You grew up in the UK and now call the US your home (and within the US you’ve lived in three very different places). You’ve also traveled a bit, more than me for sure. So you’ve seen and done a lot. That said, what’s something you think is underrated or easily overlooked?
I don’t have a suggestion for a specific place or type of activity, but the secret sauce I have to trips is: get a local guide. Relying on popularity through social media or Google reviews gives you a narrower perspective than a 4-8 hour guide with a local can give you. Depending where you are it might cost you $25 – $150 for a custom tour of a place you’re visiting, with someone who is available to answer any questions you might have.
Even if you’ve visited the city or country once or twice before and feel like you know a lot about it, search for a local guide to take you around. Rick Steves and Anthony Bourdain are right, it’s worth every penny.
You love books and I love that you love books. You have diverse taste! What makes a good book for you?
The books I stick with, love, and think about often are ones that can evoke a tremendous amount of emotion or convey a lot in very few words. Authors like Charlotte McConaghy are able to craft a moving and complete story in 300 pages when it would take other authors 800 pages. I’m not opposed to long books—there are some 120 page novellas that feel too long—I just find writing that’s verbose or over-embellished unrefined or disrespectful of the reader’s time.
Beyond that, I tend to gravitate towards sentimental books about human behavior, regardless of genre. I’ll happily read a romance, dark academia, sci fi, literary, or fantasy novel as long as the focus is on people and not extensive world building.
I’m so grateful that we live in a world where books exist. Writers transporting us to new worlds and experiences is like magic.
You’re accumulating a nice range of life experiences. What’s something that you’re interested in but haven’t fully explored yet, and what’s stopping you?
This is ‘explore’ in a couple senses of the word, but I’m interested in a no- or low-technology walking trip somewhere. I don’t mean a remote trail like the JMT or the El Camino, I mean walking between towns to stay at small inns and eating local foods. Longing for a bucolic walk between towns might be the natural next step in middle age as a British man.
I’m probably romanticizing the blisters, the sweaty back, and the feeling of isolation, but I find myself longing to explore the silence of nature and the intentionality of not being online.
I’ve enjoyed chatting with you immensely since we first met. But let’s say you’re in a position where you need to keep talking as long as possible about just one thing. What is it?
I could talk for a long time about Alan Partridge. Alan Partridge is a character created in the 90s by Steve Coogan (who plays Partridge), Armando Ianucci, and a bunch of other comedians, he started out as a bit part in a comedy show and now has books, a movie, a podcast (actually an audiobook), some fake documentaries, and several TV shows.
His character is a bitter ex-BBC presenter who now lives in an obscure county in England has a local (barely) celebrity and radio host. He is by all accounts a terrible person, but that’s the joke. He’s the least important person in the room who always thinks he’s the most important.
An entry into the world of Alan Partridge would be his TV shows I’m Alan Partridge (2 seasons, so 12 episodes), but this would give you a good idea of what he’s like.
I see you shooting film and it’s fantastic. I appreciate that you’ve shared the realities/ups and downs. What else are you learning right now?
Tennis! Emma (my wife) and I miss the hiking we would do every weekend when we lived in Ithaca (we miss you too, Tyler!) because it was a nice passive and conversational activity we could enjoy outside together. Mid-2025 we decided to start going to tennis lessons and now we try and play together at least once a week. Similar to shooting film, it’s nice to be away from my phone and totally in the moment.
Neither of us are very good at it and we sorta make up our own rules, but it’s fun to laugh and be competitive with one another while gradually getting better. And we just got pink tennis balls that we’re excited to whack about a bit.
Where he lives
Durham, North Carolina
United States
Profession
Director of Product Design
Cold drink order
If they’ve got it, Diet Dr Pepper!
Comfort content
Perfect Days
Luke has a website.