I find myself in such a strange place. I don’t mean in terms of where I physically am – I’m back in Otaru, Japan at my house, Satoshi Manor. I mean it’s a strange place to be mentally, emotionally, spiritually. China was such an unexpected joy. I made some great friends in a very short…
It went way too fast. I met great people, had some amazing adventures, and also had my mind blown on more than one occasion. Full disclaimer, my time was spent in Shanghai and it’s a little bit of a bubble world – so the rest of China may be completely different. Shanghai was wonderful. Filled…
People are always surprised by my writing. “It’s so honest!” “Are you always this open?” “It’s refreshing to have someone share their experience without filters.” Those are just a few of the comments I’ve recently heard and I guess I should address them. I’m a spiritual being having a human experience. It’s baffling, exciting, frustrating,…
Let’s start this with a disclaimer. Growing up in Southern California in the 1970s – Disney was a big part of my childhood. You could almost say that Disney defined my childhood. My mom’s first job was working for Walt Disney at Disneyland. She was one of the original mermaids in the Disneyland lagoon. My…
The tricky part of traveling with my eleven-year-old daughter is finding ways to make it fun for both of us. I wasn’t going to keep us in the Narita Airport Crowne Plaza longer than I had to, so I’d booked us into Annex Katsutaro Ryokan in the old Nippori and Yanaka section of Arakawa City…
I love Japan. I’ve only spent a little bit of time here – but in that short period, I’ve learned that it offers everything I want from a place. The landscapes, the cities, the food, the people and culture, the technology, and much more. I’ve said it before – if Japan were the first country…
This trip went way better than any of my previous. There was only one thing I brought with me that I didn’t use – a Hawaiian print shirt that I just didn’t really want to wear outside of Hawaii – so I just carried it around the world. Other than that, everything I brought got…
The trip was far too short but the fact of the matter is, it was longer and further than most people will ever travel. I circumnavigated the globe in 42 days – leaving Hawaii for Australia, then Bali in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Morocco, France, Iceland, New York City and now back to…
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in New York City – wait, let me take that back. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Manhattan. I’m not sure why it was always Manhattan except maybe I didn’t know any better. I ventured to Queens a couple of times, up to Harlem once, never…
There has been so much that I’ve learned on this trip around the world – I simply can’t get into it yet (later posts I will) – but coming back to America feels (and is) like the beginning of the end of this trip. I’m happy that the last stop is New York City in…