The Nomadic Gypsy

7 months was long, really long. At one point I escaped momonga and done a 2 week trip around the neighbor Island Kyushu. I took a tent, sleeping bag and a long-board and hitched my way around. I hurt my foot on the first day....

My hitchhiking trip turned into trains and buses trip but I still went around the island and experienced a bit if kyushu life.

So to give you a brief travel log I started early from momonga guest house and headed towards the far coast. I still slept in my tent as well as some hostels. It was an adventure let's put it. Yet it was the adventure I thought I was doing from the beginning of leaving Australia. The small bag, tent, live of the beaten path yet my journey has been little like this, why?
Ill do it again.

This question may not be answered and life is great nether less. I could chose this life now, change my baggage, change mt trips. But at what cost. I'm half way I say. Bit of this bit of that. Jack of all trades ha ( hate that word) part Gypsy part tourist.
My work ties into how I travel, with what I pack and how I plan. I adapt to where I am and how I move with both primitive and modern ways. I've done this before in other life's I just know it. My knowledge and sense is there I just chose when to use it and when not in the right moments.
Yet I'm a consumer just like you all still... This does worry me.

So I arrive back and party aside (was no party) it was time to plan winter and getting some work and now that I had a companion I had to think of 2 not 1.
We had landed a job at a hotel resort in Hakuba, top one in town with all the Perks... All the Perks.
Hakuba was located in what I call the Japanese Alps, fucking amazing. Best mountains ever.
Erina had a car so it was easy to travel there, not to mention around Shikoku when we wanted to.

Did I mention Shikoku have amazing onsens and really good udon, I didn't so bare with my on my catch up blogs as I'm an idiot for not doing this Earlier! I KNOW.

Before we left Erina left her job so we had to pack all her stuff in this little car. We then said our goodbyes and left for Matsuyama city where we stayed at a really nice guest house. From there we caught a ferry across to the Main Island Honshu In yamaguchi prefecture where Erina family had a home, man was it big compared to those little city homes. Here we had a place for free for almost a month. I also met Erina's mother and was feed like a king. Life was good, too good that I just became slack. I didn't feel like doing anything and this affected my time with Erina and our connection.
Sex was dead and even though I wanted it I didn't want to do anything for it.. Lazy or what. Our connection was already dying and I felt guilty for convincing her to leave with me. You see she is a Humble travel less stay at home person as most Japanese women are and I'm like fuck that life get me out of here.
We enjoyed what we could at a married for like forever state. Seeing some tourist sites and outside areas and enjoying cooking food together. That was my favorite.

Affection was lacking still as I was tough to hold my feelings in were as she had to realize and get longer gooey. I just didn't want to cuddle or have to look after someone like that. Not that how she was is bad I just didn't and couldn't handle it well.

We eventually left and headed to Tokyo. Along the way we stopped at many places. Erina stayed at her cousins in once city and i slept on the car that night, really strange why but hey. i liked it. We made a visit to Hiroshima and caught up with some friends from momonga and spent some nights there also which was lovely.saw the bomb sights which of course was depressing. When we came to Himeji we met a lovely couple that couch surfed us and showed us the beautiful Himeji castle and all its glory.

It was really just another castle and I'd seen many already, but it was the nicest by far and the gardens where absolutely breathtaking. A place you must see!

Kobe and Osaka was out next stop and here we stayed at a little hostel on the edge right near the outlet shops. Kobe was nothing special and I'd seen Osaka before but we had to get some good Kobe beef cooked for us and visit donburi Street in Osaka where all the food was. Alo found this funny broucher in the hostel about Perth, ha, funny
Food was our way to relate and enjoy out time together, why just that.
Every time Erina ate her face lit up with excitement. Those Japanese eyes would go from a squint to larger then a westerners pupil. Oshiiso would be repeatedly said every time food would come in contact. A 28 year old would turn into a 2 year old, pulling at my arm. I want I want I want!
As much as I was a old bastard and it annoyed me it reminds me of the adult I didn't want to be and how I wish I could of just lightened up and done the same.
Was it my energy, did I not think the food looked good or was i just containing my excitement for the last hours of my death. I'll never fucking know. I'll just remember that Japanese face and the experience it leaves me.

With that we leave and make a full day mission on the motorway for Tokyo. We've run out of funds and need to get back soon. Traveling in Japan is not cheap Weather it's car, train, bus or hitching.
In the late night we finally arrived to Erina's family home in Saitama prefecture, just above greater Tokyo.

A few more days rest then of to Hakuba

rafting madness

snowboard setup

crazy stuffed village

long board madness

Buddha

sneaky tent at a old castle

sneaky ramen

another sneaky tent site

nagasaki

crew i met in nagaski

huge volcano of kagoshima

nagasaki bomb site

Kumamoto castle

iwakuni bridges

Hiroshima bomb thingy

Miyajima

Himeji castle

Donburi street

back in Tokyo

Best dam thing ever!

Hakuba

OK, I forgot or it seemed more I just stopped giving a shit about blogs and updating everyday about future king traveling life and shit. It's hard to write and travel. Like the list of constant paying attention and attending to and then having to sit down and blog, dude, let me sleep. HAHA.

OK, let's talk a out my time on Shikoku island, from start to finish. Where I worked a little job, fell in love and got in trouble. Here we go.

It's late at night, around 9pm and my 6 hour bus ride from Osaka has just arrived in thus remote town, Awa akida. Google it. I can see silhouettes of mountains in the back ground but can't make out the beauty, or horror yet. Waiting time. I wait for my pick up as a lost tourist in a country town does strolling up and down the bus 'station' (side of the road) I make regular visits into the shops, use the disabled toilet as a bathroom, enjoy the mechanical butt washer they have built inside the toilet accessibly.
Then another shadows appears from beneath the mountains coming out of the shopping centre. One quite not so as large as a mountain and actually smaller the a adult human. It's a German girl, her name is Sophie same as my sister's. Greetings and apologies aside I load the car with what I call luggage to then meet 2 other ladies arriving with a trolley full of shopping. Another German lady and a Japanese girl, Erina.

By now I'm walking up mountains, finding crabs and exploring forests yeah yeah yeah. All familiar?

No let's skip that part.

I was in a place of beauty, I'd found my new home for the next 7 months of my life. Yeah you heard, 7 months.
And you wanna know something else, I slept with all three of those girls... Terrible ain't I.
One of them became my girlfriend if it makes you feel better.. It doesn't for me.

So I started help exchanging at this cute little guest house and had a ball. Done little hours, explored, socialized meet people and learnt new crazy ways to make wooden things... Really.
The guest house was all me because it was hospitality all in one. Service, cleaning, cooking. Was a dream. However most were the women's job and not the man's.. He did outside work. Sexist, no. Gender equality, no. Just culture really. But it was the way and boy did I argue the point many times.

So spring was leaving and summer approaching. The days of wood working for the outside extension on the guest house was slowly being completed. The hunt for drift wood dieing in there numbers because of our hands and the rapids becoming peaceful after the spring melt of and the rise of tourists for the summer get away.
Ah yes, rapids. My most memorable experience.

So I got another job in my time on Shikoku, rafting assistant! Pretty much cart all the stuff, setup, take pictures and cook food and if your lucky you may, May get to go on the raft! ( I did many times btw)
Let's mentioned the team I worded with. Awesome bunch. The leaders were Babi and Nishan then Mashi the most experienced rafter with muscles like Rambo, baikin the new guy, akira the other bitch boy and there was another rafting guide... Who I forgot ( sorry guy) he was cool. They were all cool dudes and working with them was such a thrill.

My job. Every morning I would make taco and rice which was cook rice, make mince meat and cut salad as well as brew tea and pack camera equipment, raft equipment and setup our customer area. We would then have a good meeting about number of guests, water levels and weather conditions. This was very important and really brought the team together. Then we head off I the mini truck and pump up the rafts. Dude was this a muscle work out. I was like dead after the first one and times we had to do 5! With that done we setup lunch station which was half way and head back to greet the customers.
Brief customers, drop them off. Get a sneaky coffee from the 7/11 head to first photo shoot, back in the van, next shoot and lunch time, pack up lunch and hall it up a mountain, next shoot. Oh yeah did I mention ever spot I had to climb up and down mountain gorge.. Its a work out
Get a ice cream, txt, organized photos, take last shots. Welcome customers back, pack up and drive them back. Get tea and photos ready and pack down, finishing meeting. Quite a general consistent thing the Japanese have going for work.
So everyday I worked, unless the course changed then it was further we traveled.

But the rapids, man there deadly and did I take some great shots and also see some awesome stacks.

Did I mention having guest house is way profitable when you do rafting as well.

During my time at Momonga guest house i met some really awesome people, many i forget their names however Fion was the closet. He was a young English kid that i got along really. He was a awesome artist. then, well I got close to this lady. We stayed the longest there and it was normal I guess. But what's it like dating a local when your a foreigner?
It's a challenge every way you look at it yet it's no different to a normal relationship back home. Besides the culture difference, language barrier, gender inequality, old people yeah it's crazy.

So I got close to this girl and we had a thing and I'll say right now we did not get to do it all the time and it's due to cultural ways and we'll, think I'm getting old and falling out of love.

Let's go back, I left Australia because of a failed relationship that broke my soul leaving me with that unloved feeling g and no hope goal, that's until I paid my debt, packed my things and bailed.
However it still has a grip on me to this day. It's was not going to work with her.
I don't feel I can love another yet and loving myself has been a struggle in itself. How was i to do this.

Let's get back.
She was lovely, beautiful and wonderful in every way. I really enjoyed my time and the passion was there for a moment however it turned sort of south into a friendship or everyday acquaintance. We spent everyday together it was all too much even if we did have our own rooms we saw each other every day for over a year.
This is what fucked it. I needed freedom, breathing space and even though she never choked it I still wanted it. Plus I felt single and wanted to mingle with all these new beautiful people.

But the real reason I think was the sex. It wasn't real. I just wanted sex and I couldn't have it my way. I was selfish also. I didn't want feelings. She wanted this as I wanted to stay away from it. I felt like I used her... And I did I guess.
But I never intended too. We just held on even though we couldn't and never would give each other what we truly wanted....

Any ways i had some family come visit me, Lewis, my older cousin. was really great to see each other and hang in another country. We ate and drunk so much. he was totally jealous i where and what i was doing also. I also must mention that my Japanese was terrible still at this point that instead of getting over the hurdle of the confusion i just gave up. which was sad as that really wasted time of what and how i could be learning. i did learn manners and i guess you could call, general lingo. like i can act like a Japanese but speak fuck all. useless. i just suck at learning and remembering. Getting a girlfriend didn't help by the way...i ended up teaching more English then learning.
Oh, and i started playing guitar a bit too.