Anthony Bourdain said it best: "If I'm an advocate for anything, it's to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food. It's a plus for everybody." I think that pretty much summarises everything I want to say. Let me explain. I live in Amsterdam. Not a big city per se, but a very rich one and one of the cultural capitals of Europe. Living here is great. As someone who experien

The Internet loves a pick-me girl, but somewhere along the way, we forgot that policing other women was never the point. Recently, my friend asked in the group chat. “Can you trust a girl who has no female friends?” I sat with the question for a while. Unsure where I stood. It’s true that finding a stable, healthy group of friends isn’t always easy. Some women might be having a hard time finding it, or are only beginning to find their people. Others genuinely seem to prefer t

I first heard about egg freezing when I was 30. It took me four years to actually do it. My adventure starts in Italy. I was single, and a friend who worked as an obstetrician recommended it to me. Some women had started talking about this new possibility. But it felt like a secret. A whisper passed from woman to woman in corridors and private conversations. Nothing really happened inside me at first. I didn’t know if it was something I really wanted to do. I was scared to op

There's a popular saying that goes: "You can tell how much a woman loves herself by the man she's with." It's a neat idea, but it assumes that a woman's choices always reflect her worth. They don't. The truth is that remarkable women fall for the wrong men every day. Intelligent women, successful women, emotionally aware women. Women with strong friendships, fulfilling careers, and a deep sense of who they are. Not because they lack self-love, but because attraction is not a

A friendship breakup feels like a haunting that happens while you’re still very much awake; a quiet, suffocating void that hits the exact moment you open your eyes. You stare at the ceiling, and suddenly, your morning ritual—that first, once-cherished cup of coffee, the usual rhythm—feels like reading a script for a show you’ve been written out of. That physical, bone-deep ache isn't just sadness; it is the brutal realization that losing a best friend cuts infinitely deeper t

I wasn’t leaving San Francisco. I was coming back. That's the pivotal moment people often miss when I share my story. I prepared for a brief departure—a life-changing medical procedure in New Zealand, where my heritage roots run deep and the cost was nonexistent, a stark contrast to the thousands of dollars I couldn't afford in America. America had blessed me with nine incredible years and a city that had captured my heart completely. Yet, it couldn't offer me this one thing.

Living in New York City for nearly two decades often felt like existing inside a perpetual highlight reel. The city attracts ambitious people, and success is woven into the fabric of daily life. In that world, it becomes easy to measure your life against other people's milestones and wonder whether you're keeping pace. In my late twenties, I congratulated a colleague after she landed a job at a television station we'd both interviewed for. In the months that followed, I found

When I was 23, I left home on a Friday at dusk with a 20kg suitcase that contained neither my clothes nor my expectations. Twenty kilograms is all the airline allowed me to carry. The rest of me had to travel without luggage. The moment you step out of the plane you start to ask yourself “Why the hell was I afraid of such an experience?” People like to think that taking a trip to Europe after a conflict in their lives will inspire a dramatic change; a version of themselves t

There are two very distinct faces of wealth in 2026. The rich face; frozen, taut, and meticulously engineered for absolute symmetry. The familiar Instagram-ready attractiveness we've all come to recognise. And then, at the opposite end of the spectrum, there's the old money face; completely untouched, aggressively natural, and sublimely unbothered by absolutely anything. On the surface, most people probably wouldn't notice the difference. Just two different aesthetics, they'd

My mother is one of the most beautiful women I know. Yet my whole life, she has insisted that she “looks horrible.” Taking candid photos of her or even a selfie together always turns into a battle, with my mother either pushing the camera away or fluffing up her hair while saying, “God, I look terrible." Nothing makes my blood boil more than hearing her say those words. Every time she protests a gorgeous photo of herself sent in the family group chat, I am reminded of how dee

"Does what I'm saying actually matter?" It's the question Didoriot asks herself before publishing a video, and perhaps it's the reason her work resonates with so many people. At a time when the internet often rewards speed over substance, her essays pause to examine the cultural shifts hiding beneath the headlines, from AI and the future of work to female loneliness, internet aesthetics, and the identities we're constantly being encouraged to perform. We sat down with Didorio

Let me start with a simple truth: I have never been more proud of women than I am today. This is not another essay about “empowering women.” It is a profound, conscious appreciation born from my own observations of the women in my life and those around me. The rise of the spiritual woman is unfolding right here, right now, in its most authentic modern form. Collectively, feminine energy is proud of itself; not in an ego-driven or superficial way, nor from the wounds of the pa

In an era of situationships, casual encounters, and the constant pressure between “getting married quickly” and “not getting married at all,” it sometimes feels like the conversation about first love has quietly disappeared. As if it has become something outdated, almost irrelevant; something we've outgrown. And yet, sometimes, to understand who we are becoming, we have to look back. We have to remember what it was like to love for the very first time. When you're fifteen and

I've always been financially responsible. I meticulously budget, plan my life carefully, and always set money aside for those famous "emergencies." But over the years, I've realised there is one emergency where I lose my grip the most; one no budget can prepare you for. I wake up one morning after a break-up and suddenly find my bank account nearly empty. It seems there is a serious "Break-Up Economy" that none of us ever account for. We don't just make emotional investments

I finally woke up and realised what had been missing all along, and it was me. Not a better version of me, nor the version that had it all together. Just me, unfinished and full, right here. I had been yearning for myself all along without realising. This is for the ones who've been searching in all the wrong places, and for the ones who didn't even know they were searching. We grew up in a culture that taught us to source everything outward, looking for our worth in who want

There is something quietly radical about hearing one of the most celebrated creative directors in fashion admit that he thought he had finally "cracked the formula." Not because he was wrong, but because we've all been taught to believe that finding the formula is the goal. More than ever we are obsessed with systems. There is a blueprint for everything now; how to build a personal brand, how to write a bestseller, how to make a viral reel, how to launch a business, and even

They say Hollywood is dying. The articles and Instagram carousels keep arriving, mapping the transition: tech conglomerates owning studios, monopolistic mergers, mandate-driven development, fewer sales, lower production value, AI, productions fleeing, and on and on. The industry that once promised the most original work would rise to the top; that opportunity was endless, that anyone had a shot; looks nothing like what we have now. With so much we are willing to change, it se

I was sitting in a not particularly good bar in Naples when I overheard the men at the table next to me talking about some woman named Irina from Novorossiysk, or maybe another city in southern Russia that they referred to as "a cheap Sorrento." They discussed Irina from a distinctly male perspective, then moved on to a film they had watched together, praising what they called its incredible editing, before eventually returning to the subject of sex. And it made me wonder: di

While we’re busy trying to explain our bodies to men, showing them where and how to touch us, our bodies have apparently already invented their own way of experiencing pleasure without any sexual contact. And I’m not talking about tantric sex or deep hypnosis. Today’s conversation is about the infamous and universally loved Reformer Pilates for IT girls. After once again deciding to start a new life on Monday, I signed up for Reformer Pilates for the first time in my life. Be

At some point in adulthood, you realise that becoming someone new is less exhilarating than advertised. It is mostly paperwork. It is changing your email signature. It is introducing yourself differently at parties. It is watching people continue speaking to a version of you that quietly stopped existing months ago. I regret to inform you: I have changed. Not in the cinematic way people celebrate online. There was no dramatic haircut, no solo trip to Europe, no montage scored

Being the firstborn daughter comes with a particular kind of guilt. It is not necessarily greater than other forms of guilt, but it is distinct because it emerges from the role rather than from a specific action. The eldest daughter feels responsible simply because she is the eldest. What makes it similar to all other forms of guilt, in a way, is its predictable trajectory. It begins with younger siblings. Over time, that responsibility expands and gradually becomes a duty to

People tell you to make your 20s about yourself. Build a career, travel, invest in friendships, heal, and learn who you are outside of relationships. But ever since I stopped dating and stopped making my life about love, it seems like this is the only thing people want to talk about. "Decenter love," they say, but continue to make everything about it. Yet there’s something fascinating about what happens when someone actually follows that advice. The same culture that praises

A few days ago, more than 261,000 Californians received news that would change the course of their year. Hundreds of millions of dollars in medical debt had simply... disappeared. The debt had been erased through a donation from Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel and model Miranda Kerr in partnership with @UndueMedDebt, wiping out more than $550 million in medical bills for families across California. It was an extraordinary act of generosity that will undoubtedly transform tho

I was sitting in my dermatologist’s office the other week, playing the role of "supportive best friend" for a girl who was just there to get a tiny mole removed. It was all very model-off-duty chic until the doctor finished the procedure and started scanning her face like an interior designer looking for a load-bearing wall to demolish. "We could sharpen that jawline," he noted, gesturing to her chin as if he were sketching on a napkin. "And those crow’s feet? Honestly, a lit

Everyone has a different vision of what their 20s will look like. Some imagine being married, some imagine owning a house, and others dream of working abroad or going to college. Ever since we were kids, we’ve been preparing for our 20s. It’s like working toward an end goal, and all we wanted were the solutions or answers. But little did we know that our 20s wouldn’t be about finding the answers at all. If anything, our 20s raise even more questions. It’s like we knew more wh