A Subtle and Insignificant Announcement

A surprise and a shock to many, but an important decision I have had to make.

I have decided to cut my trip short by twenty days in order to save a significant amount on personal expenses and pursue other interests of mine that my four month break from college will offer me.

Having the opportunity to not only visit japan, but to spend a significant time here and see the entire country were only a few of many goals I set for myself during Christmas of last year. I intend to accomplish all of them, and returning home earlier than expected would allow me ample time to do that.

Even though I will be here twenty days shorter than I expected, things will, for the most part, go on as planned. I will travel the entire country, see all the sights I have dreamed of seeing, and of course meet plenty of interesting, intelligent, adventurous and wacky people.

I realized during my days spent in Tokyo that I would not need such a significant amount of time to do those things I had set out to do, so now as opposed to trying to spend sixty days here, I will spend forty.

I will of course see sixty cities. Even in my travels in and around Tokyo, I could possibly say that I have already seen at least thirty over the course of ten days. What I am able to write here is only a small microcosm of the things I see, learn and experience every day.

As far as unexpected events go, I had not anticipated the large amount of extra money I would need for essential things such as train tickets not part of the JR lines. I assumed that by purchasing an unlimited pass for JR trains, I would be able to get anywhere for one solid price.

As it turns out, there are many different train lines operating in japan, and often times, many of the smaller ones are the most important ones that you have to use to get to the places you really want to see.

I had also not anticipated the loneliness of seeing so many beautiful things by myself. The best times I have had so far have been the opportunities I have been able to spend with my friends that I have known for years and the friends I have made in short, chance meetings that I am able to connect with on some base level for only a few minutes or a few short hours.

One of the other important things I had not anticipated was the possibility that I would not receive money for street performing. My guitar has been the thing that has been able to get me into most of the things I write about, it is a great conversation starter and as music is a universal language, it is a fantastic way to connect with others.

But for the most part, people don’t want to pay just to hear music around here. Street performers litter the streets in Tokyo, and they have more than just sound to sell. Folks here want something tangible, something they can take home. This may not be so much the case in America, where tipping is a societal norm, but it is not in japan. This has made things very difficult.

So just for kicks, even though we should technically be calling this 60cities40days, were still gonna call this whole she-bang 60cities60days. the best thing for us to do is suck it up and just roll with the punches.

and i know you can.