Hey...Thanks.

I may be eating sushi off a conveyor belt and Cold Stone ice cream for Thanksgiving but I still go stuff to be thankful for. So, for tradition's sake:
~ I'm thankful for my family and loved ones, for them supporting me through all my adventures. Without them, none of this would have been possible.
~ I'm thankful for a special someone back West, who has put up with my nonsense and wayward ways and is always there for me.
~I'm thankful for my health, my body, which has done a pretty damn good job considering all the travel...though I'm sure it'll have some issues to work out once back home
~ I'm thankful that for the past 90+ days I have been able to live a dream of mine. Thankful for those days when just waking up in a new place made the day great.
~ I'm thankful for all that I have learned out here and all the great experiences and all the great people.
~Maybe most of all, I am thankful that I am returning home soon!

I know there's more, but thats all i feel like writing now.

Ja mata yo

Blind Kindness

Today I saw my first asshole of Japan. A guy on a scooter started wailing on his horn when he was about 50meters away from the intersection because it was a green light and pedestrians were crossing. First asshole. Everyone in Japan so far has been insanely nice, courteous, and respectful. To the point of annoying actually. Aside from the insincere, high-pitched shriek of “Irashaimaaaaaaaaaasu!” (basically meaning “Welcome to our stoooooooooore!”) that you hear every 7 seconds as you move through or even near a store…yea, aside from that, some of the courteousness of the Japanese seems just plain nonsensical. A few days ago I witnessed something to make New York drivers wake in cold sweats. A cab, a taxi cab mind you, was driving down a smaller, but typical street in Tokyo. The taxi came up behind a seemingly middle-aged Japanese guy walking down the middle of the street in the same direction, back to the cab, with headphones on, walking to the beat. Instead of honking or anything, the cab just slows to the man’s pace and just keeps going behind him, waiting for the guy to notice. This goes on for nearly a full minute before the guy just happens to walk out of the middle of the street, allowing the cab to pass yet still fully unaware of what happened… Amazing. Had it been nearly any other city, the car would have honked without slowing down and the guy would jump out of the way. Simple, perhaps a bit brash, but effective.

In general, Tokyo is a really safe, controlled city. No one runs(except for trains), yet no one is late. No car may be in sight, but no one crosses until that cross-walk sign turns green. Bicycles equipped with bells share the sidewalk with peds, yet you never hear a bell. Everything seems to move at a controlled speed fast enough to get things done, but not fast enough to hurt anyone.

Oh, almost forgot, Asshole #2..maybe: Umbrellas seem pretty communal in Sakura House (where I live), but maybe also in the city?? One rainy day, I go to 7-11, leave my umbrella in one of the umbrella holder things outside like a good citizen, then come back to find it gone. Gone! Stolen in safe Tokyo!? Maybe, though it did look like all the other umbrellas people carry around. Could have been a mistake..or maybe umbrellas are communal in the city. Assuming the latter, and not being the kind to lose an umbrella lying down, I of coursed snagged a similar umbrella to my one and dipped out.

Awesome picture (not from tokyo) courtesy of photographer extraordinaire 'Webbiedebbie"

A Fork in the Road...A really big one.

So im here in tokyo. Money, energy, health all waning in their own way. The money primarily is what is running thin, at least thinner than expected. Health wise I'm ok, as OK as you can be after pulling countless switches on your body for 3 months..

3 months of Living on begger diets, eating banquets, cold climates, warm climates, wet climates, smog, dust. Drink tap water, dont drink tap water, Eat heavy protein potatoe meals, no here we eat only rice & fish. Its 5am, its 5pm, its midnight and we just finished dinner with alcohol, caffeine, and who knows what else. Sleep here, sleep there, sleep alone, sleep with one eye open, sleep cold, sleep on a train a boat a plane, dont sleep... 

My body seemed to end up pretty confused. But I am proud to say it only got sick, and barely so, once. (knock on wood)

That was a bit of a rant but I think thats how the body is feeling. And the energy levels are pretty down. Egypt was a huge highlight of this trip and now its on the chopping blocks and I'm not exactly crushed about that. And thats my dilemma..Egypt or USA. So, there is an internal struggle going on as I try to decide which way to go. If you had a microphone in my mind it may sound something like this..
Eastbound Taj(Pro-return toUSA, which is east from here): We've had a good run, time to pack up and return to the comfort of home. Money is running out, we're tired, maybe sick..time to get back to comfort. 
Westbound Taj(Pro-continue to Cairo): Are you kiddin? Next is the pyramids! One of the main reasons you came out here! The flight is about the same and Cairo shouldnt be too expensive. You just feel bad now because you're homesick; it'll pass.

Eastbound Taj(USA is east from here): True, we have had homesickness before, but this is different. I think we're just ready to be home. Besides, wouldn't you rather come back when we have more money and energy? When we can do Cairo right rather than on a budget?

Westbound Taj(Pro-Cairo): Who knows when that will be?? Live now and in the moment. Planning for the future just gives things more time to go wrong. Take advantage of the current opportunity.

Eastbound Taj(USA is east from here): We know we want to return to Greece at some point. Egypt would be easily tied in then. Even Turkey too. Would be an awesome 2~3 week trip. To do that, we need to get a job and get money...which will take time, but the best way to assure that happens is to return in a decent financial position to facilitate the job hunt.

Westbound Taj(Pro-Cairo): OK, fine. But this is something you said you would do! Don't you have a sense of pride to complete this? Seeing sights on a budget is fine; we've done that a bunch so far. How can you go back without completing what you set out to do?

Eastbound Taj(USA is east from here): Ah, that may have gotten me to reconsider a few weeks ago, but at this point, 100 days in (as of Dec 3), how could I be disappointed in how far I went. Plus if I go this way, it is a real Around the World Trip.

Westbound Taj(Pro-Cairo): Just one last city, that's all and you'll complete what we planned out. Meet some people there, chill for a bit, and return to the US as planned.

Eastbound Taj(USA is east from here): It does sound easy that way, and maybe even worth it...As for the plan, deviating from such a path is just part of the freedom of the Road. That said, the pyramids are tempting..plus it would be great to visit somewhere so different from Europe and the US..

Westbound Taj(Pro-Cairo): Yes...but the money.. there will be other opportunities perhaps..

Well, that's the bulk of the debate in my head..no answers yet. Im sure an answer will come soon.. I'm going to a park with some tea to wait for it.

...I promise i haven't gone crazy

Thoughts on Hakone.. SPECIAL GUEST

After visiting Hakone for the first time, with Katie, we decided a video was appropriate..maybe was more fun to make then watch, but enjoy!

Restorations & Immortality

Its been a long time..sorry about that. When travelling with close friends or family, it is tough to find time to sit and write/think alone..or to even want to do that after being alone for a while in a foreign place. Ive been milking Amanda, Dad, and Katie all for comfortable, familiar, relationship sustenance..


Anyway, the last thing I remember before the flood of familiar faces, I was in Athens, at the Acropolis, looking at the Parthenon. In case you don’t know, this is an amazing, amazing site in Greece! A must visit if ever within striking distance. Good times around there.. So, looking at the Acropolis, its one, huge, blemish is that there is a giant crane in the middle of it. This crane, of course, detracted greatly from the beauty and ancient-feeling of the Acropolis. And it has been there for over 20 years. This disheartened me as I thought back to how many famed ‘historic’ sites and structures I have seen across Europe that are constantly behind a cloak or under a scaffolding due to reconstructions.  At first thought, this always grinds my gears. Why do they need to constantly replace the marble on the Parthenon or clean and repaint St. Peter’s Church in Vienna. Just leave these wonders as they are so we can see them as they were created and not refurbished with new materials or updates. Stop painting over history! Or I used to say.

Then in Athens, I kinda started to put realize the obvious. Without these updates, protective fencings/coverings, renovations, these monuments would likely no longer be here. The Parthenon may have long ago crumbled under its own weight, if left alone. Or it could meet its demise at the hands of those who built it, or at least their ancestors, as the once magnificent Temple of Zeus did and be deconstructed to build surrounding apartment buildings. By either hand, nature or man, monuments such as these would likely not last nearly as long without their governments pumping in money to preserve them as necessary. So I am thankful and a bit less irked.

But why should it bother me either way really? Why do we want to see these historic monuments preserved in their original manner? Why would we want to keep them around at all? Why not let them fall as just part of the natural order of things? Well, aside from drawing in tourist dollars, these monuments bring us closer to those that built them, to the age when they were built. Closer to the far distant past, closer to immortality. Monuments like the pyramids of Giza or the Parthenon are so engraved in our minds as SO old, that we cannot help but feel as if we are transcending time by witnessing them. Hell, even Chris and I, being Americans (where nothing is more than 300 yrs old) seeing buildings in Italy that were nearly 1000 years old made us in awe. People tend to gravitate to historic monuments out of a feeling that they can almost feel what it was like to be around back when this thing was built. That small taste of traveling through time is enough to spark natural urge to be long-lasting, to be immortal.

So fix them up and put make up on the Mona Lisa, or let nature take its course and let them fall.. It’s not an easy decision and of course there are shades of gray, where most historic monuments are today; restored to resemble their original selves to further the illusion that we are really there, at that time. I appreciate the effort, I do, but really just do it and get outta the way! I’m trying to see the Parthenon without a giant white machine in it some time in the next 20 years.