it’s about getting back on the wagon, right? i’m getting good at that bit at least.
it’s been around 5 years since i started this blog. i eventually took it down because squarespace is so expensive… but i have rebuilt it using wordpress… which took… a bit of time. but i will say, it was fun!
looking back at the content i had put up, i must admit, there were a couple of cool things… but consistency was not one of them…
so we’re trying again!
but i am taking the pressure off, yet again. the goal is to do something with regards to this site every day. even something as simple as logging in counts.
my dream? by the end of the year, i want to be able to say with confidence that i maintained a blog.
i am still in Japan, but in a new job and i’ve moved twice since my last post.
to be fair to myself, i have been busy with work, travels and friends… but one of the main reasons for reviving this blog is to focus on me.
the idea is for this to be like an old school tumblr account. a stream of things from me.
it’s the inaugural post. this post will go down in history as the turning point in travel literature. you are witnessing it here. today (or whenever you read this) on this blog.
i am sure there is someone who has been making public maps like this for ages. and to them all i can say is: you are the true pioneer. i salute thee, fellow like minded adventurer. together we shall bring upon the internet a new era of travelology.
i talk about this at great length in my previous post here.
part 2: onomichi centre
after my bike ride and the next day, i mainly explored central onomichi.
i visited the vast majority of the points in onomichi in this time.
make sure you check the opening hours because some shops are closed midweek.
i had a lengthy conversation with the person who runs the cafe in the renovated independent shop complex. they gave me the vast majority of pins in the city. all the independent stores were basically their recommendation. i am extremely grateful we had that conversation. it was very informative!
i travelled the whole town on foot, except for riding down the ropeway once.
it is best know for being a picturesque port town. apparently there is a town in the studio ghibli film “Ponyo on the Cliff” which was modelled after tomonoura.
the easiest way to get there is to hop on the train from Onomichi to Fukuyama. outside the south exit you get on a bus that takes you directly to Tomonoura. the train and the bus both take IC cards (Suica/Pasmo/etc.) so you don’t have to deal with buying tickets. for the bus, tap when you get on (at the rear) and tap when you get off (at the front).
you can traverse the whole town on foot.
part 4: seto inland sea
i rented a car from the Toyota shop in Shin-Onomichi. i walked there. it was around 30 minutes. but i am sure you can take a bus.
this was perhaps my busiest day.
i started in Oshima (the island just before mainland ehime) where the three small museums were. i don’t really recommend these museums though. they are very small and have no english explanations.
next i went to the shrine with the weapons museum.
then i hit Rabbit Island from Sakari port (instead of Tadanoumi). i left the car in the car park and rented a bike on the island. i spent 1h30m on the island. it was a little bit tight. while there isn’t much to do. it was fun to cruise around.
after that i rushed to get to Kousanji, which is a colourful temple with a large marble obelisk feature.
it was approaching 5pm so i was unable to make it to the Hirayama Ikuo museum before closing.
i then returned back to Onomichi.
this concluded my journey around seto inland sea and onomichi.
and that was about it
if you want to know more about each of the places, i have written small snippets in each of the pins on the map.
please remember. this is not a travel blog post about my personal experiences. because who cares about those? go to onomichi for yourself and make your own memories. it’s a very unique town with a unique vibe. i am sure most people will be able to feel its unique energy. so i highly recommend you consider it a stop in your japan travels.
i just hope the combination of the map and this blog entry give you an idea of how i structured my trip, and give you ideas on how to structure yours.
okay. that’s me done.
don’t forget to have the map handy when you go and i hope you enjoy your onomichi trip!
so you want to ride the Shimanami Kaido? here’s my story. hopefully it’s useful to you.
why did i decide to do it?
well. i read a manga. it’s called Shimanami Tasogareor Our Dreams at Dusk.
it’s an excellent piece of queer writing by a queer person. i highly recommend.
it’s set in Onomichi, Hiroshima in Japan.
the art is fantastic and painted the city in such an intriguing light that i felt the need to experience the atmosphere for myself. especially since the summer was coming up.
a relaxing time walking amongst the quaint alleys on the side of a hill, meandering through shrine grounds and looking out to the sea.
“eh??? you’re going to ONOMICHI???? you HAVE to cycle the Shimanami Kaido” my friend shrieks. well. as much shrieking as you can do through messenger messages.
what.
i gotta exercise? on HOLIDAY?
any normal person would have said “no, i don’t want to”. but you see, what i heard in their words was nothing other than provocation. i heard “what, you can’t even cycle the Shimanami Kaido? why would you even think you deserve to visit Onomichi?”.
so. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!*
planning my trip
what did i want to do
i wanted to cycle the whole thing, the full 70km. i wanted. no. i needed the glory.
i was only interested in doing it one way.
i know it is a scenic route and there are many sightseeing spots, but i know me. there is no way i would be able to focus on 70km AND worry about hitting observation points. therefore. i would do NO sightseeing on my ride. i planned that for later in my holiday. this would be a pure ride.
since it was just a pure ride. i was going to one shot it and get it out of the way.
what was i going to do
i needed to decide where to base myself at the start of the ride. ultimately this was an onomichi trip, so i want to spend time there. so i had a few options:
base myself in onomichi (hiroshima), ride the route and then get the bus back
✅ already in onomichi and don’t have to carry my stuff
❌ i would have to make sure i had enough time to get the bus back. i also didn’t like the idea of “doubling up” on the route especially since i was going to visit it again later in the week
base myself in imabari (ehime), send my stuff via sagawa ahead of myself to onomichi, and collect it when i arrived in onomichi
✅ would only cross the route once in a day and wouldn’t have to carry my stuff
❌ expensive?
base myself in imabari (ehime), carry all my stuff on my back and ride to onomichi
✅ would only cross the route once in a day
❌ carrying my stuff would be PAINFUL
i read in another blog that doing the route from Ehime to Hiroshima is mildly better because the biggest inclines are in ehime. that gave me the confidence to strike 1 from the list.
then it was just between carrying my stuff or not. and. for glory. you know there was only one answer. bye bye 2.
so the route was set. i was going to get to the start point in imabari and cycle to onomichi. this worked out because i wanted to do this ride at the very start of my trip. i did not want my meandering through the quaint port town to be shrouded in “I AM GOING TO CYCLE HOW MANY KILOMETRES ALONE?”.
what did i have to book?
accommodation
in ehime the closest bike rental spot to the first bridge is a hotel called Sunrise Itoyama.
the plan was to stay there the night before the ride. wake up early and hit the road.
the english webpage does a decent job at explaining the basics of the facilities.
if you want to book quickly, phone is your best bet. they do not speak english, so try to find someone who has even a rudimentary understanding of japanese. they probably expect a decent amount of non-japanese speakers, so you can muddle your way through throwing the date of your stay, number of people, name, address and telephone number at them. well. that’s what i did anyway.
you pay at the hotel. so you don’t have to worry about payments over the phone.
in hiroshima, i cared about onomichi, so i just stayed in an airbnb near the base of the ropeway. the city is not that large. it’s easy to walk across. staying anywhere in central is fine.
bike rental
Sunrise Itoyama is a bike rental terminal. there are many scattered along the route. the final bike terminal is in onomichi, right by the main port.
you can drop your bike off at any of these terminals. this gave me a sense of security in case i was unable to complete the ride.
if you return your bike to a different bike terminal you will not get your deposit back.
be careful with electric bikes, they have different rules for rental period and drop-off locations.
i went with a “cross bike”. i am not sure what it is. but this blog (thanks again!) said to get it. so i did.
i booked the bike along with the room. you might want to do this if it’s peak season because the bikes go quickly.
transport
this was a very last minute trip. i mean. like. i was booking on sunday for my ride on tuesday. so it was not done with saving money in mind. a cheaper route for me would have been to fly into matsuyama airport and get to imabari from there. but the flight times were annoying. and i was lazy. so shinkansen it was.
if you have a japan railpass because you do not live in japan. feel free to laugh at me here. else. yes. i spent like ¥20,000 on trains one way. it involved changing at Okayama and then taking a limited express to Imabari and then a local train to Hashihama, which is walking distance to the hotel. well. it’s not the closest walk. but it is walkable.
i bought my tickets from the machines at each of the stations. you can pop the machines into english. so that was simple enough.
car rental
i wanted to explore the islands later in my trip, so i rented a car. it cost me around ¥7150 for the day. i actually did this while i was in onomichi, but for a busy season you might want to consider doing this in advance. i rented from Toyota. specifically their shop in Shin-Onomichi, which is like a 30 minute walk from Central Onomichi.
the walk to Sunrise Itoyama was slightly longer than i thought it would be. and it rained on me. but i had an umbrella so it was cool.
the hotel was actually pretty decent. the room had a toilet and sink but no shower/bath. there are communal baths. but this is pretty common so no big deal.
there is a restaurant. while i did not have the dinner. i did have the breakfast. it was japanese style. they only had japanese style. but you know. it was good and it fuelled me for the whole ride.
in the morning, picking up the bike was super simple. signed some stuff. they handed me a bike and a helmet. and i was off.
the ride
the bike rental place opens at 8am. and i was there at 8am.
by 8:11am. i was already on the first bridge.
the route is extremely simple to follow. follow the blue line. BUT. also follow the blue lines specifically for “onomichi”. on some of the islands there are “island explorer” routes. i was not about that business. i wanted onomichi. so i just looked for wherever it said Onomichi or 尾道. learning the kanji is a good idea just in case.
i actually have nothing much to say about the ride. it is a good ride.
if you are scared of riding on the road, you can pretty much ride the pavements all of the way, they are wide enough. but. they are not as well kept as the road. so i often chose the road. i was scared of damaging the thin cross bike tires. watching part of the trash taste pod special before i rode made me super paranoid about this.
otherwise i just kept riding. up to a bridge. down off a bridge. across an island. up to a bridge. down off a bridge. and repeat…
there were no tolls on the bridges because when i rode (june 2021) fares had been suspended to promote tourism. this might not be the case when you go. so watch out.
it is indeed true that the toughest hill is on the first island. but slow and steady and you can do it. just don’t stop even if it feels like you are crawling. you will get to the top eventually. it was nice to get it out of the way because then all the other inclines felt very short.
my butt did not hurt that much throughout and at the end. what was sore was the bone between my cheeks. after the ride i just had to be careful to not sit at the edge of seats! however. disclaimer. i am by no means an expert. i do not remember the last time i rode this many kilometres. but. my childhood was filled with bike riding as my dad is crazy about cycling. so i am somewhat used to this pain. i can imagine novices would struggle quite a bit.
i will tell you what did hurt for me. my shoulders. carrying my bag was tough. it wasn’t a sports bag, just a regular school style backpack. so no chest strap. ouch.
the last bridge is a boat! there is no bike access for the last bridge to onomichi. you have to take a short ferry. there are three of them. but i recommend this one. it’s the Onomichi Ekimae or 尾道（駅前）one. you can see the routes here. scroll right to the bottom. the one i recommend takes you directly in front of the station. the bike terminal is in the carpark to the left of where you disembark. it is well sign posted. to get on the ferry, just get on. an attendant will collect your fare during the ride. for me it was ¥100 (adult) + ¥10 (bike).
i got off. handed my bike in. they signed off the papers i got at the start. and gave me a stamp saying i had completed the journey! yay.
i was in onomichi at 1pm. so it took me 5 hours.
i was very sweaty and very early for my airbnb, so i showered in the coin showers at the giant bikes shop and then got some ramen.
(pics or it didn’t happen, right?)
conclusion
i think everything worked out pretty well for me. i am sure adrenaline is what made the pain not seem too bad. by the halfway point i could tell my recovery on the declines was decreasing. so i was finding it harder and harder to pedal consistently. but i was a bit crazy. i barely stopped. i took one 10 minute break at the halfway point. otherwise i just stopped a few times for water and for a toilet break.
my advice is simply: know your pain tolerance. i don’t think the journey is that physically demanding. yes the inclines can be tiring, but they are not that steep. a rest at the top should be enough to get you going again. especially since most of the time, an incline is equally matched with a decline. what i think beginners will struggle with is working through the butt pain and shoulder pain (if you are carrying your stuff). if you think this is you. consider sending your luggage ahead of you.
also. you don’t have to do it in 5 hours. you can take longer breaks and get a decent meal in you. they recommend the journey takes 6 to 8 hours. but. if you start at 8am, you have until 7pm before the bike terminal at the port in onomichi closes. that should be enough.
and that’s about it. if you want to read about the rest of my trip click here.
this was my experience. good luck with yours!
*my friend is lovely, i promise
i was going to write a line under this passage saying “this is unhealthy behaviour, don’t be me”. but. i don’t actually think that. i think if you struggle with self-confidence, overvalue what other people think of you, and feel a need to always pressure yourself to show your worth, even when it pushes you to do things you really don’t want to do. then this is unhealthy behaviour. but i have the opposite problem. i am a person who always follows the path of least resistance. sometimes i need to hype myself up to do things that otherwise i just let pass me by. additionally. this physical challenge was well within my physical capacity. my dad is a cycling fanatic. i am a solid intermediate on a bike. so. as always. everyone is different. through experimenting with yourself, you get better and better at distinguishing when you need to push yourself and when you need to protect yourself.
as a kid i was extremely lucky to have had travel be part of my annual activities. though. these trips were often not the beautifully instagrammable adventures social media makes you drool at your screens for.
it was usually a lot of my parents dragging me and my sibling to various relatives’ and family friends’ houses. and no mum. i don’t know who they are. no aunty. i don’t remember your name. no uncle. i don’t remember when i visited last. and yes everyone. i have grown. that’s what happens when you apply time to children.
let’s be clear. these trips were not bad. i am extremely grateful to have been able to experience so many places and meet so many different people. but here’s the thing: i never did any of the planning.
i get in the car. and that’s that.
fast forward to the past few years. apparently i am now an adult. and if i want to go somewhere, especially abroad. i have to like. book it? pay for it? get myself to the airport? remember my documents? make sure i have enough time? remember to not pack liquids in my hand luggage that are over 100ml? empty my pencil case for scissors because they will find them. and they will bin them? what a faff.
but you know. i am a person who likes to figure out a system to deal with processes. so i can deal with this. i’ve made a master travel checklist for packing and for leaving the house. and now i don’t think about it twice.
getting to the place is now not the problem.
but you know what is the problem?
what on earth do i do when i get there?
beforehand. mum stormed into where i was sleeping. demanded i get ready because we were “leaving at 10am to [ ]”. mum did explain what we were doing. but to be honest. it never mattered. so i would get ready. get in the car. and that was that.
now. i’m in like seoul. my friend is asking me what i’m going to do because they are meeting an old friend for an afternoon, so i’ll be alone. and i realise. i have no clue.
how did i make it this far, you might be thinking. well. normally i just absorb the interests of whoever i am travelling with. be in sightseeing spots, museums or food establishments. once i know what the group is interested in, i just make it my objective to try and ensure we are able to do all the things they wanted to do. whether i cared for those things or not.
do i not have interests of my own? you know. this question makes me feel really guilty. because my answer is… no not really. i am so used to being dragged to places. the things we did were always the things the locals thought were important. and for me. that became my interest. some of the most interesting things i have done in countries across the world have been relatively minor things.
i will never forget eating ostrich meat in south africa.
i will never forget seeing a recently slaughtered goat being drained in the back garden in ethiopia.
i will never forget learning how to play rather aggressive versions of jump rope and ludo in ghana.
i will never forget lazy lunches (which bled into lazy dinners) in italy.
i will never forget the sheer size of everything in florida. cars. houses. land. supermarkets. everything.
so no. i don’t know what i am interested in. i am not self-centred enough to think i know what your country has to offer me.
thus i’ve found myself turning to travel blogs. while they might not be a local* at least they have some experience of the place. however. if i have already decided to go to the place, then i really don’t care about the travel writer’s own adventure. since. i’m going to be going there soon. what i care about is, where did they go? what did they do? what did they eat?
in this regard. itineraries and top 10 lists have been super useful. it’s just the key info. you’re in this city? hit these places. they are the best things around here.
BUT ITINERARIES AND TOP 10 LISTS ARE MILDY USELESS.
why are they useless?
because where are any of these places? i went to sapporo in hokkaido, japan with a friend. travel lists be like, “you have to Tour the Ishiya Chocolate Factory”. okay. sure. pop that into google maps. it’s a solid 30 minute train journey from where we are staying. that’s not an issue. but it is something that needs to be planned for. this is because we were to spend most of our time in the city centre where the snow festival was. also. most things to do in sapporo are within walking distance of the snow festival. so this would be out of the way.
which is why. i have a proposition. introducing: TRAVEL MAPS.
all the effort you put into writing that top 10 list or itinerary. stop. don’t do it.
travel blog writers. carry on. you are writing your personal experiences and people are reading for the flourish of story telling. this does not concern you.
but. if you’re making a document you expect travellers to use. don’t write a list. make a map. actually. do both.
and no. NOT a google maps list. i’m talking a google MyMaps map.
Google Maps (don’t do this!)Google MyMaps (do this!)
what’s the difference?
MyMaps are a google drive document, but in map form. you can choose the colour of the map. you can search up and pin places. you can choose the icons. you can choose the colour of the icon. you can add a description. you can add different pins on different layers so they can be shown/hidden at will. and most importantly, when opened, the the traveller can see where they are in relation to any of the places.
Google Maps ✅ You can get directions ❌ You can’t see the notes from the authorGoogle MyMaps ✅ Custom map, icons and notes ❌ To get directions you need to “View in Google Maps”
if you click on any of the pins it will give you the option to open it in google maps and you can get directions directly there.
professional move. if you wanted, you can even plot the walking routes which connect the places you are recommending together. this is for the ultimate guide. people would just have to follow along.
i don’t really know why this isn’t already much of a thing.
*is there a culture of locals writing travel blogs/itineraries/MAPS for their own cities and towns?
i am relatively new to reading travel blogs. but for the most part it seems to be people who have gone and travelled to the place writing of their experience. is there a culture of locals making itineraries and guides for the own cities? that’s immensely more useful. if you’re reading this. go write a travel guide for your own town. and make sure you make a map too. go on. i’m waiting. you can post it in the comments. i’m serious. chop chop.
this is a story whose theme is: “when inspiration strikes”.
i don’t really know what happened. but i had an idea and i just kept running with it. and when i stopped to look back at what i’d done. i was left with an immense feeling of satisfaction and mild dread.
so what did happen? well. corona struck and i was desk warming* at my schools on the JET programme. which is when i thought: mascots. mascots? mascots!?
you see. japan is the land mascots. prefectures, towns, brands, you name it and it’ll have a mascot. so if i was a JET living in japan. where was my mascot?
and that’s when it came to me. i’ll just make one.
it wasn’t the first time i’d thought about it. but it was the first time i’d given it a proper go.
but what would the mascot be? well. the prefecture i lived in is famous for rice. specifically a variety called KOSHIHIKARI rice. and the specific region i lived in makes the highest quality of this rice.
so a rice bowl? done. that’s the mascot. name? koshi-kun.
(i swear i will never again have an idea as good as this for as long as i live…)
(look it even has different emoticons!)
but. i’m just one JET in this prefecture. i can’t just decide on the mascot by myself. however. i was also the webmaster for the AJET chapter of my prefecture. which meant i was technically on the council. so. it was time for some D E M O C R A C Y.
i just love a good election.
and i do do the whole thing. i make posters advertising the competition. i call for submissions. i run everything by the council. i tried to mimic the 2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendum. though i hoped for a more exciting result…
however. as you find when you try to mobilise more than 8 people. it was mostly a flop. so hard to get submissions. BUT. i did get a few. though many of them were joke entires. but you know. that’s part of running an election.
so i brought the entires before the council. i didn’t vote because i had a submission and i wanted it to be unbiased. remember: D E M O C R A C Y. and they decided on a short list.
i ran the election using a google form. i then painstakingly used the alternative vote system to identify a winner. because i didn’t use any fancy voting software. i had to do it myself. but i posted all the spreadsheets i used to the facebook page if anyone wanted to check for fraud in this high stakes election…
note: if you are interested in voting systems i highly recommend this blog post.
anyway. urm. so i won. i won my own election. to this day i feel sort of funny about that… i did everything in my power to not cheat. i promise! not that my words can be very persuasive as the election host…
but. we move on. because the inspiration train had just been further fuelled by this win, with no stop in sight.
next destination? merch island. look how cute koshi is. koshi so cute. we definitely need merch of koshi. i said. to myself. no one asked for merch. no one told me merch would be a good idea. i just wanted merch. and merch i shall have. so the inspiration train hit four stops:
t-shirt station: i had already had the idea to randomly print custom t-shirts the year before. it’s a long story. something something custom leaving presents for my friends who left the JET programme. i had asked one of my colleagues if they knew a t-shirt printer. and they said “yeah, my mate who lives in the mountain runs a screen printing business”. turns out i also worked in that town once a week. so i rock up and i tell them “hi how would you like to custom print shirts for me?” and they were like “yeah sure” so boom. we have custom t-shirts on demand. you could choose the colour and one of the 8 emoticons.
(this was my attempt at “promo” materials, i paid my for my friend’s hand modelling in discount code…)
sticker station: another JET i knew had gotten some stickers of their art done. and i remember telling them to sell the stickers. and now it was my turn. they recommended sticker mule and i can’t say i had any issues with the company’s service. these are proper nice laptop stickers too. i chose only four designs to test the waters.
(my favourite is and will always be “angry”)
enamel pin station: okay. this is the one i am most proud of. never did i think i would be bulk ordering custom enamel pins directly from a factory in china. but. what is there to be scared of? i googled around. i watched some youtube videos. some people were talking about dealing with US-based companies. but as far as i could tell, some of these companies will in turn order them from a factory in china anyway. i came across this blog post and just followed the instructions. the factory was extremely prompt and my bag of 100 pins came with no issues.
(enamel pins always struck me as a luxury merch item and now i have 100 of them…)
LINE station: this is the most random. the most “???” of the lot. and i really don’t know how i learnt that selling stickers in the LINE shop was easy. i had looked into facebook but it is really hard to get into the messenger sticker store. i barely even use LINE. but living in asia means i have the app and you bet i head to the LINE creator studio to set up my sticker set. you can buy them here if you’d like.
BONUS station: i looked into popsockets. i actually made one for myself using the custom popsocket maker. and it does look dope if i do say so myself. but it turns out the company is quite strict about selling their items and you need to be registered as a proper company. that seemed like too much. so my journey came to a halt.
which brings us to now. why did i feel the need to write this blog post. like a year after this all went down?
because… help… i have so many stickers and enamel pins… please buy them. (i eventually managed to sell them!)
as i said. i look back on this journey with immense pride and satisfaction. but here is the mild dread. this was all a risk and a gamble. and you know. in my life i have seen groups of people fight over all sorts of things. money is a sure-fire way to make enemies. i know my situation well enough to know i was not prepared to defend myself if the council came for me for losing them hundreds of pounds on merch that no one wanted.
so… urm… this was all done out of my own pocket. and not many people bought anything… *sigh*
BUT i still don’t regret it. i really love what i have made and there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing your design exist in the real word. something that was just pixels can now be held, worn and used. also. stickers and pins don’t expire. and the t-shirts were made to order so there is no excess stock.
as you can guess. the council was not interested in managing the store when i left the JET programme. someone would have to manage the stock, prices, orders and trips to the post office (not to mention drive up the mountain to get the t-shirts from the printer). these were all roles i was doing. so i asked them if i could keep pins and stickers and sell them myself to make back my losses. they agreed. while the character belongs to the council as it won the competition, i am still in charge of the shop. but it is now hosted on my site instead of the AJET chapter’s site since i am no longer the webmaster.
so. if you are from the prefecture in question and want to rep your pride or you just think koshi-kun is cute (or you wanna help a stupid kid out). consider buying a pin or a sticker. i personally send out all the orders. orders are limited to within japan for now.
if you made it to the end. hi! this was a fun journey. i hope to do something similar again. i really want to make more pins. there is something so satisfying about them.
until the next.
see ya.
*what is desk warming?
for those unfamiliar with the JET programme. when you work as an assistant language teacher (ALT) in japan there may be times when you are contracted to be at work, but with no work to actually do. depending on your situation this can be a couple of hours a week. to several days (or weeks) in a row. this is because japan is very strict with hours. if you are contracted to be at work from 08:10 to 16:10 you have to be there. even if classes are cancelled. even if the students are on holiday. even if there is a global pandemic…
yes. i know the corona virus pandemic. but 12? a dozen. the hours in half a day.
you just have to count to 10 and then a one, two. and that’s 12.
time is scary. but maybe its not time that’s scary. it’s falling into old habits that’s scary. it’s the difficulty in forming habits that’s scary. it’s how doing nothing is so much easier than doing anything. even when you want to do something. that’s what’s really scary.
but we’re back. so welcome back. i’m back.
what did you miss? to be honest. i am not quite sure.
there was one big thing: i left the JET programme and found another job in Japan.
this is weird one. i’ve had the name planned out for a while. money march. mainly because amongst my friends out here, i have been quite vocal about money. and it’s just because i think being fiscally responsible is such an important skill. but i’m not advocating for perfection. i’m not asking people to never make mistakes and make sure they maximise every single penny. because, we’re human. my main issue is with the large misconceptions that set people back. for example. being lax with debt repayments. believing you can live beyond your means when such a route is clearly unsustainable. or just making simple, dumb decisions. but as i said. i’m not perfect. far from it. i own over 8 rubiks cubes. i’m known for my empty fridge at home, as i eat out more often than not. and i run what is essentially a taxi service, when i drive my friends back and forth, even if the drive is 2 hours and includes tolls.
i was going to clamp down. do some introspection. what am i spending my money on? where is it going? is it worth it? and most importantly. am i really in a position to be giving advice?
but then things got… weird?
because something has happened. and this month, i have been spending ALL my money.
and you know what? we’re going to run with it. i’ll tighten up ship at a later date. lets just see where this takes us.
so where’s it been going? well. here are the notably purchases that are definitely out of the ordinary.
merchandise for the organisation i volunteer for
enamel pins
laptop stickers
t-shirts
packaging for the above
i used my own money on a subscription to an anti-spam plugin for one of the websites i webmaster
lending my friend money for a laptop
phone stuff
smart phone (but second hand)
phone case
lightening to 3.5mm adapter *grumble* (i needed TWO as well, one for the car and one for my headphones *grumble intensifies*)
custom made popsocket
jewellery
manual food chopper (because i never want to “finely dice” another onion again)
set up a monthly payment into my investment manager
so. that’s about all that really comes to mind.
if i’m honest. i started writing this post weeks ago. partway through the month because i felt my card was coming out to play, far too many times. but actually writing everything down has been rather nice. it’s not that much money. and some of it will be recouped. namely the merchandise and the laptop money. so really. what felt overwhelming wasn’t too bad. but then again, we have to take into account the fact i stopped travelling towards the end of the month, as the corona virus threat got more “not worth the risk”.
in the end, there are actually some takeaways from this.
one day i want to actually itemise every single thing i buy. whether it’s a drink from a vending machine. or a dinner. or a trinket from somewhere. because i wonder what my “oh it’s just cash” propensity to spend is.
i need to somehow come up with a budget that works for me. i hate budgets. i dont want someone (even if that someone is me) to tell me when i can and cant spend money. but i do need to iron out an “ideal” so that i know if i’ve been ridiculous or not. instead of just assuming every month is equal and it will all balance out in the end.
so that’s been this little low stress experiment. being a little bit mindful about where my money is going. but this is definitely the alpha phrase. beta will be coming at some point.
okay. so i failed. i said i was going to do a thing. and i didn’t.
the original plan was film it februrary.
i was going to produce 20 photographs i was happy with. i was going to finally learn how to use my nice camera. i was going to take advantage of my trip to sapporo for the snow festival. and i was going to capitalise on the lingering snow from this winter (even though it isn’t very much)
but i didn’t do it. my camera remained tightly tucked away in its case. unperturbed by the world beyond its padded walls.
so as the month came to a close. the gears in my brain started spinning. arg. i haven’t done the thing! i said i was going to do a thing every month. so. what else could i say i did for this month? i started with alliterative titles. what could i turn this month INTO? i must have done SOMETHING that i can file this month away as…
but as i thought this through, i didn’t like the way i was thinking.
why did i write the initial resolution?
because i wanted to remember this year for what it was. not for the rose tinted memories at the end or – worse – the salient memories that stick out like thorns.
so you know what. i didn’t do anything of note in february and that’s the truth.
now that’s not to say february was a waste of time. that’s far from the case.
i did, for example, keep the same momentum from january. and i’ve been proactive in making sure the cogs of my life keep turning and we keep chugging along. which i am very proud of. but other than that. february might as well have been january part 2.
and you know what? thats okay.
pretending this month was anything more than it was, is not something i can learn from. because what stops me from doing the same thing next month. doing nothing, and saying “ah well, you see, that was mundane march, and i just you know… did my regular thing…” no growth. nothing to feel proud of on the inside and a facade to be proud of on the outside. then coming to the end of the year. and being back to where i started.
and to that i say: nope. i’m worth more than that.
the idea for this one was very simple. just procrastinate a little less. every time i thought to myself “i ought to do x” i then said to myself “so why dont you just do it?” and i managed to make a little bit of progress. but i must say. i feel good about january. i feel a lot less like i’m just drifting. and more like i’m actively taking steps forward.
so what did i get up to in january?
contacted some people i was nervous to contact
applied to some jobs i had been meaning to apply to
finally took a trip to the tip to get rid of a lot of recycling
organised some clothes i will donate come the right season
went on a ski/snowboard trip where i didn’t know a lot of people
took my health a little bit more seriously and considered what i’m consuming
tried to incorporate a little strength training to my week
played around with drop shipping and running an online print shop
organised a baby shower for a friend to make sure she wasn’t feeling alone
and yeah. this isn’t a terrifically long list of accomplishments. but each item has been on my mind for weeks or months. and just getting them done was a nice feeling. it got to a point, where if i was too lazy to get up, i’d just say “just do it” and it was enough to get me moving.
so i hope i can take this energy into the next months.
i love new years. i love the naive sense of opportunity i feel. it’s as though anything is possible if you give me just one more year. i’m going to do. i’m going to change. i’m going to improve. and if you know me in person, you might be surprised that i get this giddy at a day in the calendar year. as i can be rather cynical at times. but. nevertheless. i like to ride this wave of childish excitement and think of all the awesome things i’ll do in this next year.
so what am i going to do?
well. last year i made a list of all the things i was going to do. all the habits i was going to form. all the feats i was going to conquer. and at the end i was left with something like a 10% success rate. which. if i’m honest. is still pretty good. better than 0%…
but this year. we’re changing it up.
this post is paired with my last post. i want to battle the paralysis i feel at the end of years, where what i recall might just be the good, the bad or just the plain loudest memories.
so this year, i’ve a new plan.
2020. 12 months. 12 things.
(yes. i too wish 2020 had 20 months. but here we are.)
