February '24

Musings

In case you couldn't tell, we love travelling. This month, we were stoked to go on what we are considering our "Honeymoon" in Japan! Traveling internationally always provides a great opportunity to learn about other cultures, hear different political views, and enjoy unique food, art, architecture, and experiences. We believe that travel can offer numerous benefits, both to those travelling and to the locales being visited, particularly when done with a sustainable mindset. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) does a great job outlining what sustainable tourism means, but in general, we try to "slow travel" (spend a considerable amount of time in a location, particularly when flying, to reduce the environmental impact of a trip), support local, respect customs and traditions, and leave no trace.

Japan is one of the most unique countries we've visited, given their rich history and culture. A few common themes stood out: 1) Japanese cuisine is second to none, especially when it comes to seafood, 2) their population density is indescribable, making for rich and vibrant streets, shops, and underground cities, all extremely well connected by public transportation, 3) the effects of WWII are vividly on display through well preserved but limited historical architecture, 4) their culture is surprisingly isolated and solitary, as seen through little conversation in common spaces, 5) they are clearly experiencing and finding solutions to an aging population and decreasing birth rates, largely through automation. At the end of the day, we are constantly reminded that there are always more similarities than differences between cultures, as we are all citizens of the Earth.

Beyond Japan, we also got to spend time with some of our favorite people when we returned to Palisade. While we've explored a lot of places, nothing comes close to the accessibility, community, and overall vibe of Palisade, and we can't wait to return in December...assuming we can find remote jobs. We've started giving a little thought to our return to work, and came to the realization that Mesa County just doesn't offer that many jobs that are relevant to our skill sets. We're excited to see more companies moving to Grand Junction and hope that trend continues over the next 6 months so we have the option to work locally or remotely!

Oh, and it wouldn't have been a month of trailer life without something going wrong...this month, it was leaking propane pigtails. Thankfully, they were outside of the trailer and very easy to fix.

As for KPI's, we took this month off for advocacy work to focus on reconnecting, recharging, and learning about Japan's history and culture.

Trip Report

It would be impossible to recap everything we did in Japan, so we'll just share some highlights:

• We skied 50cm of fresh powder over 4 days at Niseko Ski resort, and recovered each night in their onsen

• In Osaka we shopped for Japanese knives and robot waiters, ate the best tempura of our lives, and Ben battled Baby Bowser at Super Nintendo World

• Kyoto was the city of stunning temples, tea ceremonies in full Kimono, and a stay at a traditional Japanese Ryokan

• Rounded out our trip exploring Tokyo’s many neighborhoods, and eating as many red bean pastries as we could find

• On a visit to a historic sake brewery, we learned sake is unique from beer/wine production due to it’s parallel fermentation requirements and use of a type of mold to create fermentable sugars

• At a traditional tea ceremony in Kyoto, we discovered the ceremonies come in various levels of formality and require different types of dress and customs...and that the Japanese love when visitors partake appropriately

• The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was an eye-opening reminder and an important global role displaying the horrific consequences of dropping an atomic bomb on a population center, and urges weapon denuclearization as the only path to avoid a similar tragedy in the future.

• Geisha (or Geiko) still exist in small numbers primarily in Kyoto, and remain masters of traditional Japanese arts. 

• Plum blossoms bloom before cherry blossoms, and are equally as stunning. 

• The automation at restaurants, hotels, airports was unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

• There are Hello Kitty bullet trains & construction barriers   

Back in the states, we had a great time in Palisade. We got out to XC some of the best trails in the U.S. with friends on the Grand Mesa, got a bluebird powder day at Snowmass, revisisted some of our favorite dining and drinking establishments, and discovered some new ones too!