I almost didn’t do a road map this year. After 9 years of showing up every January with my new years intentions in hand, I almost didn't have it in me. Life has been so full. But the more scattered I felt, the more I realized I needed my January ritual just as much as I need a fresh cup of pourover coffee. So, I made my 2026 road map in the margins of evenings and 6am mornings. It ended up being far more life-giving than I expected. I kept showing up to those (miraculously!) quiet spaces...

“It’s good, but it’s not like the bao in that little shop in Chengdu.” Our friends nod from the laptop in front of us as James and I cupped our twice-reheated coffees thinking about the bao buns we can get these days in our two cities. The morning sun lights up the windows of our little Southeast Asian apartment while their olive kitchen walls dim in the after-dinner hours. 10pm for them, 8am for us. They’ve already lived a whole day while we were onto the next- sipping our V60s after a...

I don't know about you, but I'm often craving a reset a few months into the new year—something deeper than a resolution or a to-do list....