wow, almost 3 whole years since a journal entry.....or an art post for that matter. though i don't really use journals on any sites. if i wanna say something i'll use facebook.

just thought i'd post that i did get to europe, and it was awesome. i was there for 2.5 months and got to Greece, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, England, Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France (in that order) i went with $4000 and came back about $2000 in debt since i bought a lot of souvenirs and we ate out a lot.

after that i decided that i would also like to go to japan one more time before going to school, and then after thinking about it for a while decided to try to live there so i could stay longer and see more. so after i got out of debt and saved up my money again, i went to japan (i left last april). i stayed in tokyo with a friend for a while before deciding that i really can't stay in large cities with limited access to nature, and headed south towards osaka. i stayed in kyoto and visited nara along the way. i moved into a guesthouse in osaka and then got a job in an english pub.
i lasted 2 months.......

it was such an awesome experience, but i was already partially in debt by the time i got to osaka from binge spending and my pay was $8.50/h (there are no tips there either) so i was working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day, plus since i finished after the trains had stopped running (1, 2, 3am) it took me an hour to walk home every night through the hotel district. i decided it wasn't worth it after a month, and gave a month notice. my rent was about $530 canadian per month, so i wasn't making enough to save up and go visit other places, which is what i wanted to do.
a lot of people say "oh, it's too bad it didn't work out for you", but i don't actually see it that way. it happened as it happened. i learned a lot, i missed my family, friends, and cat, and i really missed vancouver. everything is here.
granted i also miss some things about osaka...... mostly things i could buy or eat

i did do one more trip before i went home to make it end with a bang. i really wanted to go to either hokkaido or okinawa, and even though it was already super hot in osaka, i missed beaches and snorkeling, so i went to okinawa, which ended up being one of the most amazing places i have ever been. it was like a tropical paradise.

i could go on and on about okinawa, and the other places, but i don't even know if anyone's reading this. so i'll just say that if you have any questions about any of these places, or about traveling in general, i'm more than happy to answer you're questions. i actually really enjoy discussing travel, so it's no bother.
i'm going to try to check back to DA more often too.....