旅も身近なところに

Holiday anecdotes?

I still feel as if I'm on a holiday now!

Seriously though, even though I've been living in Japan now for just over 4 years I am constantly finding things that surprise me, or open my eyes.

I try and go back to Australia at least once a year. It's great to get back, but it eats up my paid vacation time and leaves me with very little dosh to go to the corners of the earth exploring.

To compensate I try to take advantage of my time here and explore my immediate surroundings.

A little while back I tried walking around the entire Yamanote line "for the lulz" (to use the parlance of our times :). While I planned to cover the entire line in the one day I only managed to make it from Akihabara to Shibuya. I found that there were too many interesting sights and sounds, not to mention that it is hell to try and navigate in certain places without a map! Disappointed at my lack of progress, I had planned to go out the next day but muscle pains kept me from completing the course until the next weekend.

I wouldn't really recommend this as a 'holiday alternative' over the winter season, unless, of course, you don't mind catching a cold!