Feeling Through Art / Revealing read / Airport rides

Recomendo - issue #489

Pre-booked airport rides

I’ve used Welcome Pickups in Lisbon, Berlin, Madrid, and Paris, and it’s become my default airport-to-hotel solution. You book online before your flight, see the exact price upfront (usually comparable to Uber), and most importantly, a driver will be waiting for you right after luggage pickup with your name on a sign. They speak English and can help with your bags. They operate in over 350 destinations worldwide. It’s the small dose of certainty that makes arriving in a new city less stressful. (The link above gives you €5 off your first trip.) — MF

Animated Guide to Feeling Through Art

This 2-minute animated film blends art and therapy to guide viewers through somatic exercises for emotional regulation, especially when overstimulated or triggered in crowded spaces. Practices like resting your hands on your heart or stomach can create space for energy and also encourage it to move out of your body. These self-soothing techniques can be used when engaging with any creative medium or media, helping you to find calm and rootedness even in the busiest, most stressful environments. — CD

Revealing read

China has 100 million gig workers, delivering food, sorting packages, driving ubers, barely making it. The diary of Hu Anyan, one of those gig workers, became a runaway bestseller in China. It has just been translated into English as “I Deliver Parcels in Beijing.” It is a richly detailed, unvarnished account of what life is like in the urban underclass of modern China. What makes it so readable is Hu Anyan’s indomitable spirit of always looking at the bright side despite horrifically unfair, unsafe, and illegal conditions. He recounts his misfortunes with empathy and impartial clarity. There are more people like him in China than the population of most countries. I don’t know of anything else that reveals the “real” texture of life in China from a distance as this book. — KK

World Map of Human Ideas

Here’s a person-made map listing the birthplaces of influential ideas that shaped civilization. More than 250 of the world’s greatest ideas and inventions, color-coded by fields of knowledge. It’s fun to explore and learn something new. — CD

Best camera

I’ve been seriously photographing for 55 years and the best camera I’ve ever owned is the iPhone 17 Pro. The sensor is the clearest, most sensitive, most color true I’ve ever had. It has near infinite capacity and a great battery. And most important to me is its range of lenses including wide-angle and a new optical telephoto lens that zooms to 200mm equivalent. Awesome! The whole kit fits into my pants pocket so I always have my best camera at hand. I no longer use any other camera outside my studio. — KK

Best online file converter

Most online file converters are littered with ads and are sketchy about what they do with your files. But Vert, which is free and open-source, converts files directly on your computer, not a remote server (the exception is videos, which Vert deletes after an hour). It handles images, audio, video, and documents. The interface is clean and straightforward: drag your file, pick your format, done. — MF

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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.