Between Ideas, Code and Travel – Why I’m Starting

There’s something both exciting and terrifying about beginnings.

This is one of them.

Over the past few months, I’ve found myself navigating between worlds: Developer / UI Designer / Team Lead at Vytal, as a Solopreneur of a new travel startup called Planaway, and someone who lives and works often from remote places – trying to stay inspired, curious, and just grounded enough to keep things moving forward.

This blog, baumcodes, is meant to be a window into that journey.

Where I Am Right Now

Right now, I’m building Planaway – a travel platform that’s more than just a booking tool. It’s a place where travel meets inspiration. Where creators share real itineraries and users can book modular trips without having to figure it all out themselves.

We’re not live yet, but we’ve already been on the road: we had our first pitches at the ITB Berlin, the world’s biggest travel trade show, without even having a finished product and we also flew to San Francisco to iterate on the product together with hundred of other builders from Buildspace.

That’s been the vibe so far: build, show up, iterate – even when things aren’t perfect yet.

At the same time, I’m still a team lead employee at Vytal. A role I enjoy because it keeps me grounded in reality, code, and product thinking. But juggling both worlds isn’t always easy. Most days, it works. Other days, it’s a mess. And that’s okay.

Why I’m Writing

I’ve been building products for a long time - since 2015. I’ve also shut down a successful company with over 200.000 customers. I’ve experienced co-founder burnout, investor pressure, and moments where inbox anxiety took the fun out of creation.

Now, I’m doing things differently.

And I want to write about it. Not as someone who has all the answers, but as someone who’s in the process. This blog is for sharing the in-betweens: tech insights, startup lessons, design thoughts, and the behind-the-scenes of building Planaway as a solo founder (supported by experienced advisors).

What You Can Expect

Tech & Code: from silent push notifications in React Native to API stitching with NestJS
Startup Stories: from trade shows to investor meetings to failing fast
Design & UX: how we think about modular travel experiences and creator-first journeys
Ideas & Experiments: because not everything I build becomes a business – but it’s all worth sharing

Sometimes these posts will be deep dives. Other times, they’ll be more raw and reflective. But always honest.

What’s Next?

I’ll be posting here regularly without a schedule, and I’ll also share shorter bits on Instagram. If you’re curious about travel, tech, or solo founder life – follow along.

Thanks for being here at the start. Let’s see where this goes.

Stephan