Why Yes, I Did Wake Up One Day and Decided I Wanted to Travel

I love traveling. Who doesn't? 

I used to take a trip every year around spring break while in high school and college. Then I lived in South Korea and Japan. I got pregnant with my first kid, moved back home to Minnesota, had two more kids, and then life got in the way of travel.

I had planned to go back to Japan once my first kid was born, but with the complications that arose during the pregnancy and my child's health, that was less likely. Then child number two developed a severe allergy to peanuts, so the plan to return to Japan felt even less likely. And by the time child number three came, I was pretty much set to staying in Minnesota. So my husband and I bought a house in our home town.

But that desire to return to Japan never left.

Good thing one of my best friends lives in Japan.

I planned to visit her in June of 2020. Less than a month after I bought my plane ticket, the pandemic happened and my trip had to be cancelled.

Life got even more in the way.

Then in December of 2021, I got a job promotion that changed my life. 

I started part time at a craft and fabric store in 2017 as a sewing instructor. After about a year and a half, we were no longer offering classes, but I still liked the small bit of spending money I earned, so I stayed. Then in December 2021, I was promoted to Assistant Store Manager, a full time position that paid more. With more hours came more money.

As anyone who's ever worked at a fabric store knows, there's only so much fabric you can buy. Yes, it's pretty. But craft rooms can only hold so much fabric. So what else was I to do?

1. Save money for a program at a college in Japan to earn my Master's degree. Which is a topic for a separate blog post.

And 2. Travel more.

So yes, I did wake up one morning and say, you know what, if I want to travel more, why not just do it?

For Christmas and New Year's of 2022, my family and I went to the Big Island of Hawaii and Maui.

And in 6 days, I'll finally be returning to Japan to hang out with my bestie for 10 days. It's only been 15 years since we last saw each other in person. Watch out Japan, here I come.