Decoding travel jargon: From bleisure to rubbish tourism
Author and travel writer Paul Theroux had a very simple way of describing people who travel. He divided them into tourist and traveller, saying, “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.”
Listen to the article here
(This au [...]
Lessons from WiT Africa Part 2: The ties that bind us, from remote work to AI and sustainability
It’s been nearly two weeks since I left the majesty and scale of South Africa for the tiny dot of Singapore and here I am, in the even tinier (or as tiny) dot of Penang, Malaysia, where the evidence of global nomadism is in full play.
This is the island off the west coast of Malaysia that was r [...]
Of pain, suffering and low expectations: How to be happy founders and travellers
“If you’re not at one point about to go bankrupt, then you can’t say you really had a startup”
Lately, I’ve been getting lots of messages sharing Jensen Huang’s speech at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where he wished “pain and suffering” on students at his a [...]
Letter from Cape Town: Of diamonds, dassies and naked surprises
As the Singapore Airlines flight came in for a landing in Cape Town Monday morning and I watched the beautiful vistas of the Western Cape unfold before my eyes, the first question that popped into my head was, “Why has it taken me so long?”
I first came to South Africa when I was still living [...]
I have a dream: Travelling with dignity and humility
How tech can play a role from armchair travel to the physical journey
I’ve now come to an age when my mother needs a wheelchair for travelling. Day to day, she lives a fairly normal active life but travelling, that’s another proposition.
Travelling is a highly physical activity – those lon [...]
Swept up by Swiftie, and blame AI for everything
In my neighbourhood in Tanjong Rhu, Singapore, there’s an undercurrent of excitement leading up to this weekend. Actually, forget undercurrent. There’s an over-the-top buzz happening because, well, Taylor Swift starts her six-day concert run this Saturday at the National Stadium, across the rive [...]
Excuse me, did you hear my clone speak Mandarin? A new cry in the age of AI
I was sitting at dinner to usher in the eighth day of Lunar New Year, an auspicious time in Penang, when immediately after the first course of tossing “yusheng” and shouting for prosperity, the conversation turned to AI.
I mean, we had just witnessed the most elaborate and magnificent ceremon [...]
Smooth succession at Expedia Group as Gorin takes over from Kern
“Time to go back on offense and lead the industry,” says Peter Kern as he hands over reins
A smooth succession and transition in leadership is always to be celebrated. Look at the TV series, “Succession” and how it had to take four seasons to tell the stories of psychosis and skullduggery t [...]
Enter The Wood Dragon: What happened in 1964 and what will happen this year, even AI cannot tell us
Well, the dragons are out in full force as the Chinese community all over the world prepare for their Lunar New Year, the year that will welcome in the Wood Dragon on February 10.
In Singapore, in one week, I saw all shapes and colours of dragons – from the Crystal Dragon that swooped into the Ma [...]
Letter from Bangkok: Weaving Sookjai (happiness) into an organic tourism experience
TOCA to link carbon credits calculations to hotels' “green practices”
The day I landed in Bangkok, social media had literally gone wild with the video of the woman driving in an open-top Bentley with a chained lion in the backseat.
For those of us familiar with Thailand, this is one of those [...]
