About
Hi, I’m Michael.
I was born in Minnesota, and these days I split my time between Asia and the US.
My love of new places started at home. My parents are Mexican and Thai, so I grew up between two food cultures and spent a lot of time in Mexico as a kid. After high school I lived with a host family in Japan.
I love trying all kinds of food, from local street stalls to Michelin-starred restaurants, and all kinds of places to stay. I also love planning a beautiful trip, whether it’s just for me or a special treat for the people I love. There’s nothing more fun than finding a great restaurant, then actually going, and coming back to a calm, beautiful hotel.
When I’m not eating or checking in somewhere, I love a long drive with a good playlist, hiking a national park, heading out for a run, or a simple walk, especially at night. This site is where I keep track of the places worth going back to: interesting and nice hotels, and meals I still think about.
- Countries visited
- 50+
- Home base
- Asia & the US
- Born in
- Minnesota
- Lived in
- The US, Japan, the Philippines, Mexico
I started my career in finance. The hours were brutal, and I wanted the freedom to do my own thing.
So I started buying apartment and retail buildings. For the first few years I did everything myself: leasing, maintenance, answering residents’ calls. I loved it, and I also burned out.
As the business grew, and luckily it went well, I built systems so it didn’t need me for every little thing. That gave me a newfound freedom to enjoy new experiences. What keeps me going is how much you learn, about other cultures and about yourself.
A few months on the road in Europe
I’ve always loved road trips, so for this one I brought my own car over by boat. I spent a few months driving through eight countries, with no fixed plan beyond the next border and the next mountain pass.
The beauty of a road trip is seeing places you’d never reach otherwise: castles far from any tour bus, the autobahn with no speed limit, then a slow cruise through Germany’s Black Forest, small towns along Lake Lugano in Switzerland, and quiet Dutch villages near the tulip fields, so silent during a soccer match that it felt like the whole town was watching.
One day I want to drive the same car all the way from Europe to Asia. This trip was the inspiration.
Some of my best travel memories are meals
Food is usually how I get to know a place. Some of my favorite meals have been tacos from a street cart or a bowl of noodles at a tiny counter, and others were big nights out. When a meal is really good, I like to say thank you to the kitchen, and a few chefs have been kind enough to come out and say hello.
Hotels, restaurants, and readers welcome
If you run a hotel or restaurant, want to work together, or just have a question about a place I’ve reviewed, email me.
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