Asian Wander Women: on friendships and dating

Remote & Work Opportunities

• 47 of the Best Work Abroad Programs Around the World

• Browse remote-only jobs with Remote Work Junkie, a growing job search platform

• DSH Accelerator invests in the earliest-stage startups, and provides them extraordinary benefits. They partner with the larger Draper Ecosystem to bring founders what they need, when they need it. They’re investing $50K to $100K in early stage startups. Apply now.

Readings for the Soul

• 10 Types of Odd Friendships You’re Probably Part of by Wait But Why - As time goes on, most of us tend to have fewer friends in Quadrants 2-4, because A) people mature, and B) people have more self-respect and higher standards for what they’ll deal with as they get older. But the fact is, friendships made in the formative years often stick, whether they’re ideal or not, leaving most of us with a portion of our Tier 1 and Tier 2 friendships that just don’t make that much sense.

• Being a digital nomad: the good, the bad, the ugly

• The realities of traveling while building a startup with Eli David, a serial entrepreneur and nomad since 2010

• The transformational energy shift as I near my 30s - masculine vs feminism energy and caring about someone other than myself

Travel Inspiration Feed

• 10 Best Places for a Digital Detox - There are seven European locations in the top 10, and Marrakesh, Hong Kong and Dubai round out the list. However, Prague, Czech Republic, tops the ranking with a score of 7.96 out of 10.

• Interested in the Middle East? Jiayi, who is an Italian Chinese, runs Diary of a Nomad, focusing on places misrepresented in the media. She shares, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from globetrotting around it’s that the countries that are typically deemed “unsafe” (such as Iran, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan) are often actually the safest and most remarkable ones. They also have some of the kindest and friendliest locals I’ve ever met. There are so many cultural misconceptions out there, and I hope with this blog, I can debunk as many of them as I can.”

Dating Mixers, Anybody? 💕

At our San Francisco Dolores Park meetup, we last spoke about hosting a singles’ mixer event in the city—this was met with a whole lot of enthusiasm haha!

I (Emily) hosted a fun singles’ event last year in Singapore where everyone had to bring a friend they wouldn’t date (but notably a quality person because we don’t recommend trash people to our fellow AWWs). It was a success, the whole bar was crowded, 30+ attendees showed up, and a successful couple even came out from this event.

Couples were also invited to hang out—one pair said they had a blast observing and it was like watching Animal Planet in real life at the local watering hole, so it can be fun for everyone.

++ Did anyone see Netflix’s new documentary “Longest Third Date?” It tells the real-life story of Khani Le and Matt Robertson, a pair who met on Hinge and then experienced the adventure of a lifetime when they decided to fly to Costa Rica in March of 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt.

Featured AWW Member: Diana Liao

Diana Liao is a therapist and coach who helps adults in New York and beyond navigate transitions and challenges related to career, identity, and self worth. She is the cofounder of Bridges Mental Health, a mental health directory and therapist community for Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans.

In August of 2019, I mused to a friend that my clients were increasingly Asian American individuals that sought me out specifically because I was Asian. They shared stories of being misunderstood, invalidated, or worse, having to do the labor of educating non-Asian therapists who lacked an understanding of how intersecting identities impact mental health. It seemed surprising that in a city like NYC, where there is such a concentration of Asian Americans, that finding an Asian therapist would be so challenging.

I set out to find all the amazing Asian therapists in the NYC-area and connect them to therapy-seekers through a web site directory. —Diana Liao (How Bridges Health Came to Be)

AWW Events

We need our own version of “BlackPink in your area!” If anyone comes up with a good one, let us know.

• [Online Webinar] Wednesday, April 26th at 19:00 PST | April 27th at 10:00 China ST hosted by Justine Yang: join us as we talk to our diverse panel about what it's like to go against the grain. Hear about the ups and downs of paving your own path from our three fantastic speakers.

• Want to plan a meetup, but don’t know how to get started? Email us at [email protected]. If you have photos, send us so we can feature the AWWs around the world on Instagram.

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