You could not pay me enough money to get onto one of those mega cruise boats, with multi thousands of passengers. However it turns out that small boat cruises are one of the best ways to do a vacation. I define small as less than 40 passengers, and ideally less than 25. You are on a floating hotel with meals so the everyday hassles of moving each night are removed. A small boat can debark and embark very quickly and visit many smaller places (villages and wilderness) that a huge boat cannot. You make your own entertainment: They encourage very active days, dropping you off to hike, canoe, bike, walk, snorkel, or kayak in the morning; you return for lunch and then repeat in the afternoon. They avoid shopping ports. Of course, the per person rate is higher for a small vessel, but we’ve found the difference very much worthwhile, as these have become our favorite vacations. A few of the tours that are 5-7 days long that we are familiar with are below. 

Galapagos — The boats sail at night. Every morning you wake up to a brand new island with a brand new biome. Lots of snorkeling and hiking with naturalists. We used Happy Gringos. 

Inland Passageway, Alaska — Head north through the calm inland sea, visiting glacier strewn fjords, wildlife close up, and native American islands. Kayaking, too. We used Alaskan Dreams. 

Mekong River — Sail from Siem Reap (and its Angor Wat) in Cambodia, all the way downstream to Ho Chi Min City on the coast of south Vietnam, with bicycle excursions along the way. Mark used Aqua Expeditions.

Turquoise Coast, Turkey — Join a gulet sailboat long the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, stopping at ancient Greek ruins, Turkish villages and swimming coves. These cruises have become very popular with party versions for young adults. I don’t remember who we used but try, Sail and Stay.

Superficially, large cruise boats claim to follow similar routes, but trust me, small boat cruises are a different species well worth your time. — KK

After moving into my new place, I realized I didn't like where some of the heavier furniture pieces were situated. Instead of struggling to move them myself, I decided to use Lugg (“Uber for movers.”) Within an hour of booking through their app, two friendly and efficient movers arrived. They carefully relocated the pieces upstairs exactly where I wanted. The movers were total pros — quick yet meticulous about protecting my belongings and home. — MF

I recently came across Caroline Myss’s Archetype Oracle Cards at my therapist's office and was so fascinated with it that I decided to purchase my own set. This deck includes 80 cards, each representing a different archetype with both its Light and Shadow Attributes. I like to make up different ways to play with this deck. Sometimes, I sift through the cards to identify the archetypes that are most active in my psyche or recognize those I might be suppressing by selecting the cards that resonate with or repel me. Other times, I draw a single card with the intention of deepening my understanding of it and observing how it might express itself in others. This deck has helped me better understand my own sub-personalities, and I think it would make an excellent tool for anyone doing “parts work,” like Internal Family Systems or Voice Dialogue and the Psychology of Selves. —CD

Tip: When charging your phone on the go in a cafe, lounge, hotel, or friend’s house, place something large like your backpack or purse or coat RIGHT NEXT to the charger. You are far less likely to leave two things behind, and therefore less likely to forget the charger. — KK

I’ve been learning a lot about visual thinking from Terri Lonier and her free newsletter, SOLO—designed to help solo entrepreneurs stand out. Terri holds a PhD in Business and Brand History and has extensive experience as a strategic advisor, and because of this, every issue feels like a master class in visual frameworks, storytelling, typography, and more. In her most recent issue, she shared her "7 Heroes of Visual Communication," which directed me toward many new and fascinating resources. Check out her archive and subscribe here. — CD

Sasha Chapin, author of All the Wrong Moves: A Memoir About Chess, Love, and Ruining Everything, recently wrote a list of 50 things he knows. Here are a few samples:

• I know that travel is valuable because most knowledge can’t be written down. The most crucial info about a society is how it feels to be there—the rhythms of street life, where and when people eat meals, how gender works. You can read a million things about Japan without knowing the bodily experience of walking around in a truly high-trust society, for example.

• I know that unless you are exceptionally good with ripostes, the best way to win a fight with an angry person on the internet is to not respond. They will look ridiculous fuming impotently on their own.

• I know how to peel ginger. Use a spoon. The first time you do this, you’ll feel like you’re Neo with a fresh brain full of downloaded kung fu skills.

— MF

Craig Mod is a writer, designer, photographer, friend, and world-class walker who lives in Japan. He is currently walking from Kyoto to Tokyo (for the third time!) along a traditional route at the crazy pace of 30-40 km per day for 18 days. At the end of each looooong day, Craig is writing up the most lyrical and lovely observances of modern Japan along the way. His daily letters are insightful, honest, dark, luminous, sweet and prolific. When the walk is done at Tokyo, the daily newsletter stops and all emails are deleted. He’s one-third done, but you can sign up for his “popup newsletter” called The Return to Pachinko Road here. – KK

I have bookshelves in my living room, office, bedroom, and basement. Thanks to a Reddit Life Pro Tip, I can now find any book in my house with ease. All you need to do is take photos of all your bookshelves and give your phone a few minutes to process and index the text from the spines of the books. Once the little OCR icon appears in the corner of your photos, you can search for a title in your photo app at any time. It will show you exactly where the book is located on your shelf by highlighting the text found in the photos. This method worked on my iPhone, and I’m hoping it works on Android too, because it’s so useful. — CD 

Scribd is a document hosting service that charges $12 a month to download the files it hosts. Since it makes money offering books I’ve written without paying me royalties, I have no compunction recommending this website that lets you download files that Scribd hosts for free. Note that I am not suggesting you download copyrighted material. I use it to download public domain documents, such as court records. – MF

In an age of abundance, attention is our only scarce resource. Yet we know so little about it. This wonderful article in The New Yorker, “The Battle for Attention,” gives attention its own attention. I love the part about a secret movement that has evolved a 3-part method for paying attention collectively, which entails examination without judgment. – KK

Sublime is a personal knowledge management tool crafted with soul. I've been allowing myself to digitally hoard all the beautiful words and insightful advice I come across online. Everything you save in Sublime becomes a card, and these cards can be organized into collections. There's also a communal aspect to Sublime; you can follow other users and search public collections for cards to add to your library. I love that it encourages connections, synchronicities, and learning. I imported all of my Readwise book highlights and have been using Sublime as a literary Pinterest. The app is still in beta, and there is a waitlist, but Recomendo readers can skip the line and test it out for free. If you do sign up, here’s my profile — follow me and I’ll follow you back! — CD

Don't miss this Reason Podcast interview with computer scientist Stephen Wolfram on the future of artificial intelligence. Wolfram, the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, offers insights on the capabilities and limitations of current AI systems like ChatGPT. He discusses the prospects for AI solving fundamental scientific problems, concerns about AI outputs reverting to the mean and dampening originality and innovation, and the choice between allowing powerful AI systems to operate in unpredictable ways versus constraining them to only do predictable things, limiting their capabilities. – MF

When I needed to label some cardboard boxes and my regular Sharpie ran out of ink, I discovered a Magnum Sharpie in my daughter's art supplies. This oversized marker features a 5/8" wide chisel tip, perfect for writing large, bold letters. Plus, its larger barrel holds twice as much ink as a standard Sharpie. – MF

When I watch this home video of a Filipino family jamming a rock song together, it makes me feel that humanity is okay and everything will turn out fine. The family band calls themselves Missioned Souls and play rock covers like Hysteria by Muse. There is hope. Humans are great. – KK

Dexa is a new AI-powered search engine that indexes content from prominent podcasts and videos, making it easy to find the information you need. When you search on Dexa, it provides a text summary of the relevant information and allows you to listen to or watch the specific portions of the media containing the information you're looking for, saving you time and effort. – MF

I’ve been using the Triple Flame app (free, available on Android) for reminders to take a pause. Every three hours, I receive a reminder to pause whatever I’m doing for at least three minutes. You can choose between a silent pause or a guided one, accompanied by music or reflections. I appreciate being able to see how many other people are pausing at the same time. The contemplative quotes that pop up also encourage me to look inward. — CD 

Moses stars in all three monotheistic faiths believed by “people of the book”: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Netflix special, Testament: The Story of Moses, is a surprisingly good retelling of his story in full. Half Hollywood biopic, half documentary commentary, it enlivens this mythical character with more depth. Everyone has heard part of his life, but the full story is far more interesting. Setting aside the immense degree that the character of Moses has shaped western civilization, this is a dramatic story well told. – KK

Collé is a weekly email that explores the world of contemporary collage. Each issue highlights a new artist, showcasing their work and creative process. I've always viewed collage as the most accessible art medium, yet I am consistently astounded, inspired, and humbled by the creations featured in this newsletter. Check out their archive of past issues. — CD 

Here are social psychologist Anatol Rapoport’s rules for criticizing something:

1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”

2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).

3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.

4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

Via Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking, by Daniel C. Dennett. — MF

After years of crummy AI-generated music apps, there are now several music generators that are worth spending time with. I’ve been staying up late at night tweaking prompts to make complete songs using Suno. Just like using an image generator, I give Suno a wordy description of the song, mood, beat, that I am looking for, and it generates a very listenable song, with pretty good lyrics, bridges, choruses, and album cover art! The free version of Suno gives you 10 songs per day, maxed out at 2 minutes per track. I use these as soundtracks for video shorts. There are a couple other recent apps, but I like Suno the best and will pay for a subscription. It is good enough for anyone to try out. — KK