Just a quick update on what’s happening in my life right now. If you didn’t know I have taken a break from travelling for the past few months and have been at home in England. But now it’s time to say syonara. Sometime I will write a related post about my local city and it’s history (not a common place to people to visit – I’ve never seen it on another travel blog so far), however this will tie in with another attempt at making some money online later on (which involves iPhones).
Anyway, the title gives away the next period in my ‘travel life’. I am going to Japan… for a year.
So if you are reading this then I will be either in Vienna, Austria (but unfortunately only a airport stop over), in Tokyo, Japan, or somewhere in between in the air; awesome for me and my life experience bank, not so good for my body, considering I am leaving my house at 1am to get to the airport, and arrive in Tokyo at 8am (local time) the day after, I’m still not sure exactly when I’m supposed to sleep through this period.
The Japanese flag - for those who don't know
So what’s this going to be then? Another long term backpacking fun time for Uncle Rob? Not exactly. You see last time I had a fair chunk of money to travel with. This time I have about 1/10 of that, and yet have chosen one of the most expensive countries in the world to visit and spend a year in. I have got myself a working holiday visa which allows my stay to be that long, and for me to take employment during that period too. So for those with low IQ’s and still not getting it – that means this trip will be me doing a job mostly, and not so much travel.
As much as the ‘top bloggers’ like you to believe making money with a blog is easy, I can honestly say it is. Just stick Google Adwords on and click on it – there you go, money from your blog. Unfortunately you will only have around 3 US cents from this (and you’ll need to get $100 before they release it into your bank – oh and you’re not actually supposed to click on your own adverts). To make a sizeable income that will be useful enough to actually travel on takes a whole lot more work and time and even then there is no guarantee it will pay enough.
So I’m doing this the old fashioned way (at least short term) and am going to actually work (the shock I hear you all gasp). I won’t go into what that will involve exactly, but hopefully it won’t impede my efforts to keep this blog going, and attempt more online money making ideas on the side. I do have a plan, it’s just quite a long term one.
So what do you have to look forward to from me on here soon? Well I’ve pretty much told all my best travel stories now, so I will be writing a campervan living guide in between updates on my life in Japan and covering some older places which I didn’t write about. I think how I managed to live for half a year in a 25 year old metal box in Australia will be of interest to most of my readers. My life in Japan will come a little later once I’ve experienced the country a bit.
So please excuse any gaps in whatever sort of schedule you think I have on this blog because they might be a bit longer over the next month whilst I get settled in the land of the rising sun.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I am so jealous! My dream has always been to live in Japan, but because my nationality is not part of the 7 ones they grant a teaching visa to, I have not been able to fulfil it. I’m therefore looking forward to hearing how you plan on working in Japan – unless of course, you’re also resorting to teaching. Personally I cannot think of another job a non-japanese speaking westerner could do.
Keep up posted!
Will do :-)
First impressions: It’s quite hard to get around. Imagine being in the UK or USA without knowing English sort of hard. Price wise it’s on a par with Australia in it’s expense (very high)
Your going to Japan?! You are so lucky. How did you get so lucky to go there and show can I get your job?
I didn’t know it was around the same price as Australia… maybe I don’t want to go there. Enjoy Rob!
I ‘got lucky’ by buying a plane ticket of which I was the lucky winner and I won a trip to Japan with it. :-)
cool beans looking forward to it mang
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^_^
I head out to Kanagawa this December and will be traveling here and there for three weeks. I look forward to any tips you might come across…or a school looking to hire a monkey *wink *wink
Good luck on your trip, and teaching. It really is a great job if you invest yourself into the experience.
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I’m not familiar with Kangawa, I’ve gone north of Tokyo rather than south. Best just check that list you made ;)
Thanks, I’m not teaching in the strict classroom sense though, that seems to require 2 years experience for a start in Japan.
Hey Rob,
Another digital nomad here – stumbled on your site from a comment on NomadicMatt. Ironically enough, my whole nomadic lifestyle (& blog) started in Japan – I studied there for a year, then loved it so much that spent another year working as a Nintendo programmer in Kyoto. One of the best times of my life…honestly, just crazy-fun. I’m actually dying to head back there to catch up with friends and whatnot, but am kindof waiting for the 円高 (“strong yen”) to get a bit more under control. My last visit hasn’t been since 2008 when I spent the summer there just before the world economy crashed (left on the 89th day of my 90-day “tourist” visa, hehe :))
Anyway, best of luck to you. I’m sure you’ve got some crazy-good times ahead :)
Awesome! Nintendo programmer in Japan has got to be a lifetime highlight ^_^
Strong yen is great if you can earn it whilst you’re here, a killer for a general visit/tourist though. Thanks for stopping by :-)
Hahaha I see you’re already getting the Japanese 顔文字 down ヽ(｀◇´)/
Yeah, my income is all in dollars at the moment…so I really hope it gets better…I’m just dying for another visit! Kyoto’s like my second home :)
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Well I’m trying at it, although I really should be putting in more effort to be honest. I’ve not got any of the literature beyond the symbol for Yen.
Everyone seems to like Kyoto, I need to get around Japan more I think and start seeing things.
Yeah, definitely. Tokyo’s loads of fun, but even for a partier like me it isn’t exactly at the top of my list of Japanese cities ;)
Haha well, I guess it depends on what ur looking for. I mean, Roppongi is definitely one of the big party districts…but it’s also like the trashy-foreigner-corner of Japan :P It’s fun, but not particularly friendly. I suppose it is probably the easiest place to get a foot in the door though, without speaking fluent-ish japanese.
(Believe it or not it used to be much better too; in 2007 they passed a new law that caused several MAJOR clubs in Roppongi to shut down, including my favorite.)
As far as Tokyo in general, I really just tend to click better with Kansai people than Kanto. I lived in Kyoto, and routinely partied in Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe…I find the folks around there to be really, really cool and down-to-earth (as do most of my friends who’ve come to visit, and with whom I’ve partied in both Tokyo & Osaka).
Thanks for the info, I’ll return to this when I next have the chance to get to Tokyo :-)
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Oh really? And what is the best Japanese city to party in, you can’t write a comment like that and leave :-( All I keep hearing is ‘Roppongi’ when it comes to partying in Tokyo, I would have thought (considering the size of the city) there is more to it than that though.
Crap…I hit reply in the wrong box. Oops. My response is above :P
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