So one day I went for a walk...

It is November the twelfth, two thousand and nineteen. I am now 39 years old. Today was a brilliant day, quite literally, as there was hardly a cloud to be seen for miles. It was also my birthday. I stopped looking forward to my birthday a long time ago, as they became ever more depressing affairs. Not because of the fact that I was getting older, that doesn't bother me.  But rather that a life spent moving from place to place in pursuit of a career leaves little in the way of friends nearby to celebrate with.  It's extremely depressing when you have a small group of friends to begin with, then none of them show up to the party.  It's a good reason to shy away from festivities. This year however my birthday happened while on this adventure. Something that was most certainly not a coincidence.  It is significantly harder to be disappointed in a birthday when you find yourself in a place and state like this. ... I have dedicated a not insignificant amount of ...

Last night I slept poorly, the sort of sleep that has you feeling like you laid there awake all night, even though I know that wasn't truly the case. Perhaps it was the new and unfamiliar sleeping arrangements that kept me from a deep sleep, or perhaps it was a lingering concern about my hike today. When I booked my room, it was chosen out of financial responsibility rather than convenience or good location, as Saturday nights are stupid hard to book for. I ended up in a stylish Ryokan a few kilometers inland from the Yugawara coastline, snuggly set up a steep side street. When I made the booking I was entirely focused on the price, and didn't pay much attention to the amenities. Upon checking in I was happily surprised to discover that my stay included a breakfast. So after a soak in the onsen I tucked in early for my 8am breakfast appointment (you have to pick a time, you can't just roll up whenever you'd like). Breakfast was a traditional Japanese style...

As a quick update to yesterday's entey, I ended up deciding to take the train around to Atami rather than risk taking the intended route up into and back down our of the park. I woke up with my alarm at 6am to make the decision on if I was going to hike or take the bypass. While my leg was feeling passable, my digestive system was not.  So I slept for a few more hours before checking out and heading to the train, getting off a stop early. I wasn't content with taking a zero on the day, so I intentionally took a long and circuitous route before ultimately getting to my hotel, landing me with 15km on the of odometer for the day. This helped me avoid any sense of guilt. Along the way I visited a shrine, which was buzzing with activity, and got another stamp in my book. I also pressed my luck a little and explored up into the hills beyond the temple for a while.  I have gotten to the point now where I am very comfortable carrying my pack when fully loaded. But hitt...

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the last leg of my journey across Japan on foot, through the Fuji Hakone Izu national park and down towards Tokyo. As (bad) luck would have it that last leg threatens to start with a day where I have to go to a backup plan and take a zero. This would not be an ideal way to start towards the finish. What's going on? Well, let me give you a bit of backstory to bring you up to speed. For the last few days I have been battling a nasty stomach bug, the undignified details of which shall not be recorded here. I'm not sure if it's something I ate, or signs of a different illness, but it has left me very limited in my activities and shaken my faith in being kilometers away from the facilities. When I left Fuji yesterday, I was extremely unsure about how to approach covering the distance to my next stop in Mashima.  The route was fairly urban, but could still leave me significantly distances from a public toilet, which made me nervous . I sat ...

My time off between hiking is almost always unstructured and unplanned. I enjoy exploring without a specific agenda or schedule, and seeing where the day takes me.  Yesterday was a perfect example if why I enjoy this approach. I set out with only a loose goal of finding a shrine or temple to get another Goshuin for my collection. While I cannot read my Goshuin, I like that they are an embodiment of my trail through Japan, and for those who can read it, a unique proof of my journey. That said, I find locating a shrine or temple that has an attendant or monk to give one, and is open while I am passing by, can be challenging in the smaller cities and more rural towns. Looking at Google maps would tell you that there are hundreds of shrines in any given city. However, many shrines are small and unmanned, a small plot of land with a spot to pray. Sometimes, just a tiny little building for an alter set into a nook.  After spending many previous days wandering blindly to nea...

Yesterday I set out from Shizuoka, leaving behind me the ongoing festivities of the Daidogei street performance world cup and headed towards Fuji. Originally I had intended to break the trip to Fuji into two shorter walks, as the route was 35km long in a best case scenario. I am deeply appreciative of how much physical progress I have made over these past two months of walking, but I know that 35km in a single day is beyond me, both physically and logistically (the sun sets so early in the day now). However my plan to divide the journey in two was thwarted by an inability to find a place to stay, or locate a reasonable looking site to camp.  Along the coast to Fuji the terrain is very hilly at the best of times, so what little ground that might be good for camping was long ago developed. With this in mind I found a hostel in Fuji that was available, booked myself in, and devised a new plan. The route to Fuji would first be through a very urban section, about 10km long, be...