Starting with a spontaneous ticket purchase, I made my way to visiting Asia for the first time (now 5/7 continents visited). The post got a bit long, but enjoy and maybe it will share some inspiration for your next travel adventure.

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So, one day I was browsing airline prices and ended up buying a budget ticket to Japan. The culture of Japan is refined, beautiful, and has an engaging energy. It is a perfect blend of an ancient tradition mixed with a quiet modern voice.

A few weeks into my plans I was telling friends and family about my upcoming adventures. It just so happens that my childhood friend Amrita was on board to join me for part of the trip! I’ve been getting used to travelling alone for some time now, so it was a great relief and happiness to have a friend to share the experience with – and such a close one 🙂

A few months before the trip I started studying the Japanese language and culture. I tried my best, but the complexities of this language and culture takes months and years to properly gain a grasp.

As many of you know, I’ve been off and on a vegetarian for a while, and officially for about a year now. With my studies about Japan, I did some research about food options – particularly about vegetarian dishes, which was going to be some feat. I decided this: 1. I’m about 90% sure that I’ll mess up with ordering a meat dish and 2. you eat what you are served. But oh, the food looked amazing and I was excited to try it 😀

Tickets in hand and armed with some language skills, I departed from NZ and Amrita from Houston with a destination to Tokyo….let’s go!

Day 1

After some long flights from both directions (yes, NZ may look close, but let me tell you….it is far from everywhere) both Amrita and I arrived in Tokyo and met up at the airport terminal – yes! hardest part is over! We took the Narita Express train into Tokyo and made our hostel up in Taito. With a quick trip to the supermarket to play a game of “guess what you picked out from the supermarket,” it was straight to bed after our long travels. Nippon e youkoso – welcome to Japan!

Day 2

With a good night sleep (minus the snores from the neighbour bunk), we set out for our first day out on the town in Japan. Man, it was hot. Here in Dunedin it can snow one minute then be sunny and hot the next. I expected the cool autumn breeze of October. I guess I’ve been in cold Dunedin too long. But I deviate, back to Tokyo.

From our hostel, we made our way to the train station with a destination for Shibuya. Just outside the train station we were met with the famed Shibuya Crossing where a few moments after the pedestrian light turned on the street turned into a sea of people crossing every which direction.

We then headed towards the trendy centre of Harajuku. Just before getting to Yoyogi Park, we stumbled upon a festival. We wandered through the stalls contemplating what to eat for lunch. To this day I’m not sure, but I think we settled on an okonomiyaki and two pints (note that it was only about 10:30 AM – but it was the norm here, plus we are on holiday!).

Bellies full, we took a stroll through Yoyogi Park before turning onto the Harajuku streets. There were sales everywhere for everything! At the end of the street we turned down the most famous Takeshita Street where a small alley transforms into a series of shops, each with flashing lights and the trendiest clothing fashions. Everything was kawai (cute) and there were so many colours!

With sensories overloaded, we moved back into Yoyogi Park and made our way towards the Meiji Jingu Shrine, arguably one of the most famous in Tokyo. Built in 1920, the Shinto shrine houses the ashes of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. The path first crosses under a huge wooden torii (gate) surrounded by the forest which deafens the sounds of the surrounding metropolis. On our way to the main temple shrine we passed by a wall of straw sake barrels, each designed unique – making a colourful wall of art.

Passing under a few more torii along the way, the forest opened up to the main shrine entrance. Upon entrance, you were prompted with the ritual using the spring water to cleanse your hands and mouth. Inside the complex had opened up into a bright square filled with shrines – thank you and blessing dolls, prayer tablets (ema) hung around an ancient cherry tree, and the elaborate building and interior of the main shrine.

We were studying the architecture of the buildings (so beautiful) and then a man tapped us on the shoulder and mentioned the wedding that was about to take place. I’ll tell you what, between the pop up festival and impromptu wedding, we were getting lucky with this freestyle travel technique.

After snapping a few photos of the wedding, we continued our walking tour of Tokyo to take a breather in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Beautiful lines everywhere (artsy enthusiasm…). It had been a long day of walking so we curled up in the grass and took a short nap as the last few minutes of sun rays shown in the sky. Before long it was dark (as it was the short days of autumn) and we headed on off to downtown.

For a fantastic (and free) view of the city, we headed to the Government Building Observatory Deck, floor 43 for a panoramic night light view. Getting a photo was a bit difficult from the glare of the indoor lights, but what a great view. Tokyo is huge, and there are lights everywhere. There are tennis courts on top of buildings, lit up gardens, and late night office workers. Still a bit tired from the jet lag and just plain MILES of walking we did earlier that day, we decided to take the lift down to the ground level and make our way back to the hostel on the JR line.

Day 3

It was an early morning today as we made our way south to the infamous Tsukiji Fish Market! From down the street you could hear the hustle and bustle of the market operations. We weren’t able to make the tuna auction, but there was still loads to see. With hungry stomachs we started making our way through the maze of stalls selling everything from vegetables to the freshest seafood you’ve ever seen – octopus, oysters, clams, squid. It was all so beautiful to see it in its raw form – even as a vegetarian. We even saw what real wasabi looks like – who would have thought? So basically, our breakfast consisted of snacking on free samples as we made our ways down the alley – yum.

I can’t even describe it to the full extent. There were so many colours and smells and tastes. Maybe some photos do it best.

Taking a break from our feast, we turned around and happened on a small shrine just across the street. (You will see that this will become a theme – getting mildly lost in space and then happening on some pretty cool little places).

Culture taken in, back to taste testing. We would often say to each other “try this! try that!” – super proud of Amrita for getting adventurous and giving squid, oysters, sardines, and some other questionable fish a try – yeah girl!

Today was also the start of another tradition – ice cream. In Japan, we had about an ice cream a day – possibly two. We had to try all the new flavours, plus it was pretty hot for the autumn season. I’ll have to give you a rundown of some of the flavours: Vanilla, Green Tea, Marron (Chestnut), Red Bean, Black Sesame (my favorite!), Strawberry, Grape, and Mango.

Anyways, on with the show. We bought some onigiri (rice balls) for snacking later – basically guessing what the fillings were, a surprise for later.

Walking back towards the JR station, we came across quite a few temples, stopping in for a look at each and continued on our way (I told you it was a theme!). This was the time I also took a moment to appreciate the bike culture in Tokyo. Bikes lined every street – and no one even had to lock them up. More on that later.

We hopped off the train at Ueno Station and headed across the street to the park. We thought this might be a small city park by the train station. No. It is huge – filled with temples, cafes, and even a zoo. Needless to say, we decided to spend most the day here. After all, we had gotten up quite early and had a full walking day yesterday.

Our first stop at the park was our introduction to the red torii gates (which will repeatedly come up later). They are amazingly beautiful for such a simple structure.

It’s quite cool to feel the spiritual connection, whatever it may be – it is peacefulness within yourself and your surroundings. There was one modern type memorial that did catch my eye. It was for peace and was strung with thousands of rainbow coloured cranes (I made 1,000 cranes once as per the legend). It was just interesting to see the modern pop of colour amongst the faded reds, golds, and stone of the temples.

Strolling a few hours further, we stopped in the middle of the park at the coffee shop – Starbucks, there are thousands of these in Japan. It was so well laid out (as is all of Japan) and very relaxing to sip coffee and tea on a beautiful day. To make it even more enjoyable, a group of local musicians started playing some folk music, and we even had a lady wearing a costume of entirely leopard print get up and start doing some cha cha moves.

Feeling rested and refreshed, we headed across the opposite way from Ueno Station down into Ameyoko. Wow. There were tons of people in those tight alleyways visiting the food stalls, corner bag and clothing salesmen stores, and game shops. Well, it has been said you have to go into one of the game complexes if you visit Japan. Let me tell you something about them. They are closed off behind glass sliding doors. From the outside, everything seems normal until the doors open and you are hit (actually physically feel the push of the air) by a wave of so many sounds, clicks, buttons pressing. It is quite an experience just standing there alone. It was now or never, so we ventured in. Amrita has a liking for the character Gudetama (I think that’s right?), so we searched for a claw machine to win a prize. There were a lot of close tries, but we thought we’d cut our losses while ahead – or neutral rather. Experience – check.

We further ambled through the streets, checking out all the shops until our stomachs wanted some food to satisfy. We decided on noodles for dinner and went to a quick serve udon bar. I may have piled a bit too much ginger into my mix, but it was the perfect bite.

We window shopped some more until the sun went down and the place erupted with strings and flashing lights everywhere. All that excitement must have made us hungry because we went and got second dinner. The great thing about deciding where to eat is that restaurants often have fake food plates outside so you can see what you’ll be eating. It matched perfectly!

Bellies full and feet tired, back to the hostel for our last night in Tokyo.

Day 4

Once again, today was an early morning so we could catch the train and first time shinkansen (bullet train) to Fuji! Mount Fuji is virtually only visible in the mornings before the clouds take over, so it is best to get there early. On the shinkansen we met a guy who just so happens to be the 14th or 15th richest person in Japan (dependent on the year) – he is the vice president of Adidas Japan. Who knows, maybe I’ll be flying to Japan first class sometime soon?

Anyways, the last train change to Fuji is on a local train (much slower than the shinkansen). To be honest this was probably my favorite train ride – a small, rickety train with some fantastic country views. The wheat fields were an amazing golden colour (I feel a song coming on).

At our stop we got off and followed the signs (and took a few lucky direction guesses) to get up to the Chureito Pagoda. A massive amount of stairs proved for some beautiful views at the top. We caught Fuji at the right time as the clouds hung in a circle around the middle of the mountain, still keeping the top and bottom visible. I must say, it has quite an impressive reach.

On our way back down we took a route through the local village and saw all the beautiful domestic gardens and flowers. After a bit of a roundabout trail – or rather just some extra sightseeing around town – we got back on the train and continued the long journey onto Kyoto.

We arrived in Kyoto just before dark and headed down to our hostel for the next few nights. Eyes on dinner, we hit the town in search of the recommended okonomiyaki place. Everything inside the restaurant was entirely in Japanese – some of that studying came in handy! We sat down with our cushions on the floor around a griddle table. We watched back as they put together the different layers of egg, cabbage, carrot, noodles (mine soba, Amrita’s udon) with the special sauces on top. They then brought it over to our griddle. SO GOOD – this may have been my favorite food in Japan, plus I’ll get to make them in my cooking class later.

By the end we were overly full yet satisfied. We stumbled back to the hostel, made some friends and got in bed for a good night’s sleep for some major temple sightseeing tomorrow.

Day 5

Woke up, ate some Japanese breakfast (potato salad is a major breakfast item) and headed out for a day of temple touring. The first stop was Fushimi Inari Taisha, a mountain with thousands of orange toriis lining the path. Here is where I took way too many pictures. The lighting was perfect and we were able to get some good shots in times with low people traffic.

When most people turned back about halfway up the mountain, we decided to keep going to the top. Though it was a climb, it was worth it to see all the sub shrines and extend our stay meandering through the torii gates. All in all, it was a pretty good start to the morning. On our way down through the shrine grounds we saw the brilliant oranges and greens that coloured the temples. Outside the shrine the streets were lined with vendors and food stalls. The sun was shining in full force by now so we stopped for some shaved ice to chill us down as we walked through the streets and onto the next temple – grape for Amrita, lemon for me.

Kyoto is a very walkable, and touristy, town. It is mildly easy to plan a day of temple touring. Next, we moved on with the goal of finding Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Before we got there we ended up stumbling upon another temple (unsure of the name). One of the buildings on the grounds was the Hall of Endless Time (or something like that). It was filled with all these tiny boxes stacked on top of each other. Amrita and I came to the conclusion that they must be for remembering loved ones who’ve died. Anyone know?

Behind this complex was the path up to Kiyomizu-de ra. However, the temple was closed due to a landslip caused by the recent flooding just about a week before we got to Japan on holiday. Regardless, we headed towards Yasaka Shrine. We then did a quick tour of a few different temples as closing time approached (once again, just happening on sights).

One of my favorite stumbles was the Butoh Temple. I think it would be amazing to study for a few months. The mindfulness of it is something to strive for. We sat on the steps which had soaked up the warmth from the sun and watched as the sun disappeared.

Night fell and we spent the evening walking around the streets of Gion. The district holds the historic culture and gave opportunity to go into authentic and touristy shops and share in some conversations. After a long walk back to the hostel, we called it a night after a pretty exhausting day.

Day 6

Today we had a slow start to the morning. I was pretty tired and Amrita had a migraine. We decided to give the day a shot and head over to the bamboo forest. A short walk from the train station took us to the path to the bamboo forest. The forest had a slight eeriness due to the cold grey sky and tall bamboo that blocked the light, except for partial emittance. It reminded me of the bamboo forest at Rutgers. Amrita wasn’t feeling so well so she took an hour nap while I continued exploring.

I’m not sure how I got to all the places I did, but I had a very productive hour – I guess my tramping instincts kicked in. I walked over two bridges to see the entrance of the monkey zoo, boats paddling across the river, contemporary art shops lining the streets, and some zen temples along the way. Then it was back to meet up with Amrita.

We decided on getting ice cream then splitting ways for a few hours so Amrita could have a nap to clear her migraine. I was then off to the Golden Temple for the afternoon. When I got to the temple there was a mass of Chinese school children. I talked with a few of them, shared some high fives. I later learned that it was the holidays in China and it is tradition for school groups to take a trip abroad. Back to the temple. It was a perfectly hot day and the gold panelling from the temple glimmered in the sunlight. I walked around the rest of the grounds filled with small gardens and some interesting statues.

After a snack of some matcha rice dumplings I headed back across town to see what Amrita had gotten up to. Long story short, we both fell asleep for a few hours. I guess we needed to recharge from all our adventuring the past few days.

Waking up as the sun was going down, we set out in search of dinner and some nightlife. We decided to make our way to the area around Kyoto Station, where the scene was filled with lights, costumes, sales, street vendors, everything.

When hunger took over we ended up going to the underground mall in search of food, where we walked the halls looking at the different displays. Basically, we went shopping for food with our eyes. It was grand – and yummy! Oh yes, tonight was also when we had our sake 🙂

On our way back to the hostel, we passed through Kyoto Station and took a detour just to see what was at the top of those stairs. Wow. Who would have thought a train station would have such a fantastic skylight garden. It quite reminded us of Times Square in NYC with a staircase of changing light pictures.

With a successful detour had, we slipped into bed to wake early for tomorrow’s day.

Day 7

We had some toast and pastries – oh the pastries – for breakkie (oops… kiwi is coming out..I mean breakfast) and hopped on the train bound for Osaka. We stowed our bags at the train station locker and found ourselves on the path to Osaka Castle.

They weren’t kidding when they called this a castle – there was even a moat. We walked through the wall and climbed up the path to the top where it was time for another ice cream – this time black sesame…yum! We took a break and enjoyed some people watching before heading back down and out of the castle. We decided to try an alternate route back to the train station and happened upon another festival, what luck. It started with a road of food stalls and turned into a samauri competition with foam swords. Plus, all this was happening in the middle of the business district?! Seeing it was about halfway through the afternoon, we headed back to the train station to head towards the city centre and find our hostel for the night.

After getting settled in, we went on search for some grub. We headed in the direction of Osaka Station where we found a “secret passage” into an underground market, part of which had a variety of restaurants with plates and dishes displayed out front. After some hunting, we sat down for a good meal complete with a taste of sake. With what little energy we had left, we walked around the main city centre. Walking around the station, I heard some vaguely familiar music. Searching for the source, we found a few breakdancers and hip hop dancers using the reflection from the statue as a mirror. It was a great feeling to experience the vibrancy of street dancing again, as it is almost non-existent in Dunedin. This may have been my favorite part of the day. Tuckered out from the travelling and good bit of food in our stomachs we headed back to sleep for the night.

Day 8

Today was Amrita’s departure 😦 We woke up early for an early morning breakfast of pastries on the rooftop. We then headed out to the train station where Amrita set off on the shinkansen back to Tokyo and Narita Airport and I to find the Tsūtenkaku Tower.

From here, I met up with 4 others for my Japanese cooking class! Now, I was very much looking forward to this. Japanese food is so yummy! The class was held in a small apartment set out with a table set with five stations.

We started out making the dough the traditional way by kneading with our feet (don’t worry, it was in a plastic bag) and tucked it away in a warm spot for later. Then we started on making the dashi to be used in the later dishes. Plus we got a quick lesson on making yummy tofu!

Next up was classic yakitori (skewers). Throughout the afternoon we marinated and roasted over the flames while heading onto the final dish – okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki is a classic dish, particularly in Osaka. For class we made it streetfood style – eat on the go. This turned out to be my favorite food while I was in Japan, and there were so many variations.

Three dishes done, it was time to feast! Yum.

After class I made my way to the train station to head into Nara for the night. However, I got sidetracked as I sat and watched a few breakers in the bottom of the station – and eventually joined in a tiny bit!

It was getting dark as I arrived to Nara – the land of deer and temples. Yes, Nara is home to an overpopulation of deer which freely roam the streets, for they know that the tourists supply yummy crackers 😉 I walked a few miles weaving in and out of temples until I reached my hostel/cabin room for the night just as the sun was setting. I met a guy from Germany and one from Portugal staying at the hostel. Everything in Nara closes pretty early, so as dark took over everything shut down. There was one temple that stayed open and had its lanterns lit in the darkest. Myself and my friends headed out for the night to take a look. There was a quiet beauty in the stillness and lack of people.

Having been a long day of eating, traveling, and walking it was time to turn in for the night – although, getting back to the hostel was slightly scary as you would hear deer roaming in the darkness. Lights out.

Day 9

Early up and a good brekkie set me out for a day of temple touring. As I stepped outside, a deer was there to greet me. Nara boasts an amazing array of all different types of temples. Sometimes, it was also good fun to watch the people messing with or getting chased by the deer. For instance, take note of this work squad having a go with the deer crackers.

Temple touring and stumbling upon majestic photo spots for the morning, it was time to travel onto Nagoya. It was a long train ride on the shinkansen and I wanted to make it around before dark since I knew my stay might be a bit hard to find.

Nagoya is not generally considered a hotspot for tourists, so it was really nice to experience “normal” citylife in Japan. I noticed that many did not speak English and I had to get by on my minimal Japanese training and some creative hand signals. Fun fact: the Nagoya Station is one of the largest and tallest in the world.

Anyways, I made it to my stay for the night, dropped off my things and went out to seek a bite to eat. Nagoya is a pretty cool place. It most definitely has an underground arts culture. Everything was beautiful and set out – candles at all the windows, tasteful lighting, and a bunch of fun.

Once again, I ended up in the middle of another festival. This time it was at a temple down the road. There were food stalls, a boxing ring, kids’ games, and a drama play. There were five musicians that lined the back stage, setting the mood for each scene. No words were used, just interpretive dance and a lot of facial expressions.

Well, the next few days were jam packed so I went in for the night to rest up.

Day 10

Bright and early I made my way to Nagoya Station heading north to Kamakura. I stepped off the train, stowed my bag, and walked down the sidestreets to the temples. Kamakura was most definitely a beach town – surfboards, bikes, and cafes. I thought I was going the right way towards Hase Temple, so I turned up this quiet side street. I should have realised since there were no tourists around. I ended up walking up a small hill that opened onto a temple which I later learned was Kosokuji. I walked through the gate and gardens and found a seat overlooking the gardens. In the temple behind me the doors were closed and the monks were chanting while the birds chirped outside. I must say, I think this was one of my favorite places and it was a perfect meditation spot for the day. After a good sit I wandered off down to find Hasedera Temple, which turned out to be only a short walk around the corner.

Man, this place was beautiful. Everywhere you turned was some little statue tucked away, beautifully upkept gardens, and everything was colorful. Oh yes, and the views looked out onto the sea! One really cool thing was the Mani-Guruma which were essentially prayer wheels. You were to walk around in a counterclockwise path and turn each wheel and would receive good fortune at the end. Oh, another good thing – it was vegetarian! Those nikuman (steam bun) were amazing.

I trotted about the temple a bit more – reading and learning. The history was quite fantastic as it is one of the older establishments in Japan. At the end of the path there was even a cave, which was filled with tiny prayer buddhas. Having spent quite a few hours, I headed off to the next destination to see the Great Buddha at Kamakura. It was pretty big I must say – and those feet! Tired and hot, I headed back to the train station. I can honestly say that Kamakura was really a nice place to visit – recommended.

I stepped off the train in Tokyo and headed to my last hostel of my stay which was in Asakusa. I dropped off my stuff and chatted to the front desk guy – ended up inviting him and encouraging him to visit NZ since its awesome for tramping. It had just gotten dark and I was starting to get very hungry. The Asakusa temple was just across the street so I went for a look. Step one was to find some grub. Tonight, ramen was on the menu – because you have to have ramen when you go to Japan. I also tried a highball (?) and had some more Japanese beer.

By the time I finished my meal it was getting quite late so I headed back to the temple to get some good night shots. By then it was off to bed, getting ready for a long day tomorrow.

Day 11

This was an extra early morning start as the train ride (or rides) to Nokogiriyama is quite long. Anyways, after a few transfers I made it, got off the train and used my direction sense to find my way up the mountain. I had run out of signs to follow on the tiny back road and took a moment to regain a sense of direction. There was a group of 5 Japanese guys doing just about the same thing. Apparently I must have looked like I knew where I was (only half right) and they asked me for directions. Since we were both headed up the mountain, we decided to go together.

Wow, these guys were amazing! They were all part of the Japanese navy and stationed just across the bay. Today was their holiday and they came over to do some sightseeing – taking the foot-route up the mountain versus the cable car. We ended up having more than a few laughs and making some good friends.

Oh yes, during all this friendship building, we were climbing a small mountain. The trail led through forests and offered some pretty amazing views. We stopped for some photos and laughs along the way.

When we finally made it to the top of Mt. Nokogiri, we walked up to one of the largest and oldest stone carvings of Buddha in Japan and the world. Up a few more meters, we got to the viewing platform from the mountain. Awesome view – outlook over Kanto, Tokyo Bay below, and Mt. Fuji behind.

These guys were such troopers and some of the nicest guys around. We spent some time soaking up the sun on the top of the mountain then broke apart to explore on our own – since I had a long ride back to Tokyo and needed to head out early.

The whole mountain consists of a bunch of small shrines, including over 1,500 stone Tokai Arhats – rivalling as the best collection around the world. The other main attraction was the largest Buddha Daibutsu in Japan. At just over 31m tall, it really was a sight to behold. Overall, the whole area was so peaceful and beautiful – one of my favorites.

I climbed back down the mountain and found my way back to the train station to make the transfers back to Tokyo where I just about collapsed on my bed for a short nap. Then I got up and showered off the sweat and got dressed up to meet my friend who I had met the first night I arrived in Japan – Makoto. Makoto has just finished his last year studying economics and has just moved to Tokyo in hopes of finding a job.

We met up and he invited a few friends along as well. We ended up walking around the Ueno area, up and down the street market aisles until we found some grub. Ramen it was nice having a translator! They were all such good people and it was great to see him again. Maybe I’ll have to visit again?

Day 12

The last official day in Japan. Today was to consist of relaxing and last minute shopping. I started off with breakfast from the market near the Asakusa Temple. Oh red bean, I’m going to miss you.

From there I headed back to Shibuya and Harajuku to do some exploration and spent the afternoon hanging around Yoyogi Park. I set myself out on the grass with my ice cream (chestnut) and watched a guy working on his juggling skills. This was pretty much the rest of the afternoon.

It started getting dark so it was time for my last adventure here – I wanted to take a dance class in Japan. I headed down south on the train to Architanz to take the open level contemporary class. I got there and started to feel a bit intimidated for it has been a long time since I’ve taken a fairly proper class. Class started and it was entirely in Japanese. I was able to follow along with the movement and it was quite satisfying. We then started a combination. It was cool how I could understand the corrections even in a different language. Those dance teacher hand signals are universal. At the end of class we performed what we learned and the teacher ended up picking me to demonstrate to the class. He then went on to tell me I should stay in Japan and join the company he is associated with – who knows, maybe I should be dancing again? Though, that is a matter for another day. It was a great experience to take class in a new country. Dance and movement is universal. It is feeling and being felt, expression and creativity. It’s beautiful.

With that, my final day in Japan concluded.

Day 13

Today was a quick one. My bag that I was going to use as a carry-on broke that morning so I did some last minute shopping and then headed off to the airport.

It was another long flight, but I was finally back in New Zealand. Flying into Dunedin was amazing. It felt like coming home. I could see Mt. Cargill, Flagstaff, Harbour Cone, and all the other landmarks. Japan was an absolutely amazing place filled with beautiful scenery and people. It has a unique mix of old and new. It was exciting and put me out of my comfort zone. But, I was happy to be back in New Zealand – though I will miss vending machines on every street corner!

I didn’t quite expect this note to get so long, so I am sorry about that but I wanted to share with you all. One adventure down…who knows where the next will be?