Voyage Junkie

Several years ago we had the opportunity to take some good friends of ours, Bo and Liz, to Japan. I'm going to focus on the new things we did and then link to previous blog posts for reference to the things we repeated from our time living in Japan. The trip started out awesome and then kind of fell into a bad place for me and Matt, unfortunately. I chalk it up to our inability to tell Bo and Liz when we wanted to do something different from what they wanted to do, and Matt's desire to be a good guide in the country as he was the only fluent Japanese speaker. He felt a lot of responsibility and then got really tired and very stressed out, which in turn made me very stressed out. I say this not as a rebuke of our friends, who had no way to know how we were feeling since we didn't communicate, but as a gentle suggestion to anyone who travels with friends. Say how you feel and don't be passive aggressive about it. Own up to your limitations and ask for what you need. Your ...

Nara: home of tame deer, hundreds of stone lanterns, and the biggest bronze Buddha in the world.  We ventured to this smaller city on Monday, April 4th, after our two days of Kyoto adventures. To the left, I meet a friend! To the right is the famous 5-story pagoda, just one of many old and beautiful buildings in the first temple complex we found upon reaching Nara. We walked into the foothills and as far as we could see stood stone lanterns.  Paper was being cleaned off them the day we visited.  I think recently there was a festival when all the lanterns were lit, which would be a breathtaking sight, simply judging from how many lanterns there are.  We meandered, taking in cherry blossoms, stone carvings, and many shrines with amazing architecture.  The craftsmanship of these places is unbelievable.  Nara is another site that delivered the ancient Japanese aesthetic in bounds.  It was incredibly peaceful (except for the deer chasing anything tha...