I had three chances to get Tokyo right. Four if you count the hours between my return from Ishigaki and my flight home, wandering Haneda. But let’s say three. Each one felt different—not just because of timing, but because of why I was there.

Sitting here in Ishigaki, I can’t help but chuckle when I think back on Osaka. The two couldn’t feel more different, especially after the quiet simplicity of Taketomi, a small island just off Ishigaki where I had spent a night.

When I arrived at our hotel in Hakone, I exhaled. Not just because we had made it—but because getting there had already been a lot. The rain had been relentless.

I’m sitting here, staring out at the sea on a small Okinawan island—closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan. It feels like a place that exists slightly outside of everything else. And I’m thinking about how I thought this part of the trip would be the easiest to write about.

Who am I becoming? I find myself asking this on the cusp of entering 2026, standing at the threshold of a new chapter. I wrote the first lines of this piece late at night, aware of time…

I write this from a place that feels like home, but not my home—sitting on the lanai of our condo in Kaʻanapali, Maui, overlooking the ocean. The Hawaiian air is warm and heavy with humidity.

Life in Arequipa, Peru feels simple. In the city’s historic center—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—white colonial buildings glow against the Andean light, their iron balconies twisting…

Perfection. I’ve chased it my whole life—at work, in relationships, even in the way I communicate. But this journey is teaching me to let go. To see how perfection, instead of fueling confidence…

Last night and this morning, I found myself in an internal struggle—an argument with myself. Yesterday, with sunshine finally breaking through the clouds, I packed it all in.

Cue the Nine Inch Nails’ song “Hurt.” While walking through the beautiful woodlands of Glencoe, I breathed in the crisp, clean air, enjoyed the rare warmth of the sun (finally no rain!!!), and savored…

Today I took a day trip from Oban to the Isle of Mull—and then onward to the tiny Isle of Iona. None of it went according to plan—and that turned out to be just right.

I arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, with no expectations—only the desire to follow the slowly illuminating path I began in 2023. That year revealed what was missing in my life…