Here we go.

Yeah, it is quarter to five in the morning and I'm heading back to Tokyo from Tuscany, Italy.

I planned to do a vlog while I was here, but it didn't really come together.

And I would say the reason for that is that I was here for work s so I opened it up to a Q and A on Instagram, and the first thing I got a lot of is Are you enjoying Italy?

I know this man back in Japan who travels over 200 days of the year for work, and he always says the same thing.

When you travel for work, all you really get to see is the airport, the taxis, the hotel in the place that you're working.

You don't really get to see much else.

That doesn't mean that you don't try to make the best of it.

I think we definitely did that this time actually traveled with these two gentlemen back here who are Japan champion shamisen players.

More on that later, another question asked that I thought might bring you guys some value was How do you pack when you travel?

And I've kind of got my own little like packing hacks and secrets.

And it all starts with what's in my backpack.

These little pouches right here the pouch is Just help me organize the small stuff.

Let me show you how I packed this morning, this poach.

Here's all my major charging gear.

This is the charger for my laptop.

Someone is batteries and hard drives and whatnot on.

Then this is all like toothbrush, toothpaste and stuff again and then just taxis in the backpack.

And then there are two or three more things that I make sure that I do.

Every single time I travel number one, I make sure I'm hydrated as much as possible.

And number two.

I always set my phone to low power mode just to help that battery last a little bit longer.

And those pouches you can get pretty much anywhere.

You can pick them up a dollar stores or 100 yen shops, but I have another way.

I like to get them on my way out of the airplane.

I would like to ask the flight attendants if I can have one or two of the unused first class pouches.

Also, yes, I'm very aware of how tired I look right now.

Come on.

It's almost five in the morning.

Give me a break.

One of the questions that I got that I really liked it was like, What are some little things that make you happy when you're having a bad day?

Let me find a seat.

I've got a couple, but I'd say one of the biggest ones is probably popcorn and you Popcorn's good.

Pretty much I need high.

Also, I do like a good deck of cards and my fish.

That's right.

E have fish at home.

A little Japanese made a catfish.

The guys, they're stopping to get pictures finally arriving at the airport now.

So the next question I got waas bright.

What's your next plan?

What's your next destination?

I've been trying to adjust to living a little more on the cusp, so the idea of planning is something that I'm trying to put aside now.

That being said, I do have a few things lined up, but also you never know what's actually gonna go through and what's gonna fall through.

For all I know, I might be coming to your country, and I think that would be pretty cool.

So I've got at least two or three more countries booked for the next coming year.

So fingers crossed that they actually pulled through.

Traveling this much really gives me the opportunity to feel the differences between Japan and other countries and really gives me the opportunity to miss Japan.

And I think that's what's going on right now.

I've only been gone from Japan for like five days, and I already just missed being in Tokyo so much, thank you.

Somebody also asked, if there's any like, dangerous areas in Tokyo to avoid or watch out for Tokyo is typically really safe place to be, so you don't have to worry about that stuff that much.

But all generalizations aside, it's still good to exercise common sense.

Window seat.

I always love the window seat on the screens air just massive way just landed in Beijing and we got held up quite a while it customs because they wanted to double check the shammy sense and then when my stuff came through.

I carry a lot of chargers and I've got the drone and everything like that.

So they really went.

I had to take everything out.

We were took over an hour just to get through customs.

One of the other questions that came up was, What is your favorite piece of tech year?

Outside of your cameras, I would probably say more than anything.

It's this right here, and probably not for the reasons that you would expect more than anything.

It's because of the silent alarm feature on this.

I could just set a time and it wakes me up, and I don't have to worry about waking up the people around me.

It's also really good for times like this where I took like, three trains this morning in two different flights.

I like to be a wake on time to record the landing of the flight or make sure that I don't miss my stop and this it helps me do it.

Not to mention the fact that it stops my phone from going off in my pocket every single time.

I get a message, and I appreciate that.

Ah, lot also, Beijing Sunrise behind an airplane might be the shot of e.

I got to say I am liking the overall aesthetic of the Beijing Airport.

Though it is is quite nice on seeing as we're headed to Japan right now.

There's one question that I wanted to sit down and address.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Nice quiet spot right here in the airport.

And look at that lighting.

Don't you love that?

I do.

I do.

When?

And why did you move to Japan?

Here we go.

This is one that I don't think I've answered in a while.

And even if I have, I don't think I've answered it all in one piece.

It was the clearest way to tell this toe.

Okay, let's start back in university.

So back in university, I was spending a lot of my time with Japanese people, basically, almost like living with a bunch of Japanese people.

I spent so much time with them.

And then in 2000 and five, I came to Japan for the first time for a couple of months.

By that point, I could already, like, speak a little bit of Japanese, but But I still managed to survive, and I had a great time.

That trip kind of really piqued.

My interest is I think it does for a lot of people.

I've met a lot of people who come in 2345 like, multiple times, because that first trip is just an appetizer.

More than anything, I knew that I was gonna need more time.

Lucky that sun coming up.

Let's try this again.

I knew that I would need a lot more time to really get to know the country in depth.

And I wanted the challenge.

More than anything.

I wanted the challenge of moving away from my family, who I was so close with.

I wanted the challenge of starting a new life in a new place.

And so in 2000 and seven, I moved here for the first time.

I spent maybe a year or so back in Canada, except for that one year.

I've basically been here since 2000, and seven airplanes, just like taking off for me, it was mostly about challenge and personal development.

I wanted to see if I could challenge myself to live in a country that had a different culture and different language, different upbringing, and everything the and develop a sense of comfort and call a new place home.

I would just say that personal development and challenging myself is a constant theme of my life and seemingly these videos as well.

It's not always easy, and one of the most common questions that I get asked is.

What is the hardest part of living in Japan is that the language is that the culture and more than anything, the longer you're here just missing home and family, missing, being a part of events and, like when somebody gets sick and you're not there or relative passes away and you actually can't make it back missing out on those things missing out on friends weddings that I've actually managed to make it back for a lot of weddings and a lot of important family events.

But I've probably missed Justus many, and that's a risk that you have when you move overseas.

The way one of the other questions was, what is one of the small and quirky things that you look forward to when you get back to Japan?

I've got a little bit of a tradition.

I love going and getting matzo Gildan like a beef bowl.

Like a soon as I arrive, get into the city, drop off my stuff and just go out and get a beef bowl.

How about you?

Any.

Any big traditions?

E.

Always forget just how nice it is just to get back into Japan.

U E Let's ask.

Muscle has it.

No, you shoot tonight.

E Okay, e didn't have an umbrella.

Someone also asked me What my absolute favorite place in Japan is is a really tough choice because I really do love everywhere.

Despite living in Tokyo.

I do love she cocoa, especially Matsuyama, because it's got everything.

It's got a city.

It's got the ocean.

It's got mountains, especially if you rent a car and you drive around that area, you will explore areas that most people never have the opportunity to go to.

So she cocoa, especially the Matsuyama area, is very high on my list.

But my personal favorite, if I just went with mine and not a recommendation, is a small city near the top of Kyushu called Kolkata.

But there is one thing that makes coca really special that I love.

And that's in Kolkata.

There's a castle and right beside the castle, there's this really modern shopping center that looks like it's from, like, Astro Boy or something like that.

I'll see if I can pull an image off of Google's and toss it up right now.

Looks like that.

I just love the absolute juxtaposition between the castle, the old traditional Japan and the incredibly modern looking shopping area.

And honestly, Google just doesn't do it.

Justice is one of the places you have to go and see for yourself.

I was also asked where I would recommend if someone only had a very limited time like 1 to 2 days in Tokyo.

I would recommend staying somewhere like the success or window area, because those areas are oddly central and connect you to pretty much everywhere.

I think a lot of people are taken aback by how surprisingly small and easily accessible Tokyo is as a whole.

So let's use the window as an example.

If you were to stay in the window, you not only have access to I'm a Yoko and Ueno Park and all of that, but within walking distance you also have access to the really traditional area of a Saxon going into the sky tree or if you were to go to the other side within walking distance you have access to areas like Akihabara.

I know a lot of people are gonna be like, Well, what about should be a crossing I want to see you should be a crossing.

It's a 25 to 30 minute train ride right from U N.

O.

And if you're staying in a sucks, it's just about 30 minutes right on the Ginza line.

So it is super excessive.

You could do Asakusa wino, Akihabara and should be a if you wanted to, all within the same day.

Now, I did get a lot more questions than I was initially anticipating for this round.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna jump over Instagram in the next day or so and do it instagram story Siris on there where I answer a couple extra questions.

I want to get to as many of these as possible.

But if you guys enjoyed this, definitely give that like, button some love.

Don't miss it.

I'm gonna hang out with you in the comments on this one.

Additionally, if you have any extra questions you can ask them down there.

Obviously, if I get enough that I think I could bring value to guys with something, then I may do another Q and A video moving forward.

But moving forward.

The video schedule is pretty much decided for the next little while.

We've got some I'm not.

I know.

I always say we've got some exciting stuff.

I'm excited.

I'm excited about what's coming, and I think we're gonna have a lot of fun.

I hope I'll see you guys there also.

If that Bell isn't clicked on for notifications, this is a great time to do that.

So turn it on.

Leave me a comment below.

I will be hanging out with you guys down in the comments for a while on I guess you know I will.

I'll see you again real soon.