There is a particular kind of thinking that only happens on foot, in an unfamiliar city, with no agenda.

The mind stops optimising. It starts noticing — the texture of a building facade, the rhythm of a street market, the way light moves differently here than at home.

I have found that my clearest architectural thinking often happens not at a desk, but somewhere between a coffee shop in Lisbon and a harbour wall in Porto. The distance from the problem creates the perspective the problem requires.

Travelling slowly — staying long enough to become briefly local — is one of the most underrated forms of professional development.

It teaches patience, adaptability, and the quiet confidence that most problems, given enough time and the right vantage point, resolve themselves.