Beijing: Week 4

Sun, food, hutongs, and my best friend...

It's been a month in China already. Time flies, sure, sure, but I've been keeping busy. Well, not at work, because that's a different story. In Beijing, however, I am making sure I don't waste any time trying out new things, and last week I did pretty well.

With beautiful weather and smog-free skies, I devoted Thursday and Friday, technically my weekend, to exploring. I booked a food tour through Airbnb Experiences with Danny, a longtime resident of Beijing who knew his stuff. He walked me through a typical Beijing street lined with eateries that I would never have gone into myself.

Beijing: Week 3

798 Art Zone, you had me at dinosaurs...

Weekends don't exist in Beijing. Not for me at least. So on Thursday and Friday I went exploring, organizing my own cultural excursions to be, you know, like, cultured.

First I went to the 798 Art Zone, an old factory area repurposed for art galleries and just the right amount of hipster nonsense. I basically just strolled it until I hit my steps for the day. I ate mediocre beef and noodles outside in a little alleyway cafe because the weather called for it.

Beijing: Week 2

The first grocery haul...

Well, after a food-filled first week, the second week landed me in the office, working regular 9-5 shifts. While the job isn't (ahem) exactly what I thought it would be, Beijing has been kind to me.

The internet has been rough lately because of big government meetings, so this post is a bit late. Week three is almost over! But for my own sanity and, I'll recap last week (my birthday week!) and my introduction into the world of my new job at CCTV.

Beijing: Week 1

My new life...

Well, I landed. Beijing, it's going to be a real treat. 

The flight was long, the leg room was limited, and the bags were heavy, but it has all been worth it. After one week in China, I have settled quickly, although with no guarantee whatsoever that I am doing anything right. But hey, the dumplings keep rolling my way, so no complaints yet.

Next Stop: China

Collecting the essential items before moving to a new country...

It's confirmed. After months of paperwork, translations, and WeChat conversations, I'm off to Beijing for a new chapter and a new job. Goodbye France, nǐ hǎo China.

So it's all pretty simple and straightforward. It's a change of pace from the past few years. I'll be working as a digital travel editor for Chinese media, in English of course, which suits me pretty well. I mean, I did write a book about travel journalism, so it's not too much of a stretch. 

But China, geeze, how did that happen? What a random adventure, right? After a friend planted the idea in my head back in 2017, it all just sort of happened. It was like she knew, some sort of mystical savant.

First Book is Out Now!

Who's that author? Ever heard of him?

When I started my PhD in 2012, I just wanted to hang out in Paris and read some books. Six years later, my research and work has made its way to bookshops, both physical and virtual, published in my first monograph.

Travel Journalism: Informing Tourists in the Digital Age takes a look at questions facing contemporary travel journalists. Specifically, it speaks to those of us who have worked both in print and digital media over the years, to explore how blogging and social media have upended professional routines.

While travel writing, the tourism industry, and journalism have evolved together over the years, we're at a point now where tourists are swimming in a sea of possibilities online. Who can they trust? What information is true? What is the role of blogging? Of TripAdvisor? Of influencers? Of the sharing economy? There are so many questions and this book only begins to offer some answers.

Paris: Pride as Important as Ever

Who hates a rainbow?

Brightly painted rainbow walkways and street signs decorated Paris’s gay district, the Marais, in preparation for the Pride festivities this weekend. It was the most festive I have seen the Marais in ten years of living here. It felt welcoming, a true celebration of the queer community. Uplifting, if nothing else.

The morning of June 26, however, news buzzed that the crosswalks had been vandalized. The daily Libération detailed how the words “LGBT hors de France,” or “LGBT out of France” had been painted across one of the intersections. Mayor Anne Hidalgo reacted quickly, sending a crew to erase the words.

By the afternoon, the intersection at rue de la Verrerie and rue des Archives, ground zero for gay nightlife, looked like a child had scrawled over the rainbows with a Wite-Out pen. It seemed like a small issue for most, but as a gay man in Paris — and a French citizen at that — it weighed on me.