• The Age of the Independent Creator

    The Age of the Independent Creator

    I love inequality. When I’m on the bottom end of it, I like that there’s a scale that hints at the upper bounds of potential, and when I’m at the higher end of it, I like seeing the progress I’ve made. I have a tough time imagining the function of ambition and hustle in a…

  • Focus Like Steve Jobs

    Focus Like Steve Jobs

    I read Steve Jobs’ biography last week, and despite not being an Apple fan, I found the whole book very interesting. Steve had a much more interesting life than I had imagined, and the book offered a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes at a very secretive company. But the biggest lesson I learned…

  • Visiting a Japanese Tea Farm

    Visiting a Japanese Tea Farm

    I wake up in Capsule Inn Osaka, the world’s first capsule hotel. I expected it to be more of a novelty, but its tiny size mimics my RV so closely that it’s the most familiar place I’ve slept all month. I’m in the middle of my 7 day unlimited train pass, so there’s no time…

  • Japan Summer 2011 – Part 1

    Japan Summer 2011 – Part 1

    There’s so much I can write about my trip to Japan that just attempting to start this post has been too daunting to make its way into my schedule since I left. Now that I’ve been out of the country for a week, though, I realize that putting it off any longer might mean that…

  • Literal Self Discipline

    Literal Self Discipline

    Two days into my trip to Tokyo, I sign on to Facebook and go to see if it’s my move in Words With Friends. I like WWF because it takes up minimal time, seems to actually be good for the brain, and keeps me in touch with some friends I wouldn’t otherwise regularly communicate with.…

  • Advice For Young People

    Advice For Young People

    I was at a party earlier tonight, talking to a guy who had lived in rural China for a while. The girls there, he told me, were naturally very beautiful, but didn’t take care of their hair or skin. All I could think was what a huge opportunity existed for those girls: be the one…

  • 2011 UNpacking Video

    Okay okay okay okay okay. I’ll make a packing video! This year I unpacked my bag instead of packing it, so that you don’t have to watch me place every single thing in the correct place. You’ll probably notice that I have less things than I did in the past. Off the top of my…

  • Pu-erh Tea in Shanghai

    Pu-erh Tea in Shanghai

    Cigarette smoke washes over from the table next to me, where two old Chinese men sip oolong tea from gaiwans. I hate smoke, but don’t mind it today. If we try to replicate our local culture when we travel, we end up with the cookie-cutter resorts of the Caribbean, each with American-style buffets, locals who…

  • Two Strikes and You’re Back Into Pickup

    Two Strikes and You’re Back Into Pickup

    Becoming disappointed in yourself is a unique region in the realm of disappointment, because no amount of time and understanding makes it go away. The only remedy for it is to change yourself– in fact, this is one of the best sources of motivation for self-improvement. I’ve recently become disappointed in my self, illustrated by…

  • The Isolation

    The Isolation

    A couple days ago a guy named Sebastian Marshall wrote an excellent post called, “The Million Dollar Question“. It spoke to me in a way that blog posts rarely do, and prompted me to write this post. In the post, Sebastian is sitting by a train station, watching normal people go by, happily executing their…