Not traveling, just at home and reflecting + hopeful for the future.
The world is in a global pandemic, fires blaze near my hometown, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen the exposed lower half of a non-family member’s face in person. I feel cautious and guarded around other people, have used more hand sanitizer in the last 6 months than the rest of my life combined, and am currently surrounded by air quality is so bad that gray ash falls from the sky and dusts the cars parked outside.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, or so I hope. I write this update with the distinct hope / plan to be traveling again, as soon as the world allows – and pursuing my dream of living abroad in Japan.
I’ve always lived reasonably close to home, and have found comfort in having a support system of friends and loved ones nearby. Yet as the years go by, I can’t brush off the growing desire to try something different, to travel off the beaten path of my otherwise linear life.
In the past five years, I’ve traveled to Japan three times, spending around six months total in the country. Not a huge amount of time, but enough to know that I like being there and want to explore more. As a sports camp counselor, English teacher, and study abroad student, my love for the country continued to grow, and soon I found Japan had a special place in my heart.
So as I enter my quarter life crisis (aptly coinciding with the worldly crisis around me), I figure it’s now or never to take the steps towards making my dream a reality. My fingers are crossed as I apply to a Language School in Fukuoka, and as I watch travel bans extend further and further hoping for their end. I am optimistic for the opportunity to live abroad, and regardless of whatever the future holds, I hope you’ll follow me on this journey!
Fun fact: I started this travel blog in 2017- weeks before graduating college just as I was embarking on another Japan adventure!
