I’m finally taking a trip to Europe to see family and friends. It’s been… four years I think? Far too long.
Looking forward to it of course. But it’s going to be weird to be away for three weeks. Good to get out of the daily routine, enjoyable though it is.
On the other hand, it’s going to be a challenge not to completely derail my weight loss challenge. I got to 87.5kg the other day (from 95.3 in March) but I could easily put all the weight back on (and add more) with a few weeks in Europe if I am not careful. Right now the plan is to keep an eye on the scale, do some fasting if necessary, and mainly just eat with others, not on my own. Binge eating by myself is my bugbear so as long as I avoid that I should be able to stay at this weight and resume the weight loss when I get back. Wish me luck!
I’m hoping to rewrite the RetireJapan Guides while I’m away, so if all goes well the newest version of those should be going out by this summer. And of course I will continue to update the site while I’m away.
YouTube
Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a video I have wanted to do for a long time now, a step-by-step guide to opening an account with Rakuten Securities.
The next RetireJapan TV will be going out live on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn simultaneously! May 22nd from 20:00. I’ll be joining from Nuremberg, assuming we don’t have any tech issues. We’ll be interviewing an international school principal based in Japan so please join us with your questions about education in Japan. We’ll also be talking about side hustles!
Metrics
Jiu-jitsu training sessions: three (pass)
YouTube videos: one (pass)
Consequences: none.
I’m going to be away from Sendai in May, so I will modify the jiu-jitsu accountability until I come back (back to normal in June). During the month of May, I will watch three jiu-jitsu instructional videos per week, and stretch every day instead.
The Forum
The Forum is doing well (27,292 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:
This week’s books
Went back to The Almanack of Naval Ravikant this week. Really good stuff, but I can only read a couple of pages at a time. I need to find a decent novel for my trip (the flights to Europe are really long now).
Also finished (it was a quick read) Built to Sell, by John Warrilow. It’s a story that is meant to illustrate how to approach building your business in order to sell it. Unlike many books with this structure, I found it very effective and got a lot of lessons to apply to my wife’s school.
Started Your First 1000 Copies, about book writing and publishing. Hoping to improve my sales figures (so far neither of the RetireJapan Guides has sold 1000 copies, although one of my textbooks is close) 😉
This week’s insurance (two!)
After reading some interesting discussions on the forum, I got bicycle insurance and travel insurance this week.
The bicycle insurance was from here, and gives me a very decent amount of cover as well as handling any negotiations with third parties, all for 4,290 yen a year. Bicycle insurance is compulsory in most of Japan (depending on local government) and is also a very good idea given how cheap it can be to get cover. I might have cover through home insurance, accident insurance etc. but prefer the peace of mind of having specialised insurance too as I ride every day and can be quite aggressive on the road against cars…
The travel insurance was for a three-week trip to Europe. I got a policy from here for 11,000 yen. I also have some level of cover through various credit cards, but I think the peace of mind of having a specific policy is worth the cost.
This week’s links
- I’ve been struggling with this a bit too, but am getting a bit more comfortable with spending money on experiences now: Frugal Man Buys $52,000 Car – Why??
- Loved this story: A Ukrainian TV report about 75 year-old Tsuchiko Fuminori opening a free café in Kharkiv
- Always worth reminding ourselves of this: 50 Ways the World is Getting Better
- I have an unhealthy relationship with food. Not as bad as this, but something I need to deal with (YouTube, eating disorder): I stopped Binge Eating With LESS Goals & Targets
- An old blog post about depression. I struggled with this in my teens, hasn’t been a problem for a while thankfully: A few thoughts on depression
- I enjoy Trung Phan’s weekly email, this one about innovation was especially good: 11 types of cross-industry innovation
- Some interesting observation from Morgan Housel: A Few Ways the World Works
- This will be a huge change. Doesn’t include people naturalising either. Not the Japan we are used to: Foreign residents projected to make up 10% of Japan’s shrinking population in 2070
- Enjoyed this simplified summary (Twitter): Naval for kids
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
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