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Continue reading →: Why Jet Lag Has More to Do With Light Than With FlyingFor a long time, I thought jet lag was just part of the deal. You cross half the planet, you suffer a bit, and eventually your body catches up. Nothing more to think about. For me, traveling from Japan to Europe was usually fine. A little tiring, yes, but manageable.…
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Continue reading →: Just a Short Drive into Another WorldYesterday, my wife and I drove to the Michi no Eki in Mino for no particular reason. We just wanted to get out of the house, see some snow, see some mountains, and feel a bit of winter. Living where we do, close to the Aichi border, the landscape is…
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Continue reading →: The Snow Viewing WindowThis morning, I looked outside through the shoji and the engawa and noticed that it had snowed during the night. Our garden was covered in a clean, white layer, changing its familiar shapes without really changing the place itself. What I was actually looking through were not just shoji, but…
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Continue reading →: The Most Dangerous Train in Japan for Lazy Winter DaysJust when I thought Japan had reached peak coziness, it casually raised the bar again. We all know the kotatsu. That magical low table that turns winter into a highly questionable productivity season. Once your legs are under it, your motivation to move drops to approximately zero. I have written…
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Continue reading →: Growing Like a GardenThere are two ways to grow. You can add something new, or you can remove what no longer belongs. For a long time, I thought growth was mostly about adding. Learning more. Doing more. Becoming more. More skills, more plans, more goals, more effort. And while that is true, it…
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Continue reading →: Goals Are Not Boxes to TickEvery year, many people write down goals. Many others never do. Some find them motivating. Others find them restrictive or even pointless. And yet, psychology has been studying goals, habits, and change for a long time, and the results are surprisingly consistent. Goals, it turns out, are not nearly as…
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Continue reading →: From Learning to Fly to Learning Why I Fly2025 was the year I learned how to fly FPV. But in a way, this story started earlier. It started in October 2024 with the DJI Neo. That little drone was my first real entry point into FPV. The goal was never to stay with it forever. The goal was…
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Continue reading →: A Swiss Cheese, A Dutch Tool, A Japanese KitchenToday I unpacked a small object that traveled with me from the Netherlands to Japan. A Swiss cheese curler. Along with it, a piece of Tête de Moine that somehow survived the journey home. As I turned the handle and watched the cheese form those delicate little rosettes, the familiar…
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Continue reading →: How Japanese People Choose Where to Traveland Why It Feels So Different From International Tourism. Living in Gifu has quietly changed the way I look at travel in Japan. Not because Gifu is famous. It is not. Not because it is easy to explain to someone abroad. It rarely is. But because watching how Japanese people…
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Continue reading →: Warmth Is Not AutomaticNot all at once, but slowly. The air inside the house grew heavier. The floors colder. The kind of cold that settles into wood and tatami long before you consciously decide that it is time to heat the house. I live in a traditional Japanese home in rural Japan. Houses…
This blog is for thoughtful adults who are starting again — in learning, creativity, or life — and want to grow steadily without noise or pressure.
Here you’ll find daily reflections and practical guides shaped by lived experience. The focus is on learning through doing: building consistency, adapting to change, and finding clarity in everyday practice.
The stories and guides here come from real processes — creative experiments, hands-on projects, life in rural Japan, working with nature, and learning new skills step by step. Nothing is rushed. Nothing is polished for performance. The aim is steady progress, honest reflection, and practical insight you can actually use.
If you’re curious about life in Japan, learning new skills at your own pace, or finding a calmer, more intentional way forward, you’re in the right place.
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