Well, it finally happened. After years of tolerating WordPress throwing mysterious errors at me, sneaky plugin updates breaking my layout, and a bloated dashboard that felt more like a theme park than a CMS... I decided to break free.

Why I Said "No More!"

Look, WordPress is great—for some people. But I was tired of dealing with its quirks, its database love affair, and the constant battle against performance issues. It was time to take things into my own hands.

The Stack of Champions

So, what did I build instead? A lean, mean, Next.js-powered blog that runs like a dream! Here’s what’s under the hood:

• ✨ Next.js – Because I love speed and SEO-friendly magic.
• 📝 Markdown-based content – No more bloated WYSIWYG editors!
• 🐳 Docker containers – Because isolation is key (and also kinda cool).
• 🛡️ Nginx reverse proxy – To keep things snappy and secure.
• 🖥️ Self-hosted – Because if it's going to break, I’d rather be the one breaking it.

Self-Hosting: The Ultimate Power Move

Why self-host? Because I love control. No more relying on overpriced hosting plans. No more unnecessary bloat. No more wondering why a random plugin update caused a full-blown existential crisis for my site.

Now, my entire setup lives comfortably inside a cozy little Docker container, behind a battle-hardened Nginx reverse proxy, on my own server. It’s minimal. It’s fast. It’s mine.

The Road Ahead

This is just the beginning. More tweaks, more improvements, and probably a few moments of me yelling at my server at 2 AM. But that’s the beauty of it—every bit of it is an adventure.

So, if you’re reading this on my self-hosted site, congratulations! You’re looking at the future of my portfolio. And if you’re still using WordPress... well, may the caching gods be ever in your favor. 😆

Stay tuned, more nerdy fun ahead! 🚀