Jian Huang

Walking aboard the replica of HMS Endeavour at Sydney’s Australian National Maritime Museum felt like I was slipping into another century. I had to duck beneath low wooden beams and squeeze through narrow passageways , which instantly gave me that sense of being hemmed in. Only after walking through the 18th Century research vessel did I realize, how constricted life must have been for the 94 sailors, officers and scientists who spent more than three years at sea.

I’ve been writing about Japan for four decades. And, honestly,  some of my most vivid memories have come when I stopped running between tourism venues and sat down long enough to learn Japanese handicrafts. From indigo dyeing in Iwate to making creative designs with Japanese paper, small workshops that welcome foreigners as well as locals  gave me the confidence write about global cultural analysis that time spent in a museum could never equal.

I showed up in northern Thailand hoping for misty mountains, old-school temples, and, loud colorful markets. But honestly what I didn’t see coming was that my most memorable interactions would happen a few feet from rescued elephants. Those calm moments, far from the usual, staged tourist setups, made me rethink wildlife conservation in a way I wasn’t ready for.