When I first came to Japan, I had promised all of my friends from the US that I would only be spending a year in the land of the rising sun. Little did I know how thoroughly I would be won over by the beauty of the mountains, the serenity of the rice fields, or, more than anything, the warmth and friendliness of the Japanese. So why choose to go away from this place that has become my adopted home?

Stone lanterns line the path at a Japanese temple

I am a strong believer in seeking new experiences. I’ve found that I go through about a 3 year cycle in which the yearning for something new takes over. If I don’t feed that need, it starts to be all encompassing. Recently I found myself facing this phenomenon and all those hours spent at work thinking about what else is out there convinced me I needed to take action. The straw that broke the camel’s back was an article I read about steve jobs, who mentioned that every day he looks I’m the mirror and asks himself whether, if today was the last day of his life, he would be happy with what he’s going to be doing that day. Of course we all have not so great days, but if the answer was no too often in a row, he decided it was time to change.
For me, it’s time to change. I was also lucky enough to find a partner who shared my passion for travel and when I shared my vision for a year off, said “Let’s do it!”.
So the die is cast and here is saying sayonara to my second home and konnichiwa to the future.