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My last destination on South Island took me to the Franz Josef glacier. This glacier is one of only three in the world that pushes up right against temperate rain forest. The change in scenery between cascading waterfalls alongside lush green forest and an overgrown ice cube is breathtaking.

I opted to go for the full-day […]

In my job and in my life I am very concious of risk. I think it’s important to seek new experiences and as a secondary measure, reduce the risk as much as possible. This attitude is what led me to organize a skydiving trip a few years ago.
I first suggested the idea of skydiving to […]

Even before I got into scuba diving, I had been hearing people wax poetic about their own diving experiences. At least one web site lists the Yongala as the top dive site in the world. I had been hounded by one of my friends who insisted my trip to Australia would not be complete until […]

Anyone who travels for longer than a month knows about backpacker burnout. When I travelled Europe for six weeks after graduation, I became burned out after about four weeks. I was changing cities every two or three days and the pace of travel was very hectic.
Each city has its own idiosyncrasies and the stress of […]

I spent just over a week in Western Australia. I arrived during Labour Day and found accommodation to be almost impossible to find. My first impression of Australia was as a place even more expensive than Japan!
Perth is very isolated from the rest of Australia. There are no other major cities within thousands of kilometres. […]

Travelling many countries it is easy to receive a bad impression of a country by encountering locals who take advantage of tourists. In India, scams seem common because the 1% of the people who participate in scams actively pursue their targets. In Japan, it is hard to imagine that any type of scamming even goes […]

A few years ago, I read the so-called warrior’s trilogy. The informal series consists of Machiavelli’s The Prince, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and the lesser known but equally important Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings. Musashi is mentioned in many samurai films and is considered to be one of the greatest swordsmen to […]

Japan has over thirty amazing castles mostly in Western Honshu. Many of the castles were destroyed during the war and the ones which have been rebuilt were done using poured concrete and although they look like classic buildings from the outside, they are actually modern museums on the inside.
Himeji castle is different. It was spared […]

After spending a few days in Tokyo, I moved on to Kyoto. Kyoto used to be the capitol of Japan before Tokyo. I stayed in a hostel called K’s House about halfway between the train station and the Geisha district of Gion.
Kyoto is saturated by shrines and temples. Two of the most […]

I have wanted to go to Japan for many years. During school I gave up a sure job for the chance at an internship in Nagasaki, and even after I graduated the first position I applied for was as a game developer in Yokohama.
I think it’s important to live in a place for at least […]