Fellow
Current Country
Japan 🇯🇵
Current City
Fukui
What have you been going through and experiencing?
I started the month visitng a very dear UWC friend in Florence. I launched into my travels mid month, spending two weeks in the Tokyo area. There, I mostly walked around the city and took in everything around me. I went to the mountains and then stayed at a friend's house
March 4, 2026
Intuition
Cultivating inner knowing
A question currently animating me about the inner life/spirit is:
How can I be my true Self while in relationship with society?
March 4, 2026
A question currently animating me about the outer world/universe/multiverse is:
How can I create genuine and kind connections with others?
March 4, 2026
The practices I’m finding most helpful at the moment are:
Other
March 4, 2026
A moment I noticed my inner light kindled this month was:
Through many interactions with strangers, I made friends and connected sporadically with people. Those interactions brought me many smiles and a surge of energy in my body. They made me more happy about my role in this world.
March 4, 2026
A moment I noticed my inner light dwindled this month was:
When visiting my friend, I noticed and lived how un-animating her university experience was. I lived how far our paths have drifted apart, and felt like I had lost my connection to her. This was a hard experience that made me quite sad.
March 4, 2026
Courage
Aligning action
Assumptions I'm examining right now are:
Other
March 4, 2026
I originally assumed:
I used to feel like I was very shy and not too outgoing in everyday situations. That if I did strange things, people around me would judge me, and that I cared about their judgement.
March 4, 2026
These assumptions are changing:
Now I have experienced kind connection coming out of the simple fact that we are all human. I have pushed myself to seek that, and found so much of it. Now I see that we are not alone if we don't want to be. It just takes a small leap of faith many times.
March 4, 2026
A moment I stepped out of my comfort zone this month was:
While waiting in line, I gathered enough courage to strike a conversation in Japanese with a woman that was behind me. While my level and understanding didn't allow for much, she seemed happy to talk to me and we shared a couple smiles.
March 4, 2026
Compassion
Engaged Empathy
Something that is helping me build trusting relationships here is:
March 4, 2026
Digital Detox Retreat
14
Being intentionally away from technology and distractions has taught me:
I've learned about the magic of living a mundane life. The pleasure of slowing down to the natural rhythms of your body. I've learned of the teachings of silence, and the beauty of stillness.
October 31, 2025
Gratitude
Peers I'm grateful for:
Wendelien van der Schaar
Thank you so much for hooking me up to your crazy host family. You've been a great support when dealing with Japan as a country and I'm very excited for these 3 weeks together. Thank you for helping me shape my plans and being so kind.
March 4, 2026
Teo Esteban Oppenheimer
Gracias por el frescor y humor que traes cada vez que hablamos. Se te hecha de menos en las sesiones. Espero que nos veamos en algun momento este term, tengo muchas ganas de unas cuantas aventuras contigo!
February 3, 2026
Ivisson Souza Ribeiro
Ivis, you are so alive. Thank you for pouring your aliveness into the gathering and making it such a beautiful experience. It brought me a lot of joy to see you dancing, laughing, organizing. Thank you so much for your effort and love.
January 5, 2026
Mariana Mejía Luis Juan
Me encanto conectar contigo durante la reunion en Brasil. Gracias por tu vulnerabilidad en las conversaciones, hiciste la discusion mas real. Gracias por todas las risas y por ser tan amable!
January 5, 2026
Meirav Roisman
Yo! It's been a great month connecting through movies. I'm very grateful that you've started this because I think it's what we need to build more bonds and more community. Can't wait to discuss some more bangers with you!!
December 1, 2025
Zeiad Ahmed
I'm very happy to have talked to you more this month!! Our conversations were fun and helped me reflect on my experience and get excited about my next travel! You're a cool guy. Let's keep calling from time to time.
October 31, 2025
Marta Näripä
Every time I see a new post by you, I know something in my mind is going to shift. I appreciate a lot your calm and reflective presence, always ready to present a whole different perspective on life.
October 7, 2025
Naomi Løvstad Wettstein
I'm so grateful for our calls and destiny uniting us in Lima! You're being a really good support in planning my travels but knowing that I'll have a safe landing zone. Thank you for texting so much and generally being so supportive. I'll see you in Lima soon!
September 2, 2025
Douglas Teixeira de Queiroz Santos
Our conversation was so fun!!! I connected immediately with you and I can't wait to have more and keep learning from you.
July 30, 2025
Peers who have expressed gratitude for me:
Nana Adwoa Agyemang
I've had such amazing and thoughtful conversations with you this semester and I'm so excited to see what the next one brings :)
December 31, 2025
Teo Esteban Oppenheimer
Gallo! Me encanta poder hablar sobre las sessiones contigo, ganas de saber mas sobre tus viajes!
December 1, 2025
Zeiad Ahmed
MY ABSOLUTE GOAT!!! Thank you for being so friendly and open all the time, just genuinely good vibes. I am so happy I am getting to know you <3
November 1, 2025
Ivisson Souza Ribeiro
Tristan, you're a source of wisdom and compassion. I'm grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with you on behalf of education. I see good intentions and joy whenever you take the time to share.
September 14, 2025
John Makuei Bath Madut
Thank you, Tristan, for your thoughtful provocations and philosophical questions. They challenge me to think more deeply and to see ideas from new angles.
September 5, 2025
Douglas Teixeira de Queiroz Santos
Our calls are always highlights of my week. Thank you for making me laugh and helping me debrief my thoughts about the session or just about life in general. I always appreciate your honesty in the contributions you give the session as well. All the best buddy!
August 31, 2025
Jacey Hilburn
Thank you for asking such interesting and philosophical questions in our group meetings! They always make our sessions more enjoyable and insightful.
August 1, 2025
Naomi Løvstad Wettstein
By chance we got to meet in Madrid during the first week of FS. It grounded me, and Tristans energy and initiatives has inspired me along this first month. Our meeting gave me a big insight to him as a person and made me wish I could have this with everyone, in person.
July 24, 2025
Magical Moments
In awe of life
Madrid
•
Jan 29, 2026
As I came out of the metro to meet up with my friends, the sky was on fire. What an amazing sunset. I just stood there, accompanied by my friends, in awe at the beauty of the world.
Conveniently, we went to watch Spirited Away in the cinema right after that. Those who have watched it know that it just leaves you feeling like a weird being in a extremely beautiful and bizarre world. It was an afternoon of admiring the world accompanied by the people I love.
Community in Dance
Siracusa
•
Dec 29, 2025
Breakdancing is magical. I was visiting Siracusa with my family. After a long and exhausting day of aimlessly walking around the city, we saw some people setting up instruments on the side of the street. A concert! When we came back after dinner, it turned out to be a breakdance tournament!!! In the streets, for free. Wowowow. Not only did they dance amazingly, but I could see the community was very tight. Everyone greeting everybody, all laughs and having fun. As an outsider, I was jealous and amazed. So much so that I forgot to take videos of the dancing. It was a little haven of community and love in a touristy town.
Be one with the Rain
Pueblo Pardo
•
Nov 9, 2025
During one of the many thunderstorms while I was in the jungle, I asked myself "why not be the rain?". And so I put on my swim pants and just headed out.
Feeling the rain on my skin, all the jungle noises combined with those of the water droplets, the thunder far away. In my head this had combined with another moment when I went out to the jungle at night and just blended into the darkness. The moon, the trees, the noise. It surrounded me until I forgot I was me. I became one with the jungle.
The combination of these two moments made for an even more magical moment.
Impromptu Quechua classes
Huaraz
•
Sep 19, 2025
I decided to sit down at the Plaza de Armas in Huaraz and just watch. That's when I met Victor and Mary, his niece. They were really happy to talk with me and me with them. Victor taught me some Quechua, and we shared lots of laughs as I struggled to pronounce correctly. I even learnt my first Quechua swearword! It was a magical moment filled with laughter and love.
Art Is Magic
Pueblo Pardo
•
Oct 30, 2025
Art is magic!!! Magic is art!!!
Through a conversation with my host on the nature of imagination and art, this realization hit me. "Is magic real?" was one of the questions I considered of claiming as my animating question at the beginning of my Launch Year. And the universe has told me the answer! It gave me the chills.