Category: Around the World

• Public transit as a destination

  In her memoir Airplane Mode, author Shahnaz Habib shares her travels around the world. One of my favorite passages, though, was about her taking her local Brooklyn bus as a new parent, “Where I wanted to be was on the bus… The bus itself became my destination. A place to sit, a window to look…

  Herbert Lui

  July 6, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Turning Stories

• A market fueled by purpose

  There are a lot of dedicated entrepreneurs who have set up their own dog rescue agencies in South Korea. Each one has, effectively, created their own market. They rescue dogs in troubled circumstances, and match them up with people who want to have a dog in their life. It sounds simple enough, but logistics can…

  Herbert Lui

  June 25, 2026

  Around the World, Expectations, Turning Stories

• Ownership requires energy and storage

  A few years ago, my wife and I owned roughly over 500 books in paperback and hardcover. Here they were, in a condo in Toronto: When my wife and I moved to Hong Kong, I figured I’d be back in six months and we packed these books up. They were, by far, the most difficult…

  Herbert Lui

  June 22, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Turning Stories

• Remembering a restaurant

  A few years ago, my wife and I visited Tokyo together for the first time in December. We’d arrived inbound from Chiang Mai, with a layover in Busan. It felt like travelling from summer to winter. By the time we had settled into the hotel, it was the early evening, so we searched for a…

  Herbert Lui

  June 4, 2026

  A Matter of Time, Around the World, Creativity, Promotion

• Work works itself to work

  Kanjirō Kawai was a potter who lived in Kyoto. He and a collaborator, Hamada Shoji, conducted over 10,000 experiments with glazes in their first two years working together. (Talk about being prolific.) Here’s a poem he wrote, which I found in the Kyoto edition of D Design Travel magazine: Work works itself to work Work…

  Herbert Lui

  June 3, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories

• Take more photos

  The other day, I saw a writer post a photo of the New York City subway from many years ago. Having moved out of New York City recently, I wished I took more photos to help jog my memory. This stands out in contrast to my own words from last year, “Take fewer photos. Be…

  Herbert Lui

  May 14, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Turning Stories

• Adventure starts when everything goes wrong

  “The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong—that’s when adventure starts,” Yvon Chouinard says. It drew to mind my first trips. At some point, you may feel like your back is against the wall, and they’re closing in. Everything is falling apart. That’s a sure sign your next adventure is about…

  Herbert Lui

  April 30, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Expectations, Turning Stories

• A beginner’s guide to asking

  Most of the time, it’s okay to be nosy. A more polite way to describe that is curiosity.  If you make eye contact, wave, and say, “Excuse me,” you are off to a good start.  Learn to ask indirectly. Feel out when to push and when to pull back. Know when to offer to put…

  Herbert Lui

  April 23, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Expectations

• Always ask

  People can recommend incredible restaurants. They can bend rules for you. They can help make an exception or offer leniency.  With their experience, they can suggest more expansive possibilities than you could have imagined. All you have to do is one thing: Ask.  Always ask.

  Herbert Lui

  April 22, 2026

  Around the World, Creativity, Expectations

• No more big rings

  Many years ago, I bought a gold Versace signet ring as a gift for myself. The search happened very passively, so it took a couple of years until I came across it during a layover at Rome Fiumicino airport. When I first bought it, I felt proud of myself. It represented achievement to me. As…

  Herbert Lui

  March 16, 2026

  Around the World, Creator Confidential, Turning Stories