Oh no, not another “Traveller Trend” piece: Shut up and listen to me
I know. I know. You’re sick to death of yet another report predicting traveller trends, from “Dry Tourism” – people drinking less alcohol these days – to “Romantasy Retreats” – rejecting reality – and “Shelf-ie Tourism” – unique supermarket finds.
Personally, I’d love th [...]
2026: A Year To Stand Out, Stay Open and Fight One Battle After Another
While everyone was traipsing round the world during the holiday season, I stayed home and watched the world go by, in posts, reels, streams and stories. When did the world become such a stage where everyone is an actor in their own movie?
In between these bouts of voyeurism, I visited local place [...]
Letter from Seoul: High anxiety, hard questions and high stakes
“Don’t worry about the next 20, worry about the next six months”
Back in Singapore, after landing at 1am and walking my dog through tropical humidity six hours later, I found myself reflecting on the strange magic of travel.
Just 24 hours earlier, I had been in Seoul, pacing along the Han [...]
Letter from Riyadh: Key takeaways from TOURISE 2025
You name it, it had it – the opening of TOURISE 2025, the new global travel platform powered by the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia which kicked off in Riyadh this week.
Poetry, dancers, a rock band, a singer mimicking animal sounds – all against a backdrop of stunning visuals on the most g [...]
Letter from Vietnam – wait, strike that, Phuket: Travellers have more power than ever
Putting travellers’ interests first is in our best interests.
It’s a long story how our motley crew of five travellers, spanning three generations, ended up in Phuket instead of Vietnam. Let’s just say visas were involved.
But as I sit here in the lap of luxury at Trisara, one of the isla [...]
The Meaning of WiT | A new documentary on 20 years of stories, friendships and change
What makes WiT, well… WiT? Is it the debates and data? The big names and the startups? The art, music and poetry? Or is it the people - and the stories they bring with them?
As WiT turns 20, our new documentary The Meaning of WiT takes a step back to capture the essence of the event through the e [...]
The Untold Story of “The Untold Story” – Rewritten
The Projector closed this week. For many of us in Singapore, it was the only cinema that mattered – a quirky, independent space where you could be alone, yet not alone, and lose yourself in stories that mainstream theatres never touched.
Its sudden demise struck a nerve. If even movies can’t [...]
The Soundtrack of Serendipity: From Cardiff choirs to Stockholm street beats
Your desk is, I believe, a good reflection of who you are. On mine, I have a giant mug that says, “Organised people are just too lazy to look for things.” Beside it is a framed photo of David Bowie, quote, “I don't know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.”
So, [...]
Letter from Barcelona: Rebalancing tourism in the age of protest
On the weekend after Phocuswright Europe, thousands of protestors across southern Europe took to the streets to demonstrate their unhappiness over overtourism. “Your holidays, my misery,” they chanted in Barcelona, as they held up slogans such as “mass tourism kills the city” and “their gr [...]
Reflective and inventive: Lessons from a mirrored monument in the desert
In the heart of the Ashar Valley in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, rises something extraordinary: Maraya, the world’s largest mirrored building. From afar, it appears almost unreal – shimmering like a desert mirage, warping and dissolving into the rocky landscape. Up close, it reflects the sandstone clif [...]
