The Monday Read: Another Task Bites the Dust

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

Take a moment to celebrate the win before moving on to the next one I’m back from Miyakojima (turns out five days/four nights was the perfect length of trip). Had a great time, got some diving in, realised I need to practice my snorkelling a lot more, learned that the summer sun in Okinawa is […]

The Monday Read: Rainy Days Ahead

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

But not for me 🙂 Seems like the rainy season just hit Sendai, after one of the most pleasant Junes I can remember. It’s been wonderful: sunny days with low humidity and a pleasant breeze, day after day after day. I wish every year was like this. But today we’ve had rain all day, with […]

The Monday Read: The load lifts

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

You don’t know how heavy your boots are until you take them off I’ve been sick for a couple of weeks now. Caught some kind of cold at the tail end of being in Shikoku, then had a sore throat, mild cough, and general achiness/listlessness for a couple of weeks. It hurt to swallow, and […]

The Monday Read: Starting to feel like summer

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

Enjoying all seasons There is a bible verse I really like (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). It’s the ‘there is a time for everything’ one. I’m not in the slightest bit religious, but I do appreciate a good bit of writing. And that one has a lot of wisdom packed into a few lines. From the benefit of […]

The Monday Read: Finding Peace

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

Sometimes you just need a bit of a break Well, I am back at home and enjoying gettting back into my regular routine. It’s amazing how much difference a week or so off can make. The trip was great, I had a really good time in Shikoku and will certainly be going back again. Shodoshima […]

The Monday Read: Cross that Bridge

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

Screw your courage to the sticking point Was in Shikoku this week and it turns out I like it a lot here. More details in the video below, but it’s been a great trip so far. Have also managed to talk with my wife about what we’re going to do going forward, and am much […]

The Monday Read: Off to New Waters

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

Ten days in Shikoku might be the cure Just finished work (Saturdays are brutal in the eikaiwa world -for most schools that is by far the busiest day). Heading off to Shikoku tomorrow morning. Back in a week and a half. See you then? YouTube Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. […]

The Monday Read: Shikoku Calling

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

All work and no play makes Ben… It’s my 20-year wedding anniversary this year. We had a ridiculous trip to NYC and Iguazu Falls for our 10-year anniversary, and were planning an even bigger trip for this year but… life got in the way. Rather than a Star Alliance round the world ticket in business […]

The Monday Read: Back to Work

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

For everything a season This Golden Week has been wonderful. We’re kind of used to them now, so we planned things in order to completely avoid crowds. And it worked: Stayed at some cabins run by a town near Sendai on the evening of the 29th (next day was not holiday, so it turned out […]

The Monday Read: Swimming Upstream?

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

When life is hard, keep going This week I published a quick blog post on a topic I have been thinking about for a while. For a laugh I gave it a clickbaity controversial title, and of course it has become the most successful post I have ever made on social media, getting hundreds of […]