And What It Really Means For Mental Health

A few days ago a close childhood friend of mine posted a group photo on his Instagram and Facebook accounts. It was a scanned image that was originally printed in a photo processing center more than a decade — possibly even two — ago. I appeared among the posse in this moment-captured-in-time and judging by the length of my hair, it was probably taken senior year of high school.

Up until a few years ago, this period of my life always evoked warm feelings of nostalgia. It begs the question then:

Why…

2 Overlooked Tips For Beginners To Stay Balanced

If you prefer to watch a video of me talking about this very same topic, you can do so at this link: https://youtu.be/UHePBi09wfI

The coveted freestanding handstand is a desired pursuit of many different training disciplines. You’ll find it performed by yogis, gymnasts, circus performers, capoeira practitioners, calisthenics athletes and others. Its wide-ranging inclusion speaks to its appeal and to the fact that so many different physical art forms find it beneficial.

Due to the fact that it is practiced by so many different styles of training has also resulted in many…

“Where are you from?”

I’m sure that almost all of you — if not all of you — reading this have been asked this question during the course of your life. For those of you who have never had to give it much thought…well, lucky you.

By the time I was 10 years old I had lived in 3 countries and learned to speak 4 languages. Two of those languages — German and English — were learned out of necessity. I acquired them to function in my new surroundings. …

3 Things I’ve Observed And Learned About Northern Thailand

Today officially marks three-hundred-and-sixty-five days of me living in Chiang Mai. As we get older, the days, weeks, and months tend to move a lot faster and in many ways the year has flown by. However, when I sit here and reflect upon my time in Northern Thailand, I realize that despite feeling like a fleeting moment at times, the cumulative effect of these 365 days has had an effect on me. …

A Visceral Journey Into Vietnam’s Onion

A warm, humid breeze lifts a Soviet Union flag into the air as it glides its way toward McDonalds. It pauses and hovers for a moment before redirecting itself down Tràng Tiền Street. Grazing the edges of the Louis Vutton store, the once strong gust starts to lose steam before finally dissipating at the front door of Emporio Armani.

I don’t think anyone else noticed it.

Elsewhere in the city, a giant statue of Vladimir Lenin towers over mainly locals as they socialize, exercise, and play with their children in the park that bears…

Boston, MA USA | Friday, January 25, 2019

Even though it feels longer, only a week ago at this time I was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean getting ready to leave Bratislava. As I was packing my luggage, I poured myself the last of a bottle of Frankovka Modra. For wine drinkers outside of Central Europe, but particularly Americans, it is a wine known only to serious wine geeks.

As I took periodic sips between folding my clothes, I kept thinking to myself how nice it would be if Slovak wine was more widely available outside of…

As connected as we are in today’s society, one thing that traveling throughout Southeast Asia made me realize and appreciate is that there are still many foods that you can only try by traveling. Take Thai food for instance. Sure, you can go to a Thai restaurant in most major cities around the world, but chances are that what you’ll see on the menu is just the tip of the yellow curry. In fact, Thailand’s most popular noodle dish from the north — Khao Soy— is ubiquitously absent from most restaurant menus outside of its place of origin. …

Over the past year I have been in the business of managing vacation rentals. I provide value by freeing up a property owner’s time and by increasing their occupancy rate. I do this by handling all the customer interactions, as well as pricing and marketing their property. There’s more to it than that, but that’s a very top-level overview.

It’s kind of interesting that I ended up going down this road because I don’t necessarily have a professional background in real estate. On the flip side, I am very tech savvy though. When I first started doing this about…