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Kansai Bound!

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

 

Yesterday was a wake up call.  I think I’ve seen enough shrines, temples and historical artifacts from Japan.  Sightseeing is wearing a bit thin, but every experience with the current culture has been most exciting and has appealed to me most.  Every day that passes, my visa expiration inches closer and I still haven’t been to Kansai to see the famed cultural heart of Japan.  So I decided to say goodbye to Nagoya.  It has been an extremely friendly and welcoming city, but I’ll just have to come back someday when I have more time.    [read on]

Funny thing happened on the way to Kansai…

Monday, June 11th, 2007

…I never made it!    [read on]

On the road again!

Friday, May 25th, 2007

Today is the first day I start my true travels through Japan.  The time I spent at the Solar Cafe in Narusawa was an exciting experience and provided a different type of life than I’ve been used to, but it was too easy to make myself at home.  By the time I left I had friends that were like family, 2 pet dogs and a rooster, a bed of my own, a favorite grocery store, a bike and even an SUV at my disposal (not to mention an office with a great view).  Strapping on my daypack and taking weekend trips to Tokyo was exciting, but not much different from short hops to NYC or Phila back home.  I never really felt like much of a vagabond… but that is all changing.  Now I leave to begin my nomadic lifestyle.  For the next six weeks left of my visa, I’m backpacking and hitchhiking south west through Japan bound for South Korea.    [read on]

Konjaku: Past and Present

Tuesday, May 15th, 2007

As much as I enjoyed the last night and day in Tokyo, it was mostly just great conversations with good friends.  There is not much to tell that would captivate your attention other than Nabe and I making plans to play music when I come back to town, and a last minute lunch with Mihye (the Korean girl who introduced herself as Michelle last time I was in Tokyo).  I really wish I could’ve stayed a little longer, but I have work to finish on the farm before starting my true travels through Japan.   [read on]

Truck Surfing and Leaf Eating

Monday, May 7th, 2007

At 9am on Monday I’d normally be waking up for a day of work on the farm. Fortunately, due to the massive recovery wake from this weekend’s festivities I arose for something entirely different. Jake let Adam and I have the day off so we could attend a vegetarian BBQ in the nearby town of Kofu. The only difficulty was that we had to find a way there. It was way too far to consider walking, and everybody else from the café with a car was still recuperating.

Luckily, the people who invited us, Marcel and Chris were kind enough to drive the two hour round trip to pick us up. The only catch was that Marcel drives a typical Japanese miniaturized pick up truck and we would have to ride in the back. Speeding around in the cab of one of these coffins on wheels is a terrifying experience by itself, but “surfing” in the back of one through the winding curves of the mountains is an absolute adrenaline rush!! [read on]

Farm Life: Q&A

Monday, April 30th, 2007

So… about farm life in Japan! A lot of people have been asking what I’d be doing here, and up until this week I really had no idea. Let me start by answering some of the more common questions. [read on]

SAT 4.21.07 – Typical day in the life of an independent traveler

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

Disclaimer: Today’s entry is not a witty story recalling any humorous anecdote. There were no major attractions visited. There were no photos of the weird or beautiful taken. Rather, the following is an account of the type of events that occur during daily life when you break away from the corporate mold and begin to experience the world day by day. For anybody who is too nervous adventure away from their homes, I hope this will serve as insight that everything eventually works out… sometimes better than you could ever have planned.

[read on]

Welcome to the Earth Embassy!

Wednesday, April 18th, 2007

After two hours of bus transport, I found myself the sole passenger dropped off on the side of a two lane highway in the middle of the woods. It was late and the day’s light was beginning to fade. I literally walked through a cloud, following vague directions towards the farm. Through the heavy snowfall I spotted a few signs in English… Solar Café… Closed!?!? The last bus of the day had long since sped off, and feared the worst: stranded in a foreign country’s wilderness with no shelter as frozen water fell and accumulated. [read on]

Time Travel

Wednesday, April 18th, 2007

Monday, April 16th I boarded a flight in LAX bound for Narita airport in Tokyo. It was the most impressive plane I ever encountered. There were individual LCD screens in each seat offering a wide selection of programs, movies and radio stations. While that’s not so unusual, the remote control/video game controller and fax/internet hookup in the armrest seemed a little over the top.

Somewhere during the flight we crossed the International Date Line and jumped forward a day in the future. I’m still pondering the mechanics of this, but I believe that if I continue east around the world I’m technically a day younger than everybody else. How does that work? Anybody?!? Maybe Ponce de Leon was right searching eastward for the fountain of youth!

City of Angels

Monday, April 16th, 2007

 

Three days until Japan.  The anticipation is building at an incredible pace!!  This will definitely be the most exotic country I’ve been to so far, and it’s hard to take my mind off of the impending journey.  However, there have been plenty of wonderful distractions to occupy me here in California.   [read on]