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Multi-course business dinner table with a vegetarian dish in the foreground and meat dishes around it

The Dietary Restrictions Conversation Abroad — Without Being That Guy

I once told a host in Riyadh I ‘don’t really eat lamb’ twenty minutes before a lamb feast he’d planned in my honor. Here’s…
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Open foreign-language menu in a warmly lit restaurant with a wine glass and plate setting in the foreground

What to Order When You Have No Idea What’s on the Menu (Survival Plays)

I once pointed at the third item from the top in a Bangkok menu and got something I still can’t describe. Here’s the system…
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Open wallet with mixed banknotes on a dinner table next to a leather check folder with a bill

Tipping Around the World: 7 Times I Tipped Wrong and Embarrassed Myself

I tipped a Tokyo waiter and watched him chase me down the street. I tipped a Roman taxi driver too much and got a…
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Korean BBQ table at night with soju glasses raised in a toast and smoke rising from the grill

The Business Dinner Drinking Game: How I Stopped Going Home Drunk in Seoul

Three soju toasts in, my Korean host poured a fourth and watched my face. I’d been ambushing my own liver for years. Here’s how…
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Western businessman across a meeting table from two Asian counterparts in a polite but ambiguous moment

When ‘Yes’ Doesn’t Mean Yes: Reading Asian Business Communication Without Embarrassing Yourself

A Vietnamese customer told me yes for six weeks. They were never going to sign. After a decade of these mistakes, here’s how I…
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Open leather business card case on a polished meeting room table with neatly stacked cards

Business Card Etiquette Around the World (Why I Now Carry a Card Case)

I tossed a business card across a table in Singapore. Six months later I was still trying to recover the relationship. Here’s the country-by-country…
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Notebook with handwritten country etiquette notes next to a passport, fountain pen, and coffee cup on a wooden desk

How to Not Insult Anyone in Your First 10 Minutes Abroad: A Country-by-Country Cheat Sheet

Ten minutes is enough to lose the room. After a decade of international business trips and a hundred small mistakes, here’s the country-by-country cheat…
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Two businesspeople bowing slightly while exchanging business cards in a Tokyo conference room with the city skyline in the background

The Handshake That Almost Cost Me a Deal in Tokyo

I shook hands too firmly, sat in the wrong seat, and slid a business card across the table like it was a poker chip….
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Business traveler in a hotel lobby at night holding a phone with a booking confirmation while a receptionist looks at a computer

Why I Stopped Booking Through the Cheapest Travel Site (And What I Use Instead)

I once saved $40 with a third-party booking site. It cost me three hours, a marriage argument, and a customer dinner I missed. Here’s…
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Calm bedroom the night before a business trip with carry-on bag, passport, charging cables, and a folded suit jacket

The 24-Hour Pre-Flight Checklist a Grumpy Dad Runs Before Every Work Trip

I forgot my passport once. Now I run the same 24-hour checklist before every work trip — and the 4 AM panic is gone….
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