Travel
I don't count countries. I collect the moments that changed how I see — and write about — the world.
Istanbul, Türkiye
Istanbul doesn't ask you to choose between continents, centuries or alphabets — it simply holds them all at once. I spent a week there reading menus like poetry and getting lost on purpose.
As a writer, the city felt like a lesson in voice: layers everywhere, and yet unmistakably itself.
What it taught me
A strong identity can hold contradictions. So can good writing.
Amman, Jordan
Some places you visit; some places are the lens you see everything else through. Amman is my lens — seven hills of white stone, cardamom coffee, and conversations that start with strangers and end with invitations to dinner.
What it taught me
Hospitality is just generosity with attention. Writing works the same way.
Santorini, Greece
Everyone photographs Santorini in summer. We went when the crowds were gone and the light was low, and found an island that finally had time to talk. Empty blue domes, wind, and the best writing weather I've ever had.
What it taught me
The famous version of anything is rarely the true one. Look off-season.