I travel for work and I work to travel. If I’m not on a travel writing assignment to some unreachable snowed-under onsen or staying the night in a temple and drinking sake with the monks, you’ll find me taking photos of castles somewhere. I don’t know what jet lag is, I’m fine with dragging suitcases,…

As if a premonition or an uncanny coincidence, a few days before this “Cashless in Japan” challenge my wallet fell apart at the seams from the sheer weight of the coins crammed in it. I’m by no means rich — these were 10 yen and 100 yen coins, change from countless cash payments. As the…

– a 14 day social experiment – They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  So, I went to the same convenience store, at the same time of day, every day, ordered the same thing and expected different results.  Am I insane? Not…

Uhh… what are gashapon? Gashapon are vending machine-dispensed toys, popular in Japan, that can be found both inside and outside shops all around Akihabara. Many people like to use their extra change and try their luck to see what kind of prize they can get by turning the hand-crank and opening up a small colored…

The Challenge! The words ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘Zero Waste’ have been popping up a lot in the media recently. Between the worldwide climate protests, the climate summit, and the brave young activists who are speaking out, the discussion about how the choices we’re all making affect our future has been getting louder and louder.  I have…