Essays
First-person, place-anchored, built on personal experience, observation, and contemplation. Not a news section, none of it was written in a hurry. Written over twenty years and meant to last longer than that.
Xenia — we have disused the admonition in the Odyssey on the importance of being a good guest. Working in Asia, forget this at your peril.
2025
Read the essay →Two Thailands coexist, and the one you get depends squarely on whether you're buying or selling.
June 2026
Read the essay →Every country in Asia decides, over and over, which foreigners it needs. Japan decided twice in my lifetime. Southeast Asia is deciding now.
2026
Read the essay →