also thank you for your witness vote and I hope to live up to your expectations.
It's always sad to see good people leave or retire, but I guess we all have our lives to live. Good luck on your journey and have fun. Hope you'll be back one day steeming with us. Cya on the moon 🚀
@drakos I will miss @pharesim support in my posts. I change the witness vote for you.
Not sure if community realizes the value and impact of individuals such as yourself.
Thank you for bringing me to Steem and hey, you know where to find me. Beer is great here :)
Safe travels and just enjoy your life!
love u bro
Thanks for everything, happy trails!
I don't know you very well, but you were one of the few who responded when I first needed help getting full nodes online. Go where your heart is.
@themarkymark I change some witness votes and I give one to you. As a portuguese curator I learned so much with @pharesim work supporting minnows.
Thanks. :)
▀
I have to say @pharesim your support of minnows and myself (personally) early on can't be overstated. You could have signal handily kept SteemIt afloat with your support. You will be sorely missed :(
I do wish you the best on future endeavours and def. stop back in to say hi!
@Sadkitten need to grow some teeths.
Wow, I never thought you would be one to step away. You have always been an awesome human on so many levels in chat and on the chain. It has been an honor to get to know the little about you over the last 9 months and hope to see you return soon with a new breath of hope for the chain.
Stay safe, have fun and take the dogs traveling. I fully understand the 3-5 year thing as our family does it just as often, Europe is our next destination as well. Who knows what the future holds but you will be fine as you have always been an upfront honest guy, much respect.
Thank you for impacting my minnow year! Best of luck and happiness in all that you do!
love u bro all the best
I think you got one of my earliest witness-votes, so I'm sorry to see you go there. That being said: enjoy the life on the road, have fun, it's going to be worth it bigtime! :)
We’re sorry to see you go.
Shortly after starting out here, we seemed to be getting quite some votes from ‘this pharesim character’ always seconds after @whatsup upvoted one of our posts.
Over time we came to understand you had a sort of votetrail going on, autovoting on content others voted on. That surely helpt any minnow out. It’s unprecedented what you did and we’re sorry to see such a household name go.
On the other hand we applaud your courage in following the path of your hearts desire and can only wish you all the best in your future endevours. Don’t be a stranger.
Give thousand chances to your enemy
To become your friend.
But never give a single chance to your Friend
To become your enemy.
Take care! I don't think we've interacted but I love what you've done for the platform. Also, used steem invite quite a bit! I actually would be interested in helping prop that up, though I'm not really sure how ;). Perhaps I'll contact you about it.
I'm sorry to hear this. You were one of the first users to consistently reward my content on Steemit, and it was always really encouraging to see a tangible expression of the value I was brining to the platform with my content and ideas. I've greatly enjoyed the conversations we've had over the last two years. I wish you would stay and remain engaged, but I respect your decision to know yourself and do what's right for you. I hope you use your Steem Power for good or at least don't dump it on the market. :)
Please know that I'm always interested in conversations about anarchy or anything else.
You have always beign a pillar of support to steemians, new or old and that alone is something to be proud of. The future is bright for us all not minding whatever situations we find ourselves in. I wish you well on your adventures sir @pharesim
what? that sucks a lot!
that's really sad to read this
thanks a lot for everything you've done around here
I don't really know what to write - just wish you a safe and fun travel life
I guess the nomad mode is on
if you and Juka happen to get lost on this side of the earth where almost everything is paid on btc - coffee and chocs are on me
looking forward for the travel blogs
TC!
am still not removing that vote
who knows you might as well miss being a witness :P
You are doing great on Steem @pharesim and always supporting the users. I wish you the best!
@DoWithLove
I will always remember you old friend, you gave me a hand up when I needed it most and will never forget the support you gave me. Your post leaves me feeling sad but at the same time I’m happy you get to start over and explore life. I wish you God speed and most of all happiness.
Do this! You will not regret this. Have fun on your way and thanks for being you!
It has been great to have you around and iam personally more than just a bit sad to see you go, but on the other hand side i can understand your view and the motivation.
If you ever come close on your travels i would be more than happy to have one or many beers with you ;)
Farewell! and i wish you the best of travels ever!
Yours
Jan
@pharesim - thank you for being a good human being. Enjoy your travels thru life.
Thank you for all your help dear friend, I wish you the best will be successful wherever you go blessings always a big hug.
Thank you for all of your service, contributions, and support for the community. While it is sad and unfortunate that you dropped out of top witnesses, traveling sound much more fun. I am sure you would climb back up if you wanted to over time. Looks like this change was something you have been waiting for and needed. I wish you to have wonderful experiences during your travels and I am looking forward to following your not so blogger travel blog. Glad you still will be around. Thanks for everything.
Your 0.02% upvotes following minnowsupport meant a lot to me when my rewards were still low. Thanks a lot!
I am sure you won't regret your decision to leave everything behind and start travelling - I have never been happier than when I started travelling and although I now study computer science in Germany, I can't see myself spending my life in an office anymore when there is the whole world to explore!
If you would like some inspiration for your travels, check out #travelfeed / @travelfeed (our Europe Round-Up just went live!) and in case that one day you do want to "suddenly become a blogger", we would also love to see your travel blogs (min. 250 words) in #travelfeed!
Wünsche alles erdenklich gute und eine tolle Reise! Freue mich auf die Fotos :)
Sometimes you just have to take a jump and turn your whole life around!
I have seen you here from my start 2 years ago!
I hope you will enjoy traveling to world in your van and secretly I do hope that you will turn into a super blogger who shares all of his stories during his travels!
Anyways, I wish you the best and hope to read you somehow, somewhere!
Best wishes
Snekky
Good luck! And thanks for all your help. I still remember when I started out last year, your votes had motivated me to keep going. Wish you all the best and hopefully will still see you around here sometimes
Sometimes you gotta make choice dude!
Go for the Euro trip in a van and dont forget to drop by in Switzerland for a beer .
Do what makes you happy!
Have fun as you travel. I had just started following you since I am new to Steemit, but I wish you well.
Kudos to you for knowing it was time to walk away. Enjoy the traveling! It's by far the single thing I have missed the most over the past 6 years or so. Hopefully I will be in a position financially to resume traveling on a regular basis in the not so distant future. I'd love to show my girlfriend and daughter some of the things I have been fortunate enough to see. Good luck with your new adventures and if you ever need a place to store some of that SP feel free to send it my way haha. Cheers!
I have been one of the lucky ones to receive your support and I am very grateful to you, greetings from venezuela!
I only get to know a few days ago that stuffs were down when I tried using Steeminvite to create an account three days back.
You've been a stronger contributor to the Steem ecosystem. I wish you well in your travels and I hope you will drop in here every now and then.
Wish you luck Pharesim :)
Adios for now amigo, best of luck in Ur travels! Do whatcha gotta do & have a blast doin it 😎
Alles Gute für Deine Zukunft!