Peaceful Moments – Koko-en Koi
I’m back!
Well, I’m back from my 6 month trip around the world! I saved money for 7 years, quit my job, sold or gave away most everything I own, and for the last 2 months trekked nonstop with a backpack and suitcase. The first 4 months I did short trips to Barcelona, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, visited friends and family I haven’t seen in years in some cases, and took my niece to Cedar Point for a weekend, then went to San Diego and Mexico. After I dropped my cats off with my mom so I could travel nonstop, I went to London (day trip to Stonehenge, Bath, Cotswolds), Edinburgh, Scottish Highlands (including Loch Ness, Isle of Skye, Glencoe), Dublin (day trip to Cliffs of Moher and Galway), Paris, Venice, Rome (day trips to Vatican City, Pompei, Positano), Chiang Mai (including Elephant Nature Park), Krabi (day trip to Phi Phi Islands), Phuket, Bangkok, Tokyo, Kamakura/Enoshi Island, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka (day trips to Nara, Himeji, Hikone), and Iceland (my mom came with me on that one!) There have been a lot of ups and downs, the more important ones as follows:
Pros:
– Reconnected with family, old friends that I haven’t seen in years, and met a lot of fun new people.
– Visited places I’ve always dreamed about, and saw things I’ve always wanted to see while they’re still there.
– Tried new food, new desserts, new drinks…and yet, still lost about 5 inches on my waist probably from walking an average of 7-9 miles per day almost every day. Usually uphill, which I still haven’t figured out the logistics in that. If you go up you’d think you’d have to go down but it always seemed to be uphill!
– Saw new cultures and learned a TON of history including doing some ancestry research in England/Scotland/Ireland.
– Worked things out on my own whenever there was a problem and learned not to have a meltdown about the little things even if I wasn’t happy about it.
– Learned how to walk slower. Everyone in my family power walks everywhere and are masters at weaving through crowds, we also usually inhale our food rather than eat and enjoy it, it’s just the way it has always been. I was walking around Chicago today and for the first time everyone was pushing past ME and I was seeing things I haven’t acknowledge in the 8 years that I’ve lived here. Like, was that restaurant always there? It looks neat, I never noticed it before…
Cons:
– I missed my pets so bad, I can’t wait to see them when I go to my mom’s for the holidays this weekend!
– The sheer volume of tourists is crazy! I’m not complaining, since I am also one of those tourists and I think it’s amazing that the world has gotten to a point where so many people can enjoy it, it was just really surprising. I used to live in Japan 15 years ago so a lot of my stops there were for nostalgia purposes and the number of people in places that had previously been practically unknown was shocking. The main concern I had was about safety, a lot of these places weren’t designed to hold that many people and those mega-tour buses are way too big in a lot of cases (I almost got squished by one!) I used to work at construction sites and we have OSHA in the United States and I think I got a few new gray hairs just from some of the safety related things I’ve seen. I’m also an environmental scientist, so seeing some of the unhygienic things people were doing in some locations made me cringe. Bring a hand towel and hand sanitizer everywhere with you, for real! I would need an entire separate post to explain all of the people, behaviors, and safety issues though. I’m putting this under “cons” but honestly this was one of the most interesting parts of the trip given my profession.
– I get why it’s hard for some people to understand how bad climate change is especially if they don’t travel. It was really sad to see some of the locations because of all the trash and pollution, irregular weather patterns, damaged ecosystems, and changing behaviors of the animals. I already knew a lot about the impacts of the climate crisis, but some places really opened my eyes to how bad it’s truly becoming.
– Blisters. So. Many. Blisters. Even with broken in boots and moleskin and bandages. I’m fairly convinced it’s inevitable.
– The scammers. I managed to avoid them mostly, but one got me in Venice and it was so obvious I had to laugh after I realized it. Rookie mistake!
Anywho, now that I’m back I’m going to spend the holidays with family then decide if I want to be a responsible adult and get back to work, or buy an RV and do an epic 6 month National Park road trip with my cats…
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Japan – Day 25 (Back to America…)
I woke up a bit earlier than usual and after caffeinating myself I pulled everything I’ve accumulated over these past 2 months out of my bags and spread it out on the bed. Then I started to re-wrap and pack things up for the long trip back to the good old U.S.A. I bought more than I had originally planned, but all things considered, I didn’t buy that much. Mostly smaller items. I did have to offload my old shirts and a pair of pants due to weight restrictions, but I’ve lost a little over 4-inches on my waist and the old stuff doesn’t really fit right anymore anyway so it was no big loss. After checking out of the hotel and leaving my bag, I strolled down to the Tokyo Pokémon Center and picked up a few things since I had about 3,500 yen left to get rid of, then got some lunch at the restaurant next to the hotel.
I picked up my bag and walked over to the Narita Express Bus to the airport. My flight wasn’t until 6:20pm, but my anxiety was out of control today for some reason about this flight, so I arrived around 2:30pm and sat at the gate reading my book and scrolling through the endless void that is the internet. It was kind of a sad flight because I really didn’t want to leave Japan, plus my seat wouldn’t recline at all, and my row was one of the few rows that had a middle seat occupied so I couldn’t stretch out. I still managed to nap a little bit during the 14 hour flight, but given the time difference not sleeping isn’t a bad thing. I left at 6:20pm Friday the 6th in Japan, and landed in Chicago at 3:00pm on Friday the 6th so hopefully I’ll sleep well tonight!
Being in Japan all this time really makes me notice just how dirty Chicago is. After getting through customs I went to the bathroom and half the stalls were clogged and backed up with toilet paper and piss, and even the one I picked that wasn’t clogged was still filthy with toilet paper all over. You just don’t see that out east. I went to the taxi stand, and the taxi that pulled up made me glad I got a tetanus shot earlier. His check engine light was on, there was a thick layer of dirt and grime over every surface, rusted metal was visible everywhere the plastic had been damaged, his seats were being held together with duct tape…literally, it was disgusting. In Japan and Thailand the taxi drivers all have new cars and wear suits and driver hats and get out to open the door for you and have umbrellas to keep you dry, the customer service is impeccable. So now in Chicago, I just tried my best to not touch anything…but hey, I’m back even if it’s just for a couple days!
I had left the condo basically empty, so I had to run to the store to get a shower curtain liner, plastic dishes and silverware, some basic toiletries, foods and snacks for the weekend. One good thing about being back is I’ve had my DVR recording all of my shows while I’ve been away, so I have a lot to catch up on! Plus, I’m back where hard cider is a thing so yeeeaaaahhhh! Rick and Morty Season 4 and Redds Wicked Apple!
