I used to think reset rituals had to be elaborate to work: ten-step routines, special candles, a playlist that lasted at least an album. Then I discovered the power of a very small thing — three minutes, a handful of senses, and a clear intention. That compact ritual has become my go-to when...
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Travel
I have a habit of coming home from trips with pockets full of receipts, a mix...
Science
I remember the first time I scooped a teaspoon of soil from a small grassy...
Travel
I love travel gadgets. The right tool can make a long journey feel easy, a long...
Lifestyle
I used to live by my to-do list. There are nights when a simple checked box...
I used to think ethical travel was a checklist: avoid obvious scams, don’t ride elephants, and book with the “green” company on Instagram. Over years of wandering and getting things wrong, I’ve learned it’s messier. Ethics in travel...
I learned the value of low-tech travel gear halfway up a wet ridge in Galicia, Spain, when my headlamp decided to die and all I had was a handkerchief, some hemp rope, and a stubborn sense of optimism. The headlamp’s battery light had gone from...
I decided to spend a week mostly away from screens to see what would happen to my attention and my sleep. Not an austere retreat—my phone stayed for calls and emergencies—but a deliberate, practical reduction: no social media scrolling, no news...
Every morning, while making coffee, I scroll through headlines the way some people check the weather. "New study shows coffee cuts risk of X by 40%!" the feed proclaims, next to a photo of perfectly steamed foam. My first reaction is curiosity; my...
I remember the first time I felt uneasily split between wanting to notice something and wanting to keep a conversation alive. It was at a market in Lisbon where a stall sold "tribal" jewelry beside a bookshelf of travel memoirs. The vendor chatted...
I remember once standing on a rooftop in London after a long dry spell, watching the first fat drops hit the hot pavement. The sound was soft, but what stole me was the sudden, sharp inhalation I didn't know I'd been holding: a cool, green scent...
I arrived in the city with a small bag, a cheap travel toothbrush, and a metal tin of watercolors I’d bought on a whim. The tin had twelve half-pans, a tiny brush with a bent ferrule, and instructions in a language I didn’t speak. I expected the...
I’ve killed more houseplants than I care to admit. Some were gifts, some were impulse buys at garden centres because the leaves looked promising under fluorescent lights, and some I honestly thought I could revive with a heroic dose of water and...
There’s a particular kind of attention that comes on board a train. It’s not the directed attention of a theater or the guarded attention of a commuter bus; it’s softer, more porous. You notice the angle of light on a stranger’s book, the...
I remember the first time I stayed in a ryokan—the traditional Japanese inn—feeling oddly exposed and oddly cocooned at the same time. The room was spare: tatami mats, low table, a sliding shoji that blurred the outside light. I fumbled with the...