Colors of Asia / book.sv / Compression bags

Recomendo - issue #488

Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, and Claudia Dawson

Nov 09, 2025

Colors of Asia

I am releasing my brand new book: Colors of Asia. In it I present some of my favorite scenes from Asia, but instead of being arranged geographically, they are entirely arranged by color—a whimsical way of paying attention. Out of the dozen books I’ve made, I had the most fun making Colors of Asia. It was a blast to put together, and it made me smile the whole way. The book is exuberant, unique, life-affirming, exploding with color and strangeness—and special for me, it is short (144-pages) and portable (standard hardcover size). Colors of Asia covers the same territory as Vanishing Asia, but with a much lighter touch, and a much more affordable price. This is the book for travel enthusiasts, photography lovers, designers seeking inspiration, and anyone interested in Asian styles. I am not trying to maximize the possible profit for this book; Instead, I am trying to serve my 1,000 true fans. So I am limiting the production run to only 1,000 copies. Once they are gone, it’s gone. I have set up a small-time shop on Shopify to distribute Colors of Asia ($35). Pre-order now, and the hardcover, ink-on-paper books will be shipped starting early December. Sadly we can only send books to US addresses. More about the book here. — KK

Space-saving bags for travel

I think I can retire my packing cubes—recently, I fit two weeks’ worth of clothing into a carry-on using just four of these compression bags. No vacuum or pump needed: just roll to compress and shrink your clothes. I even had enough room to bring back gifts from my trip. The 10-pack set includes three different sizes, is reusable, and costs only $10. — CD

Essential apps for China

I just returned from another intense two weeks of travel in China so I’ve put together a document with all the most essential apps I needed there; I wished someone had told me about them before I left. I encourage everyone to visit China now that it is moving so fast, but you need a different set of apps to get around. Here are my 9 essential apps for independent travel in China. — KK

Radical acceptance for daily annoyances

When small things go wrong—spilled coffee, traffic jams, stubbed toes—we often think “this shouldn’t be happening!” Psychologist Patricia Zurita Ona suggests a better way, based on a therapy method called ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) that separates unavoidable pain (the actual problem) from avoidable pain (getting upset about it). Her three-step approach: Notice what you’re feeling in your body (tight stomach, racing heart). Name it: “I’m frustrated.” Ask yourself: “Will my reaction serve me later on or help me live the way I want to live?” This isn’t about liking what happened — just not making it worse by fighting reality. — MF

Prompt to translate menus

I’m one of those people who loves to look up the menu before arriving at a restaurant, but I often get confused by menus full of complex food jargon. Now, I use AI to translate them for me. My go-to prompt: “Translate this menu into simple, everyday language and describe the taste and flavors of each dish.” This has even helped me become more adventurous and order dishes I’d normally avoid. — CD

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Recomendo is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel and podcast, and other newsletters, including Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper, and Book Freak.

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