December 2024. I sold most of what I owned, put the rest in a storage unit. I packed two suitcases and two backpacks with essentials, and hopped on a flight to Tokyo, Japan. I have always been a bit of an adventurer, always willing to just go, but this... this was the biggest move I had ever made and the most uncertain, but it felt... right if I'm being honest. It's one thing to go on vacation knowing you're eventually going back to a home with all your stuff in it. It's another thing to leave with no real date of return. It was a new adventure, one I'd never had before, but one I was willing to take on.

I had a layover in Hawaii and then from there it was a straight shot from the motherland of spam to the home of those that influenced spam musubi. A total of 14 hours until I reached Haneda Airport.

Fourteen hours of thinking. Fourteen hours of second-guessing. Fourteen hours of staring out airplane windows wondering if I'd lost my mind.

The plane lands and no one claps... thank God... but we didn't land at the central part of the airport. We had to take a bus to get to our bags and I didn't know—I wasn't ready for that. I didn't check the weather before I got there. The automatic door slides open and Tokyo's winter air hits me like a wake-up call, more jarring than the default alarm on the iPhone that goes off just as the dream was getting good. Crisp. Cold. Sharp enough that I can see my breath forming small clouds that disappear as quickly as they came. This is it. This is real.

I grab my bags and head out to the Uber. I did most of my immigration stuff online so Ipass through that part easy. The Uber drops me off six blocks away from where I'm supposed to be... Of course. I'm starting to see a pattern here. Welcome to Japan, I guess. Half a mile with two suitcases and two backpacks through unfamiliar streets, the wheels of my luggage echoing against the pavement like a countdown to... what exactly? I don't know yet.

I find my Airbnb. Third floor. No elevator. Because why would there be? But I'm in Japan. No complaints, right?

Standing in that tiny apartment, luggage scattered around me, I realize something: I had done it... I had arrived. It was no longer a thought... it was real life. Hello Tokyo, my name is Fox... nice to meet you.