I Never Had a Plan B

A Chinese designer’s long, winding journey to success and nomadhood

An Interview with Stella Guan

Stella Guan in Paris, beginning her journey of success

Raised in a small town in southern China, Stella Guan has always been a fast learner. She picked up the pipa, or Chinese lute, at age 8 and was soon giving solo concerts. She taught herself English as the founder of her middle school’s Harry Potter Fan Club, then taught herself Korean through her obsession with K-drama TV series. Read More

An Outlaw’s Odyssey

How one man defied cancer, traveled the globe, and learned to listen to his spirit guides

Interview by Aaron Kenedi

In the early 2000s Jefre Outlaw was living a single, free-wheeling, and financially rewarding life in Austin, Texas. Making a great living in tech and real estate, with all the trappings of wealth to show for it, including a 5000 square-foot mansion, a boat, and two Range Rovers (“one for me and one for the girlfriend du jour.”) But in 2004, at the age of 43, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which, after chemotherapy, went into remission. Read More

The Ghost of Kyiv

Ukrainian resistance and defiance shine through war-time street art

By Liz Cookman

For most of 2023, my bedroom window looked out onto a 30-foot-tall, blue-gray mural of the heroic Ghost of Kyiv. Word of the flying ace’s exploits spread like wildfire in the days after Russia’s late February 2022 invasion. He was said to have downed six Russian aircraft as enemy forces attempted to take the capital. Read More

I Did Not Have Much Time for Fun

On a hike in rural Egypt, a teenager gains some valuable perspective

By Tiphini Axtell

One evening late last year, my husband, our three teen children and I found ourselves trudging up a mountain of sand in remote Egypt led by a local man named Fahmi. If I hadn’t been there to see it all happen, I might’ve wondered, how did we get here? Read More

The Power of a Good Soak

One woman’s watery journey of self discovery and letting go

By Ekin Balcıoğlu

When I was around seven years old, my parents took me to the thermal pools of Pamukkale, a four-hour drive inland from our coastal hometown of Izmir. I remember being vaguely excited about the trip, but unsure what to expect. I loved the sea, but this place, as they’d described it to me, sounded completely different from the enchanting azure of the Aegean. Read More