Hard to believe that my last update was in back in October 2013! While I haven’t had any motorcycle adventures since, I have had my share of zip lining in Laos and dog sledding in Sweden. Hope your adventures are equally as varied and exciting!
Throughout high school, I handmade yearbooks to express my interpretation of each school year. At the end of my senior edition I reprinted this famous Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, which was Bill Watterson’s last (until recently). It seems even more appropriate now than it did then.
As many of you already know, I have resigned from One Earth Designs and my last day was today. It has been an amazing journey, chalk-full of learnings and wonderful memories that I won’t soon forget. Rest assured – I have no plans to leave Hong Kong! Permanent resident status is just around the corner and my support of the HK start up scene will continue for now through Invest HK.
While I was initially staring at a white sheet of paper, it didn’t stay that way for long. During my US trip, I began to outline and sketch the basics: how I want to spend my time now and what I am looking for in my next role. Thanks to all of you who helped me talk through ideas. My soul searching is far from over, but I’m thankful to have time and space to move forward at my own pace.
Right now I’ve decided to focus my attention on health and fitness. It is the only part of my life that I feel truly suffered over the last 2+ years. What better way to kickstart this effort than by signing up for a 3-day ultramarathon in Nepal? Between now and Nov 1st I’ll be training for 60km of trail running through the mountains of Pokhara with my good (and insanely fit) friend. Unfortunately, this means I’ll be drinking more green smoothies than alcohol, but I am still happy to grab a coffee anytime!
As for career direction, I’m starting to identify the edges of the page: I want to be based in Hong Kong, the organization must have a net positive impact on society, start-ups and autonomous teams best suit my skill set. Where I’m more divided is with the following: start something or join something, scalable or direct local impact, design or operational role? Over the next few months I’ll probably reach out to talk through possible options and welcome any ideas or processes that you think might help me find clarity.
In the meantime, I have a handful of side projects where I’m actually making things again. A couple months ago I started hosting “pop-up dinners“. They are essentially dinner parties hosted in Hong Kong public spaces using handmade cardboard furniture. The purpose is to bring like-minded people together in a dramatic setting for good food and even better conversation without the financial, space or time constraints that socializing in Hong Kong often involve. I’ve also started making a series of hand drawn maps (inspired by my handy friend Dan) that show where to buy raw materials in Hong Kong for any project, organized by neighborhood. There are other ideas that have been sitting on the back burner for far too long that I am hoping to breath life into again.