As someone who has plunged both hands wrist-deep into the soup bowl at a work dinner (believing it to be a finger bowl), and asked a surprisingly accommodating elderly lady on the bus if he could sit on her rather than next to her, thanks to a bumbling phrasebook, Rory Boland can honestly say that he’s been on the frontlines of living abroad.

After stints in Wales, the United States, and Poland, Rory and his partner Martyna moved to Hong Kong in 2006, where he found work as an editor for a city tourist magazine and a flat the size of a refrigerator in Wan Chai. During his time in Hong Kong, Rory learned how to successfully ride the red minibuses, never to say “no” to the boss, and not to let the bar owners in Lan Kwai Fong see you buying beers at a 7-Eleven. He also co-authored the third edition of National Geographic Traveler: Hong Kong and edited for Zagat’s inaugural guidebook to Hong Kong.

Rory has contributed to newspapers and magazines such as The Boston Globe, The Irish Times, and Time Out. He splits his time between the sweaty streets of Hong Kong and the windswept tundras of Warsaw—reading, writing, and using sinks rather than soup to wash his hands.