My name is Micaela, and I’m back in Canada, I decided to visit my family.

I really needed to just come out here and relax—and I’m so glad I did.

There’s absolutely nothing out here, no distractions.

We have internet but it’s not so fast.

No shopping, no stores, nothing nearby, I think the closest grocery store is a 40 minute

drive away.

So, it’s pretty isolated, and I think when I was growing up—I didn’t like the isolation.

When I was growing up, I wanted more excitement, I wanted more stimulation, which is why I

decided to go to a big city.

And now that I’m older, now that I’ve kind of been in busy places, and seen the

world I really, REALLY appreciate just how secluded and quiet my original home is.

And so, with great pride, I’d love to show you where I’d live in Canada, because it

is COMPLETELY different from life in Japan, and I dunno, maybe it would be kind of interesting.

When my family first bought this cabin in the woods, about 20 years ago, it didn’t

even have toilets or running water.

But over the years, my Dad has worked hard to transform it into an all-season home.

Now that both my sister and I are older, my parents have said goodbye to the city life,

and have committed to living out in the wilderness instead.

Alright, this is the first floor

Right away we have a bathroom with a bath, a toilet, and washer and dryer—which we

didn’t have before, so that’s a huge improvement.

Alright, this is the guest room, um, this is where the kids sleep when the kids come

out to the cabin.

Um yeah, this used to be me and my sister’s rooms, but we grew up and we moved out and

our lives changed, so this room has kind of adapted.

This is my old stereo from back when I was a high school student—with skateboard stickers

on it because I’m ~so cool~.

And this, is my parent’s bedroom.

Every night, they go to sleep in darkness, and they wake up to this.

Coming down the stairs we have the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen.

My sister has a wheat allergy so everything in our kitchen is gluten free.

This is our first floor guest room, nobody is staying here currently, so it’s not made

up.

And behind me here we have some photos.

That’s me.

That’s me.

That’s me.

That’s also me.

And we have a patio.

This is the deck, this is for barbecuing, this is a big-- another dining room table

with six chairs, and Dad’s giant-ass barbecue.

Alright, dinner time.

Do you wanna lift the foil?

Ready?

3, 2, 1

Woah!

Steak and potatoes!

Is this really happening?

This is real life?

This is real life

Every morning my parents get up early and make the hour-long drive into the city to

go to work.

When I was a child, this is also where I went to school, a small town called Kamloops.

Kamloops is a desert city, so what that means basically is that rather than being vibrant

and green, it’s very dusty.

It’s very dusty and yellow, especially up here on the mountains.

These here are sagebrush plants, and I don’t think you—I don’t think Tatsu’s ever

smelled them before.

Have you ever smelled a sagebrush plant?

Here.

EW! (coughs)

You don’t like it?

What?

You don’t like it?

I don’t like it.

Tatsu doesn't like the smell of sagebrush.

Growing up in Kamloops, there wasn’t really a lot to DO.

The streets are spacious but quiet—even during the days when the Farmer’s Market

is happening downtown.

Summer and Autumn are comfortably spent down in Riverside Park…

Now we’re at Riverside park, and I used to come here all the time when I was a little

baby.

And uh, it’s just really nice to here, just to see how relaxed and calm everybody is.

A lot of people in Japan think that I am very “my pace”, that’s what they say, I’m

very “my pace”, I go my own pace, but when I sit here on this bench, Tatsu’s just

like “oh everybody’s kinda just going their own pace here”, like, that’s a thing.

I guess that was just how I was raised.

But Kamloops is definitely not an ambitious city, and as good as it feels to come back

sometimes, I’m glad I left.

Coming back home, I was able to realise something important.

There is no right answer to how to live life.

Success to some, means a prestigious job with a high salary, to others, it can be about

being surrounded by what you love.

Living out here was my parent’s dream, and they worked their hardest to make it happen.

My dream lead me to the other side of the word,but it’s nice to see that MY choice

is not the ONLY choice.

And If we’ve only got one life, we might as well try our best to make it a damn good

one.