The First Conversation of 2026
I did not have “spending New Year’s with strangers in Sri Lanka” on my 2025 bingo card, but that’s how I roll. As I’m writing this, we’re between training sessions on New Year’s Day,...
Category: friends
The Awkward Part
Day 1 of the volleyball camp is officially in the books. As I’m writing this it’s actually day 3 in Sri Lanka, the morning of the 2nd day of training, but I digress. To...
What type of texter are you?
“She’s probably the most beautiful person I’ve been on a date with,” Ben said. “But she likes to text.” “So she’s a 10 but she likes texting?” I said, laughing. Ben grinned. “I hate...
Talking to Strangers in Taipei, part 3
Fu Hang Soy Milk is always at the top of my list whenever I visit Taiwan. On my last trip in May, I went four times in a single week — a record even...
Talking to Strangers in Taipei, part 2
“Are you busy tonight?” Ordi asked. “Want to come with me to catch some snakes?” “What?” I asked, intrigued, but doubtful it was a good idea. “Where are you doing this, and what does...
How to have conversations
The older I get, the more baffled I am by how bad people can be at having normal conversations. You would think it comes naturally to people – two or more humans in the...
The Longest Hike
“What’s your criteria for a good hike?” I asked. “It has to be at least 10 miles,” Ben replied without hesitation. This was over a year ago, maybe six months after I’d met Ben...
Talking to Strangers in Taipei, part 1
“Most things we want in life are actually pretty simple,” Chris said. “Simple–but not easy.” It was an unexpectedly philosophical conversation with somebody I’d only met hours earlier. We were hiking up Taipei’s ultra-touristy...
Making Friends as an Adult, part 2
The Friend Filter “I actually mapped this out in a prior season of life,” Swiff said, pulling up an Instagram post on his phone. “30% of people I meet are friend crushes, and the...
Tepic Fail
When world-class volleyball meets bottom-tier planning This post is a bit inside baseball (or inside volleyball?), but I wanted to share my experience visiting Tepic for my 2nd international volleyball tournament (as a spectator)....
Ted, thanks for your courage for speaking out your thoughts, especially right after this horrible event. It's been a a…