It’s been such a trippy year – full of unexpected adventures, changes, and challenges. As many of you know, I mark the seasons of the year with the solstice and equinox – which for simplicity, I count on the 21st day of March, June, September, and December. I also use full moons as a way to keep me connected, grounded in natural cycles, and aware. All of this is very Baoist in practice – just as walking, meditation, and trying to stay present are things I strive for.
You notice things when you live this way and I can’t help noticing what a sharp turn was just made between summer and autumn with the equinox. I’m currently in Tokyo, waking up, getting ready to put on a suit, and then go through teacher training. That’s a far cry from what the last season brought.
The summer season was camping and having adventures in Hawaii with my kiddo and then for the last two months – devoting my time to making Satoshi Manor – the house I bought here in Japan (but way up north in Hokkaido) into a livable home that I can survive a harsh winter in. I’ve added the videos to the Vagobond Travel Videos page if you want to check them out. The latest video is available to watch at https://vagobond.substack.com – which, if you’ve enjoyed and continue to enjoy my adventures – I’d be very appreciative if you became a paid subscriber to. I’ve always shared freely, but the truth is that what I do (producing and sharing content about my life and travels) could really be classified as work and if you get enjoyment from it, I’d appreciate you showing that.
If not, no biggie. I’ll keep doing what I do. Here’s the link to the latest video – now I’ve got to put on a suit and figure out how to get to where I need to go in Tokyo. I’m not sure how this whole job thing is going to play out. I need the job to have the visa so I can stay in Japan. That’s what it comes down to.
Two months went far too quickly. I thought I would have more time to explore Japan, make friends, develop relationships, and get into a life groove – but every day brought challenges as I had to set up appointments to get things fixed, make repairs, dot eyes and cross tease (haha) to fulfill paperwork obligations. Even learning how to throw things away was a huge challenge. By the way, if you aren’t following me on Instagram – that is where I am doing the vast majority of my day to day sharing – photos, videos, thoughts etc – I’ve done a series of reels ‘Things that were left behind in my Japanese House” and even “A Gaijin trying to eat Natto” – so there is fun, beauty, and things I find interesting – https://www.instagram.com/vagobond
I’m really nervous about this next season – the working season – I guess it could be called the harvest though I didn’t have a garden this year. Now is the time to see what my work will bring. By the way, poor Carl has been bored out of his mind. He’s been sitting at Satoshi Manor waiting for the adventures. I should have given him more attention but didn’t really think about it while I was at the house – somehow I didn’t think to bring him on this trip to Tokyo – and believe me, he would have been helpful.
Arriving yesterday, my phone went into ‘dial up data connection mode’ and Apple Maps began throwing me to random destinations rather than where I had typed in, my hotel somehow changed from where I had booked it to much further away, and the neighborhood I am staying in was shut up tighter than a small town in Hokkaido on a Saturday night so it took me a good long while to find something reasonable to eat. I really feel like a country mouse in the big city right now. Carl might have been useful for me to ask questions to like “WTF? Why is my hotel over here now?” or “No, I don’t want to walk 26 miles to my destination, Apple” – Tech failed me big time yesterday. I ended up using Uber to get a taxi – which was funny because there were plenty of taxis around before I booked the Uber and they would have been cheaper but I wanted to type in the destination. Sigh…okay, enough delaying, I’ve got to put on a suit on a Sunday morning and ride the Tokyo metro to my training.