Writing on AI, technology, minimalism, and nomadic life by Eric.
Da Nang, Vietnam 🇻🇳 In my last update, I mentioned heading to Da Nang to apply for a long-term Thai visa (spoiler: I got it 🎉, more below). This was my second time in Da Nang since 2018, and it’s much more popular now. It was the rainy season with multiple typhoons. I ended up staying two months and really enjoyed it. Two things stood out. First, the coffee culture is the best I’ve seen.…
Simple mornings are one of life’s greatest luxuries. I like to start the day on my own terms, unhurried and undisturbed. No food before noon. Only two black coffees. No meetings before noon. No flights before 1 PM. No workouts either. Just a quiet walk. Not for fitness, but for thinking. The 30-Minute Rule Here’s the part that surprises everyone: I don’t spend my mornings at home. I’m out the door…
Note: Below is the first email I sent to people who subscribed to my updates. I called LinkedIn a “cesspool of grifters” and LinkedIn loved it so much that it showed the post to over 110K people. It was meant to be a small update for friends and ex-colleagues. Instead, my inbox blew up with hundreds of messages from people I’ve never met. I tried to reply to everyone, but figured I’d answer the…
As an expat, choosing between Bangkok and KL turned out to be much harder than I thought. While I’ve mostly made up my mind, I wanted to do a brain dump and reflect here. This isn’t deep research, just my initial impressions after staying around three months in each city. Overall Feel Bangkok is larger, louder, and more chaotic. It has about five times the population of KL and costs roughly 10 to…
Last week, I posted on LinkedIn that I’m deactivating my account and called the platform a cesspool of grifters. LinkedIn’s algorithm loved it so much that it showed the post to over 111,000 people. The irony wasn’t lost on me. The post was supposed to be a quiet goodbye to friends and coworkers. What I got instead were hundreds of messages from complete strangers. I’ve never gotten anything real…
I needed itinerary map images for a project. Those where cities are marked, routes drawn between them on pretty maps. After searching a few minutes, I couldn’t find something I liked so I “vibe coded” a tool to solve it. What’s vibe coding: You describe what you want in plain English and AI builds it. No traditional coding required. Just conversation that turns into working software.
This year, I’ve spent time in over 8 countries with just one small backpack (ULA Dragonfly 30L). See my previous post about my one bag setup. Living indefinitely with a single bag isn’t easy, but one area I didn’t want to compromise on is my work setup. I can’t carry an external monitor or a full keyboard, so I’ve had to optimize for weight and ergonomics while making the right trade-offs.
After 14 years as a dedicated Kindle user, I recently made the switch to Kobo. I bought my first Kindle in November 2010. It had a keyboard and global 3G connectivity, and it quickly became my favorite device. Later, when I joined Amazon’s devices organization in 2016, it felt meaningful to contribute (even in small ways) to a product I loved. Every few years, I would gift my current Kindle to…
I’ve been a bag enthusiast for years, always on the hunt for the perfect travel companion. After cycling through dozens of bags, I’ve finally found my sweet spot. At least for this year. It wasn’t an easy journey. I had to say goodbye to some old favorites like the Evergoods CPL24 and CTB26. As much as I appreciated their robust build and thoughtful design, I found myself increasingly conscious of…
Despite what Tim Cook wants you to believe, the iPad is still not a computer. Ten years ago, he claimed that 80% of his work was done on an iPad. After testing the new iPad Pro M4 with the Magic Keyboard for three days, I sent it back. Here are some of the things it couldn’t do: No custom app launcher like Alfred or Raycast. No local development. Inconsistent or non-existent keyboard shortcuts.…