Understanding how to read a Japanese calendar is an important part of life in Japan. While it may seem intimidating at first when you see a combination of letters and numbers, luckily the Japanese date system is extremely easy to master once you understand a few basic concepts. First of all, we need to understand […]
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How our Front Yard became a Tourist Attraction in the Middle of a Pandemic
Today is a story about a tree. An unbelievable series of stories about a tree. It’s a pomegranate tree, to be exact, that’s in our front yard and it’s been a bigger part of our lives over the past year than we ever could have imagined. Last fruiting season, we posted about the bizarre happenings […]
Life Update: Life in Australia One Year On
Well, nomads, it’s been a year since we moved back to Australia from Japan, and while I had always planned on writing this update a year on, I, like everyone else on the planet, never thought it would look anything like this. Like I usually do when I write an update post, I went back […]
Insider’s Guide to Using Airbnb in Japan in 2020
Airbnb in Japan is a great alternative to traditional accommodation, both in big cities where accommodation for tourists is often booked out, and also in more rural locations where there is a lack of hotel infrastructure and vacation rentals. Not to mention the added convenience of facilities like a kitchen and a washing machine. We […]
The Story of My Eye-opening Cockfighting Experience in Bali
“Did you kill Gaddafi?” was the first question asked of me as I stumbled upon a casual yet organised meeting of men on the side of a dirt village road on the outskirts of Ubud, Bali. “Gaddafi’s dead?” was my first response. Obviously the first time I had heard this news, the man explained. “Yes, […]
Inu no Hi: Japan’s ‘day of the dog’ for pregnant women
Inu no Hi, literally meaning the ‘Day of the Dog,’ is an important pregnancy ritual and rite of passage for pregnant women in Japan. As dogs are widely believed to have easy and uncomplicated births as well as large litters, dogs are considered to be a symbol of smooth delivery and an animal deity of […]
Mount Kinabalu climb experience – what to expect
When there’s a mountain there, we just have to climb it, and Mount Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo was one of those accessible peaks that we had been keen to conquer for some time. So when we once again found ourselves in Southeast Asia it seemed like the perfect time to check the Mt Kinabalu climb […]
Climbing Mt. Kinabalu on a Budget 2020-2021 (and what happens if your trip is canceled)
If you’re planning on going to Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) and have already done some research on climbing Mt. Kinabalu, you’ve probably quickly realized that it’s not exactly cheap to sign yourself up for physical duress. Many prices quoted on the Internet are quite steep and have many travelers wondering whether it’s worth forking out their […]
7 Wonderful & Charming Things to do in Fukuoka, Japan
If you haven’t yet travelled to Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, you’re missing out. Fukuoka is one of my all-time favourite parts of Japan. Seriously, one year I went three times. While I loved living in Tokyo, I always said that if I didn’t live in the country’s capital, I’d live in Fukuoka, hands down. […]
Our daughter’s birth story
Nomads, she’s here! On 17 October 2019 we finally welcomed our long awaited rainbow baby, Maika Rei. She’s 12 weeks old now, if you can believe it? If you follow us on Facebook, you’ll already know this, but we haven’t shared the news here yet, or had the chance to tell you about her birth […]