and seeing as we're headed to Japan
right now there's one question that I
wanted to address when and why did you
move to Japan here we go
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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 say the reason for that is that I
was here for work so I opened it up to a
Q&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
and a 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 and I think we definitely
did that this time I 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 pouches just help
me organize the small stuff let me show
you how I packed this morning this pouch
here's all my major charging gear this
is the charger for my laptop it's all in
his batteries and hard drives and
whatnot and then this is all like
toothbrush toothpaste and stuff again
and then just toss these 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
lasts a little bit longer and those
pouches you can get pretty much anywhere
you can pick them up at Dollar Stores or
100 yen shops but I have another way I
like to get them on my way out of the
airplane I was 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 5:00 in the
morning
one of the questions that I got that I
really liked 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 did one of
the biggest ones is probably popcorn
mind you popcorns good pretty much any
time also I do like a good deck of cards
in my fish that's right
I have fish in little Japanese the guys
are stopping to get pictures finally
arriving in the airport now so the next
question I got was right 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 eventually pull
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 well
having gone from Japan for like five
days and I already just miss being in
Tokyo so much
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that's yeah thank you somebody also
asked if there's any like dangerous
areas in Tokyo to avoid or watch out for
Tokyo is typically a 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
exercise common sense window-seat I
always love the window seat and the
screens are just massive here
under the city
please
so we just landed in Beijing and we got
held up quite a while at customs because
they wanted to double-check the xiaomi
since 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 wouldn't 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
gear 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 can 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 awake 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 a walk
also Beijing sunrise behind an airplane
might be the shot of the day
[Music]
I gotta say I am liking the overall
aesthetic of the Beijing Airport though
it is is quite nice
and seeing as we're headed to Japan
right now there's one question that I
wanted to sit down and address 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 to
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 spend so much
time with them and then in 2005 I came
to Japan for the first time for a couple
of months by that point I could already
like to 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 as I think it
does for a lot of people I've met a lot
of people who come to Japan two three
four or five like multiple times because
that first trip is just an appetizer
more than anything I knew that I was
gonna need more time look at that Sun
coming up let's try this game
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 one of the challenges
starting a new life in a new place and
so in 2007 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 2007 airplane
is just like taking off for me it was
mostly about challenge of 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 then 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 it the language is it
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 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 in just
as many and that's a risk that you have
when you move overseas
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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 mafia
and gil-dong like a beef bowl like as
soon as I arrive get into the city drop
off my stuff and just go out and get a
meatball how about you any any big
traditions
I always forget just how nice it is just
to get back into Japan you know you guys
oh that's masa you shoot guns from
another tonight you kill Nazis
[Music]
I didn't have an umbrella
someone also asked me what my absolute
favorite place in Japan is it's a really
tough choice because I really do love
everywhere despite living in Tokyo I do
love Shikoku 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 Shikoku
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 Koga a really
special that I love and that 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 it
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 like one to
two days in Tokyo I would recommend
staying somewhere like the sucks up or
Ueno 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 a winnowing example
if you were to stay in a window you not
only have access to a Miyoko and Ueno
Park and all of that but within walking
distance you also have access to the
really traditional area of a sec sign
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 should be a
crossing it's a 25 to 30 minute train
ride right from a Ueno and if you're
staying in a sec site it's just about 30
minutes right on the Ginza
so it is super excessive you could do a
sexy way no Akihabara in Shibuya 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
to Instagram in the next like day or so
and do an Instagram story series 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 it 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 can bring value to
you guys with something then I may do
another Q&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 happy and 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 Belle 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 it with you guys down in the
comments for a while and I guess you
know I will I'll see you again real soon
also all I wanted to do in the world
right now is take a shower
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