Trips

• 2025-05-16
• 2025-05-16

Antelope Canyon

A secret, sacred cave trail with views of the beautiful underworld Much of the land around the Grand Canyon is still designated Native American Reservations, so you can’t exactly just romp around and explore anywhere. Fortunately, the surviving Navajo people of the area have facilitated most of the coolest spots for tourists’ enjoyment. One cool stop in the sequence of a Grand Canyon country trip is Antelope Canyon, a winding corridor of sandstone smoothly carved out by centuries of erosion. You have to both schedule and pre-pay for a guided tour through here, and peak seasons can be quite crowded. For someone like myself who has ventured through may canyons, deserts, and seas, it wasn’t exactly the most mind-blowing walk I’ve ever had, but one […]

• 2025-05-16
• 2025-05-16

The Grand Canyon

The views speak for themselves at the king of natural wonders “In time and with water, everything changes”. That’s a quote from on of the maps I got at the Grand Canyon. The sights and sounds of the canyon are breathtaking. Seeing a sunrise or sunset over the jagged, colossal sides is sure to be burned into your memory forever. But for me, going to the canyon was a realization of scale. The sheer amount of time that matter has existed here on earth, and the sheer amount of time that it takes for these geological formations to come to be. Earthquakes, floods, and storms made this canyon the way it was, but it’s not like anything has changed since the Grand Canyon Village was […]

• 2025-01-06

Catalina State Park

Relaxed hiking in America’s prickly outback This park is full of easy hikes is the perfect introduction to true, nearly untouched Arizona wilderness. The winding trails of relatively short local flora give views of sheer cliff-faces in the distance, adorned with their own decorative bushes and desert vegetation. Of course, being in southern Arizona, the scenery wouldn’t be complete without a few towering Saguaro cacti completing the views. Weekly events and guided tours make the park accessible for everyone, but at 7$ per vehicle, it’s also very easy to show up and start walking around. We even found a nice cool stream off to the side of the parking area, giving us a little refresh after working up a sweat on the trails. Blue skies […]

• 2025-01-06

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm

A ranch adventure at Picacho Peak Pichacho Peak was purportedly the location of the final battle of America’s Civil War. Not much relevance to ostrich farming, but it is indeed a historical location, not to mention a very cool shape under the blazing sun or clear moonlight. Actually originally the name of a John Wayne movie, “Rooster Cogburn” is the name the owner has taken in novelty, and has made quite the name for himself in this slice of Arizona. The farm is home to many animals, arranged in various pens like a sort of petting zoo amusement park. It’s fun for the whole family, but naturally, the most impressive aspect of the farm is the swarms of ostriches both near the petting zoo, and […]

• 2025-01-06

Sightseeing in Sedona

Arizona’s heartland of spiritual fun Our descent from the northern ridge of Arizona, the one and only Grand Canyon, took us through some various scenery; some dense with trees, some barren as could be. But what awaited at the end of this drive was what many consider the pinnacle of southwestern American atmosphere, the “power spot” known as Sedona. A blend of Native American culture and surreal nature has led many groups here that like to get in touch with their spiritual side. Astrology, power stones, and psychedelic artwork is sure to characterize your exploration of things in the shops and galleries. Using their shuttle system, it’s very easy however to step out into nature yourself, and explore the towering, multi-colored peaks that surround the […]

• 2025-01-06

Horseshoe Bend- Page, Arizona

A breathtaking start to a Grand Canyon Journey The journey to the Grand Canyon can be a long one, depending on the angle you approach it from. We headed straight up from Phoenix to the far-eastern point of the “southern ridge”. This is the side with the most developed infrastructure, the famous Grand Canyon Village, outfitted with all the lodging, shops, and trails you need to make your trip comfortable and fulfilling. The drive here through the rocky plains of central Arizona was also a sight to behold. We could even see an early edge of canyon! Before undertaking the long drive to the central Village area of the grand canyon, we went to a well-known but still stunning starting point near a little city […]

• 2024-05-10

Washington 2024, Grandma’s House

The upper edge of the Pacific Northwest What makes a vacation? If you do a google image search, the imagery hovers around resorts, beaches, and drinks with little umbrellas. Of course, a vacation should always be an escape from your normal, a break in routine, unless you drink on the beach regularly. We indeed think of luxury and leisure to achieve that break in routine, but a vacation can still be a little rugged, and filled with simple pleasures you might not find on that google search. The Pacific Northwest conjures thoughts of wood-burning stoves, tall, dense greenery, and the relaxed appeal of a slow-moving mountain town. It’s not your typical vision of a luxury vacation, but our trip here certainly felt like one, and […]

• 2024-05-10

The Sonoran desert, even further south than San Diego

Arizona is the hot cool state next to Cali I have always considered San Diego the southern tip of America, and that’s kind of the angle I take when I tell people in Japan about where I’m from: “You can be in Mexico in under an hour!” But actually, if you look at a map, heading east from California, the US border slopes downward to the south, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and especially Texas dip way down into a climate and landscape I had always associated with Mexico. Even travel in your own country can broaden your perspective… Tucson, Arizona,where you’ll find the most iconic cactus in the world: the Saguaro. Surrounded by these towering cacti, you’ll find a hostile environment that can […]

• 2024-02-02
• 2024-02-02

Minakami, Gunma: Hot springs and snow

The easiest snow trip out of Tokyo, this place has fun and leisure all in one For those who want to go snowboarding near Tokyo, the shinkansen easy access to Niigata’s “Echigo-Yuzawa” is often touted as the best way. You can hop on the shinkansen, rent gear immediately, and get back to Tokyo in the same day. However, I have found it to be a bit overcrowded, and in my years of boarding and living here, it is unequivocally better to make that slight marginal effort, go a little further, and stay the night wherever you are going. Minakami, in Gunma prefecture delivers the perfect short-term boarding trip, and has all the extras that you need to make it a blast (that is, great food […]

• 2024-01-19
• 2024-04-12

Kanagawa Hiking: Mt. Zukko

An easy trek in the depths of Hadano City, followed by the neatest soba shop ever Secret Hike in Kanagawa: Zukko-san. Kanagawa is known for its easy beach access from Tokyo. Enoshima, Kamakura, and Chigasaki are top spots for day-trippers to get some sun and surf. However, north Kanagawa has a host of outdoor fun, and scattered gems of low-tier yet charming tourist attractions. Hadano City is on the northern edge of Kanagawa, and full of easy hikes and country charm.