Today marks three months that we have been traveling, which means our year of adventure is a quarter of the way over. Three months of wandering, learning, and finding home in unexpected places. Time feels like it has simultaneously gone fast and slow. Time seems to speed up as we age because we have fewer new experiences. Over the past three months, we’ve been surrounded by novelty, which has made the days feel slower. Yet, as with most perceptions of time, looking back, it all seems to have passed quickly.
A dear friend of mine gave me a stack of letters to open throughout the year. I was so excited to open this one. I sat in our Tatami room all by myself to read it and soaked up some comfort from home.
Halfway Across the World – Still in Awe
It still feels a little surreal at times that we are halfway across the world. Alexis said she randomly thinks “Wow, we are in Japan”. I wonder if we will feel like this all year? I asked everyone again what they were missing and no one mentioned any physical items. We have had a lot of conversations about simplicity and what we truly need to be happy. It’s eye opening to realize all the things you don’t need. One example is that we haven’t had a dishwasher for three months and we don’t feel deprived at all. Another is that we all brought clothes we still don’t wear very often.
Something that we are all missing is friends and family. The time difference has decreased our availability to communicate and with the start of school, schedules get busy. If you’re reading this, know we miss you and we love you!
Other Things We’ve Learned
When you don’t know what else to do with yourself – go for a walk.
You can kill a cockroach before going to bed and still sleep surprisingly well. The cockroaches are back in Osaka.
The right song can lift almost any mood.
When you’re in a small space with people, conflict gets resolved fairly quickly.
You can finish a meal even when you don’t want to. (It’s rude to leave food behind in Japan)
A remarkable number of people can be packed into one subway train!
It’s ok to be hungry and uncomfortable.
Don’t judge a place by its smell.
Homeschooling is hard, and enjoyable, and rewarding – and we are learning just as much as the kids!
When Travel Slows Down
We are approaching the end of our first week in Osaka, and we have yet to venture far from our house. We are all in various stages of recovering from a nasty cold and no one seems in a big hurry to explore yet. The pace we kept in Tokyo was pretty intense and I think slowing down was exactly what we all needed. Our bodies were literally telling us we had to. Our house here already feels so cozy and relaxing. It’s a good place to experience our first illness of the year. We’ve been reading, relaxing, and Alexis and I learned to make some origami.
It still amazes us how quickly we can settle into a new place. More and more, it feels like home is wherever we’re together. We’ve mastered the list of things to figure out once we arrive: who is sleeping where, where we’ll get food, and how the laundry works. Beyond that everything else falls into place over time. We are all enjoying this adventure and so grateful we could make it happen!
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What a milestone! Can’t believe it, this year has been flying for us, and your year is flying by for me too! Also, Mike learned to make paper cranes as a kid and still makes them for all special ocassions: birthdays, anniversaries, etc…instead of a card, he writes a message or draws something on a paper, then folds it into a crane. I love that you’re doing that! Glad you’re settling in!
I love that Mike still makes cranes! Tell him I might be stealing his idea to give them with a message inside instead of cards – I love that!