Following the Dream (Part 2)

As I continued down my road (not knowing or seeing yet how it would all someday be part of destiny), I found myself one day accepting a position at a company in rural Tennessee. Little did I realize that this job would mark the beginning step into my career in travel. Also little did I know that this new job would soon send me to the very place I dreamt about as a child...Japan. My first view out of the window of that jumbo jet was the rice fields and tiled roofs of the houses and farms surrounding Tokyo’s international airport. It made me acutely aware that I was now a foreigner in a strange Country and I had become the traveler I had wondered about so often as a child.

Those many trips overseas taught me a great deal about people, culture and life, but I was also learning the intricacies of how to travel abroad.

It is funny how the pieces of life seem to all start coming together. While I had begun to stress over the amount of time I was spending away from home, away from my wife during all of my business related trips, I was slowly looking inward to find out what I truly wanted to do and what gave me true fulfillment when it came to my career and work.

I knew I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. I learned that working hard in the corporate world did nothing to truly give you true peace and security. So I had made my decision to seek some form of self-employment where I felt more in control and where I could work while still spending more time at home.

So off I jumped...pulled my chute and trusted I would succeed in the world of...real estate. (to be continued)

Following the Dream (Part 1)

Many of you know me through the various social media outlets that I participate in while others know me from the old days where we connected while I was on a totally different career path. Some of you know me simply by what you read here on this blog. But I am not sure many really know or understand how I got here and really what I do on a day to day basis for a living.

This series of posts will give all of you more of a glimpse into who I am and how I ended up here; here as in writing and talking about travel related stories.

It seems sometimes that destiny has a path for all of us, but it is up to us to be flexible enough and sometimes brave enough to jump on that path and remain there so destiny can come to fruition. My destiny started very early on. Growing up in the State of California, I was privy to learning about different cultures and people at a very early age. My best friends in grade school were from all heritages and backgrounds; Spanish, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, Taiwanese etc. That early immersion started to give root to the desire to learn and see more of what was outside the mid-sized city that I was growing up in.

I can remember way back to the times that I would be driven over to the San Francisco International Airport with my parents to pick up friends and family. I would sit there in that airport and watch large jumbo jets take off and vanish out of site over the coastal mountain range that separated the airport from the Pacific Ocean; I would sit there and daydream about the far off land that the plane might be headed to. Were they going to Japan? Maybe they were headed to Australia or China. I would sit and watch and it seemed like time just stood still.

That curiosity never waned as I got older. I would still get in that airport even as a teen and young adult and walk over to the international terminal just to see the guests arriving from various foreign countries and just wonder who they were and where they were from and why were they here? I knew that someday I would be the one arriving through customs and it was just a matter of time.

Well..fast forward. I did travel domestically through my college years and on into my corporate careers after graduation. Since college and life took me away from my home state of California, I found myself being a tour guide for those friends of mine wanting to travel from the midwest out to the west coast. I found that I had a knack for arranging different aspects of trips for friends and co-workers so much so that many co-workers would come to me first for flight and hotel suggestions before they would eventually call our corporate travel agent to officially book their trip. The light bulb started to go off a bit when I found out that I was basically doing the travel agent’s job and all he/she was doing was taking the order. But I was not yet open to where destiny was trying to take me even though most of my co-workers jokingly would say...”you should be the travel agent for our company.”

The destiny bulb was starting to flicker, but not fully lighting up as of yet... (to be continued)

Stay in the Moment

How many of you are like Clark W. Griswold when it comes to travel? Do you have a checklist of your must-see items and every minute of the trip scheduled down to the “T?” That sort of vacation planning makes me think of the Griswold’s in National Lampoon’s “Vacation” movie. Clark had everything planned out that he wanted his family to see so much so that the schedule trumped any sort of enjoyment at those sites.

Are your vacations like that to some degree? Does the schedule become so rigid that you fail to fully take in the things that are seeing and doing on your trip? If that is the case, here is my tip for you...stay in the moment.

Looking back at my years of traveling and the different locations I have visited, the things that I remember the most are those moments when I was fully engulfed by my surroundings. For example, I have been to Jamaica. Now you would think that the beach or the lush tropical rainforest would be the things I remember the most about that beautiful Country. I remember them and how beautiful they were, but that was just part of the trip. One of the most memorable moments on that trip was the ride my wife and took with our private driver to the resort. His name was Perry. He was full of life. He helped us get a vision of his country through explaining the Jamaican philosophy through speech and music. That short 30 minute ride made me see his homeland and his people and we will never forget Perry and it was a moment where we were fully engaged and not just watching things pass by out the window of his car. Time seemed to move much slower during that trip even after we arrived at the resort.

Other examples include standing in a small town at the base of Mt Fuji and watching the uniformed school children make their way from school to home. Our ultimate stop naturally was the half way point up Mt Fuji, but that small travel break in that tiny Japanese village brings back such a vivid memory and it was one where I stopped and just observed life going on around me. That does not mean that I do not remember or cherish my time actually up on Mt Fuji, but it shows that the journey held as much importance as the destination because I allowed myself to stay in the moment no matter where we were during the trip.

Are you seeing my point? So many get caught up with getting to each destination so they can check it off their list that they lose sight of the journey itself. Stay in the moment no matter where you are on your trip. Maybe it is a side trip in a small town to eat a meal on your trip. Stay in the moment and look around and you might be surprised what you will see that will make a lasting memory. I promise you that if you slow things down to that level, your trips will end up being less stressful and much more enjoyable and memorable.

Do you have moments and memories like that from your trips? If so...I would love for you to share them so please comment and become a follower of my blog as well.

A Traveler's Journey Through Pictures

Wanted to share my travel and life's journey through picture and song. I captured the places that I have visited and seen in my life to help me appreciate where I am and where I have been.

One Traveler's Journey Through Japan

It felt like a dream as I made the 14 hour trip from the U.S. I had day-dreamed as a child of someday visiting this place. The reality is now setting in with me. I am here. I make my way through the corridors of Narita International Airport and I am already struck with the visuals and sounds. The many styles of Japanese writing are all staring at me. It is not long before I am reminded that I am now the visitor. This is not my home. As I make my way to the train, I can already see how some stop to take a look at who I am and maybe even conjure up in their own mind of where I am from. I assume they think I am from America, but later I understand the vastness of the city of Tokyo and the cultural diversity found there as well. Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain etc are all represented in the melting pot that is Tokyo.

But I am not headed for Tokyo. My journey is one beyond the comfort of such a big city where I can somehow blend in. I was used to being a chameleon since I was raised so close to San Francisco and spent so much time being one of the masses, a native even. My train ride would take me a to a place where I would be not only be the spectator, but also the watched. It was a city removed from Tokyo and with its own identity. It was famous for its own reasons and sites, yet few westerners ever walked it streets or frequented its shops and restaurants. The train ride is now etched in my memory forever. I will never forget the young girl who was in charge of providing food and drink during the trip from her little cart. I will no doubt never forget how patient she was with me as I held their currency out in my hand and trusted her to only take what was due her for my first Japanese coke. I was acutely aware of the sounds that you heard on the journey. Sounds I had yet to fully understand.

Thankfully the English language is still being taught as their second language in their schools. I was greeted with such warmth and courtesy. I had learned already that some of my pictures and dreams that I had held in my mind about Japan were indeed true. The bows. The thank you’s. The respect. It was prevalent at the outset. I was escorted to my room and made aware that service in Japan is expected and not something to be awarded. Tips were refused and a nice courteous bow bid me goodnight.

I was now headed for the more stressful part of the trip, which was to navigate one of Japan’s busier stations outside of Metro Tokyo. I can only explain it by equating it to a sea, a sea of men and women. At times I was swimming up stream as I tried to determine which train, which staircase to take, which line? I made my way to the platform and there it was again; the sounds, the chimes. They always then led to an announcement in which I was always thankful that I could make out the town or station name which gave me confidence that I was soon about to board the right train.

I did notice the stares but soon enjoyed the fact that I was the traveler now. I was the one on the journey.

The journey was well on its way. I now found myself sitting down, shoes off, a part of an experience that I could not have imagined. The owner of the small historic home, converted now to small restaurant tells my interpreter that she cannot recall any other westerner ever stepping through her doors. She smiled and bowed to let me know how honored she felt, but it was me feeling humbled and honored. One course after another made its way to my plate. I was granted immediate respect due to my advanced chopstick training that I did before stepping foot on the plane ride over. I learned and observed that food in Japan is not just something consumed; food is considered a cultural experience, an art form and a societal event. It was a meal covering 2 hours, but filled with a lifetime worth of memories.

On the walk back to my hotel, I was given my answer to the sounds that I heard every day and all around the city. I walked to a street corner and a chime let me know when it was time to cross. I came to another corner and a different chime let me know it was time to yield. I then noticed the street walks were lined with what seemed to be a form of Braille. It was at that moment that it hit me. I was witnessing a country that had built an infrastructure around a part of their society that was suffering from the results of war. The atomic bomb left a legacy of blindness so much so that their society needed ways of going about their daily routine. The chimes or bells I was hearing in the train station were letting those who could not see know that a train was either coming or going. The chimes in the streets were protecting their people from walking into traffic. The Braille on the walkways was giving freedom to those that some consider handicapped.

It would be these sounds and images that I would carry with me forever upon my return back home. I would forever remember the sites of seeing the tall skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo then contrasted with the ancient shrine in a quiet section of Omiya. I would remember the masses being pushed on a crowded commuter train by those designated to do so and recognized by their uniform and white gloves and then compare that to being able to see the beginning of a wedding ceremony and dress dating back thousands of years at a Shinto Temple. I will never forget the bows, the respect, and the honor given me just for walking into their shop or eating in their restaurant.

As I make myself comfortable in my airline seat preparing for the 14-hour return trip home, I cannot help from looking and re-looking out the window again. I am asking myself, “Was I really here?” “Did this just happen?” And then, almost as a way of answering my own question, I look back as we ascend out of the Tokyo area and off in the horizon is what some told me would be a rarity; I see above the clouds the entire top half of Mt Fuji. It was true. I was in Japan.

This journey changed me. It shaped my perspective and opened the world to me…