October 2025

"Here, nobody ever finds what they're looking for. This is the land of the unexpected." When I think Patagonia, my mind conjures stark vistas: jagged snow peaks, turquoise lake water, glaciers stretching to infinity. Penguins. Remote wilderness that swallows you whole.

"I look at the Mississippi and see America's symbol right there. The spine of a nation. Strength, freedom, pride incarnate. Mobility, history, imagination—all of it flowing in muddy water." Late 80s, Eddy Harris hatches a wild plan: canoe the entire Mississippi River alone. Source to sea.

"China exists beyond dreams. Beyond reality. It's a simulation of both." May 2024. Alexandre Labruffe gets offered a cultural attaché position in a Chinese city most of us had never heard of: Wuhan, in Hubei Province. He accepts. Then 2025 happens.

"Not to brag, but I'm exceptionally talented at turning what should be a happy life into actual hell. And don't dismiss that hell lightly—it's real. Terribly, suffocatingly real." I'd never cracked open Emmanuel Carrère before. This felt like the right entry point.