vagabonding

There are 4 posts tagged vagabonding.

My future self would point at Latin America

This post will answer the prompts 21 (Future Self) and 22 (Travel)  of Reverb10. Join us and reflect on your year 2010…

Something about Reverb10

Before answering Prompts 21 and 22, I want to make a quick note about Reverb10. In short, it’s been helpful for me to reflect on my year 2010 and to prepare for the new year. I can’t quite figure out what’s behind the order of the prompts, but I do feel there’s a significant pattern and how they are put together helps me significantly. You don’t need to publish your answers on the web, but you can simply take a look at the prompt page of Reverb10 and answer the prompts in your free time. I believe it will be valuable to take some pause and make some reflections about your life.

Prompt 21: Future Self

Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)

(Author: Jenny Blake)

What advice would my future self give to my current self for the year 2011 (apart from this advice)?

  • Keep evolving and keep rocking.
  • Believe in yourself and show up.
  • Chase dreams and follow your heart.
  • Do what makes you feel alive and nothing else.
  • Bring that punk rock attitude back in you.
  • Do travel to Latin America.
  • You are ready to bloom in 2011.

What would I tell my younger self? As I think about it, I’d probably tell him the almost same things as above. If I were to tell my 80 year old self something, I would tell these things, too. How simple. But I believe my 80 year old self wouldn’t need my current self to tell those things to him, because he would be a kick-ass, punk rock man still chasing his dreams.

Prompt 22: Travel

How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year?

(Author: Tara Hunt)

{Future Tool: New Year’s Goal Questions for No-Goals Creatives from Jeffrey Davis. For the next 10 days as you round out your year, we’ll share one tool each day to help you plan your year ahead.}

Although I didn’t travel much this year, when I did travel, it was always great.

But I will travel more next year. In the previous post, I wrote that I’d go to Buenos Aires. Earlier today, it occurred to me that I could go there via the USA. If I compared a flight from Tokyo to Buenos Aires with a flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, the latter would be much cheaper. The same result would hold if I compared a Tokyo to Los Angeles ticket with a round the world ticket.

So, I thought, instead of saving money to buy a round the world ticket, which would cost me about $4000 for the cheapest option, I could simply fly to the US, start heading south by land (whatever that means), and aim to get to Buenos Aires at some stage. This may sound counter-intuitive, but I’d probably save more being on the road to Buenos Aires than living in Japan anyway, provided that I have a location independent source of income, which I kind of do, although it’s not in its ideal state yet. Not only saving money, but also I’ll get great experiences on the road as well. So, why not heading south?

Now… when would be the best time to do it? Oh wait… I will happen to fly to the USA in June for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championship and for World Domination Summit. World Domination Summit would be a great start for this trip.

So.

Yes.

I’ve decided to start a trip from Portland and to head towards Buenos Aires in June 2011.

What’s great about making this choice and letting people know about this plan is that I have a greater focus on what to do. I’m really excited and happy about this choice. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I’ll work on making it happen.

Am I simplistic? Yes, perhaps. But I don’t think it’s necessary to make things difficult when they can be nice and simple.

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What’s your thoughts on these prompts? Tell me, because I’m curious. If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with your friends by clicking the like button or the tweet button below. You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or e-mail, too. I’m looking forward to connecting with you!

Photo: Tambako the Jaguar

In search of a nomad cafe

An interesting concept came to my mind during a conversation with a great friend of mine: a nomad cafe. Given how unconventional people operate in the world, I wouldn’t be surprised that there be a vagabonding soul that does what I will describe in the following. I would love to know if there’s such a person. If there is, please let me know.

So, here’s what a nomad cafe involves. Let’s say you run a nomad cafe. What that means is simple: you have cooking skills, you love traveling, you enjoy cooking for other people, and there are people who are willing to have a cafe experience with you. You advertise yourself on your website or other similar platforms and let people know that where you are going to run a nomad cafe next time. People who like to have a cafe experience with you respond to you–some might have a kitchen they can let you use, some might have ingredients they can offer you, or others might simply be happy to pay you for the food and experiences you provide.

This person might sound like a couchsurfer with cooking skills, and essentially, that’s correct. I would add and emphasize social media skills to that description though.

Do you know of anyone that fits the description above? Since I’m interested in becoming a vagabond and traveling around the world, I’m curious about this way of exploring and connecting with the world.

I guess it would be a fun way to fund a travel as you go as well as a great way to make great connections with local people. Food bonds us together.

photo: kamshots

Nobody told you to do it: Climbing Mt. Fuji on a rainy day

I climbed Mt. Fuji on 14th of July. The weather condition was awful, although it wasn’t as bad as I expected, to be honest. How bad did I expect it to be? To the extent that it was impossible to climb Mt. Fuji. It was barely climbable. My friend Ashley, a Butoh dancer extraordinaire, climbed the mountain with me and she wrote about her experiences on her blog. Do read her post on Mt. Fuji as well.

We caught a bus from Kawaguchi-ko Station at 7.20 am. When we were at Kawaguchi-ko Station, the weather seemed fine and we thought we might be able to climb Mt. Fuji on a good weather condition. But it was soon proven to be mistaken. When we got to 5th Station of Mt. Fuji around 8.15 am, it was raining hard up in the middle of the mountain. We spent a little while to get used to the quick change of the altitude, and then took off around 8.40 am.

As we walked on, the weather got worse. The rain was hitting us hard. The wind was malicious. The fog was painting the scene completely white.

Our pace was quite fast. We did have some rest, but never a substantial break. It was so cold that stopping to have a rest meant cooling down your body under that circumstance. So, the best way to keep us warm and sane was to keep marching on. I think it took us only 5 hours to get to the top of Mt. Fuji, while it is estimated to take more than 6 hours to get there.

The whole experience reminded me of what I have been learning and getting more aware of this year.

Since I expected the weather to be bad, my intention was simply to keep going as far as possible. All I cared was to take one step further and I didn’t really worry about getting to the top of the mountain. What’s great is that these small steps did get me to the top and back to 5th Station. What can I do to make my life more creative, romantic, and awesome? Know where I’m heading and take small steps towards it every day. It’s just like climbing Mt. Fuji.

By the way, the real top – the highest point of Mt. Fuji wasn’t reachable due to the bad weather. The view from the top was completely white and otherworldly. There was nothing magnificent of the kind you see in photos of Mt. Fuji. But that freaky view was made beautiful thanks to all the steps I took and the experiences of getting soaked and frozen as if my body was washed and left on a snowy field before leaving this world.

Nobody told us to do it. We chose to climb Mt. Fuji on that day, and the weather happened to be terrible. You can’t control the weather, unfortunately. But you can make a choice. My choice was to take small steps. This whole process was so moving that I almost cried for joy at some points. I made a promise to Ashley that I would keep smiling for the whole way, and apart from those moments, I did keep that promise.

We got out of the top of Mt. Fuji as soon as we got there. For descending, it took us less than 3 hours, I believe. We managed to catch the 4.55 pm bus from 5th Station to Kawaguchi-ko Station.

Would I do it again? Perhaps not any soon, but yes, I would. On a sunny day.

Anecdote:
I brought my iPhone with me, intending to tweet about this climb. However, since I didn’t stop much and couldn’t be bothered tweeting, I put it in my backpack, covering it in a plastic bag. But it escaped from the bag. It was stuck somewhere in the backpack, with nothing to protect it from water. So, naturally, it got all wet. When I noticed that after coming back to 5th Station, it was too late and my iPhone didn’t work at all. I tried this method to resurrect my iPhone and it worked! Make sure you protect your iPhone from water and if it gets soaked, try the rice method. I can’t guarantee that it will work for you, but it did work for me. It’s worth a try.

Two free&beautiful spirits I met in Harajuku, Tokyo (Day 23)

On a beautiful Tuesday evening, I met Maude and Chales in Harajuku, Tokyo. Charles was playing the accordion and Maude was selling handmade accessories there. At first, I walked past them. But a few seconds later, I wondered who they were. I got curious about them.

I decided to come back and talked with Maude. She told me about herself and what they were up to–travelling around the world. I think the conventional way is this: you spend your whole life earning enough money to travel around the world when you get retired. Or, perhaps it doesn’t have to be your whole life, but you earn enough money and plan your trip ahead and all those things.

For Maude and Charles, all they needed was a one way ticket to Japan, because they’re determined to make money on the go, by busking, teaching French, or whatever that comes to them.

I loved talking with both of them and it was inspiring to listen to them. I’m glad I stopped to talk with them in this concrete jungle where most people are supposed to be busy with being busy and don’t stop at all to enjoy beautiful moments.

They were so cool that I had to record an interview with them and to share it with you all. They kindly agreed with that idea.

So, here’s my interview video with Maude.

I love what she had to say about “trusting your life”. I don’t know about you, but it resonated with me very much.

By the way, I noticed that a guy in the background wears a T-shirt that says “DEATH”. How funny, given that we were talking about life. Of course, death is an inseparable from the notion of life, but I’m rather amused by his T-shirt. Or should it be classified as one of those absurd moments that are supposed to be mentioned on this blog?

What did you think about Maude’s story? Oh, by the way, if you happen to see them outthere in the world, do talk and be nice to them!