In-depth guides for Japan, Thailand, Bali, Vietnam and all of Asia.
There's a phrase Osaka people use about themselves: kuidaore. It roughly translates to "eat yourself bankrupt." The first time someone explained it to me over a shared plate of takoyaki outside Dotonb...
Kyoto is the city that made me fall in love with Japan, and also the city that has frustrated me more than anywhere else on earth. Both of those things are true, and understanding why will make your t...
I've heard people say Angkor Wat didn't live up to the hype. Every single time, the explanation is the same: they did it in a day, they arrived at the main temple at 9am with every other tourist, and ...
I went to Seoul expecting to like it and came back completely in love with it. That gap — between what I anticipated and what I found — is the most accurate measure I have of how good a city actually ...
My first Japan trip was almost perfect. Almost. The gap between "almost perfect" and "perfect" was filled with small mistakes that were entirely avoidable — and looking back, every single one of them ...
Vietnam was the trip that broke my habit of moving too fast. I'd planned to cover it north to south in two weeks, ticking cities: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City. I got to Hoi An and stop...
I resisted Bali for years. It felt too popular, too curated, too full of people doing yoga in expensive white linen. Then a friend dragged me there almost against my will, and within 48 hours I unders...
I've had a complicated relationship with Bangkok for years. The first time I arrived — sweaty, jet-lagged, dropped into the chaos of Khao San Road by a cab driver who clearly knew exactly what he was ...
When I first arrived in Tokyo, I stood outside Shinjuku Station with my backpack and a printed map and felt — for the first time in years of travel — genuinely overwhelmed. Not scared. Just small. The...
I've been to Japan in every season now, and every single time someone asks me "when should I go?" I pause before answering. Because the honest answer is: it depends on what you can handle — and what y...
