Hello From The Other Side…

Hello. It’s been a while. So long, in fact, that I am struggling to even rationalise how much has happened since my last blog post, nearly two years ago. In chronological order since those long forgotten musings: I became events manager at a backpacker hostel in Peru’s Sacred Valley; fell in love very much at first sight with a Peruvian beauty; flew to Europe for a game of football; flew back to Peru for love, moving in together after knowing each other for 3 days; visited microbreweries, national parks and ran marathons across 20 US states in a little under 3 months; slowly spiralled downwards into an almost permanent state of emotional toxicity; returned to Madrid to take over as general manager of my favourite craft beer bar; was finally helped to realise the extent of the emotional damage and abuse, and ran out of my former home one morning with as many belongings as I could grab; experienced a lengthy period of apathy, bordering on depression, rather than the expected post-relationship elation; made friends with a cat, beginning the healing process in the most unexpected manner; left Madrid (again) to the comfort of the family nest; and completed the recovery. What a ride.

So hello! With an exclamation mark, this time; here I am again, upbeat and excited. Excited that a new year has begun positively; excited at the prospect of future plans being achieved; but mostly excited because I am travelling again. If travel is food for the soul, then mine was ravenous. Fortunately my first destination on this tour of Asia is a city that assaults and overwhelms all the senses simultaneously, a city that I would move to in a heartbeat and can revisit time and time again. Tokyo, the only city that could extend a welcoming hand and yank me headfirst back into the world of travel, of daily stimulation and adventure, of new encounters and strange foods, and most importantly of happiness. I have not smiled for a long time as I have smiled the last three days, walking, eating, talking my way around Japan’s megalopolis capital. I lost an integral part of my personality last year, my joie de vivre, the childlike innocence of the fun life can bring. It hasn’t returned fully yet, but give it a couple more weeks of food markets, random stranger encounters, and long walks and it should be fully restored to its former self. Just bear with me as I relearn this storytelling business…

New friends, good food, happy me