Senioritis

Shimoda, Japan 2019 + 2021

Remember your Senior Year of High School?  How it felt to walk the halls?  That’s how I’m feeling during our 4th school year here in Tokyo.  I have a case of Senioritis.  

I have friends I adore, restaurants I love and almost know how to do all the things, in order to do all the things.

Our first year here it was all about New! New! New! Japan.  Seeing the cities that everyone sees (Hakone, Kyoto, Shimoda…) and eating at the restaurants everyone eats at (Meatman, Savoy, Cicada…)

The second year was all about traveling Asia: Thailand! Australia! Bali! - then COVID hit.

The COVID years were all about diving deeper into the unknown parts of Japan.  Borders being closed were a blessing in disguise, as we checked out new places and spaces off the beaten path.  I would have never gone camping in Kamikochi, hiked in Yakushima or kayaked in Fukushima without being forced to explore.  And damn, did it make me fall hard for this country.  Japan is beyond beautiful and I also love how comfortable we have gotten with being uncomfortable.  The other day for lunch we simply pressed buttons on a restaurant ticket machine, not knowing what the heck we were ordering and all four of us were happy, just eating bowls of yumminess.  

Back when we first moved here, we would love a new place and Steve would mutter as we left, “well, glad we found a place so awesome that we will never visit again,” cause my motto was MORE!  Why the heck would we go to the same place 2x and miss out on the opportunity to experience something that could be even more incredible?

Then an Ah-Ha happened the other night during a dinner at Locale, my favorite restaurant in all of Japan.  I was sitting at the counter chatting with Katy, the owner, about how she stayed afloat during COVID since I hadn’t eaten there in almost 2 years.  She told me it was the regulars that kept her business alive.  The regulars I thought?  That’s a thing?  I can be a regular?  In that moment it hit.  

So, this school year I have a new vision.  A new roadmap for success. 

Instead of trying to calm my unquenchable thirst for new, I’m going to act like a High School Senior and start cherishing the favorites.  I want to fall even deeper in love with my current friends instead of gathering more. (Sorry, ASIJ Elementary School social I’m not attending.)  As I plan my travel, I want to go back to places I know make my family happy. (Hello, Nozawa Onsen where we will spend our winter.) And I want to visit the restaurants that I know that I love. (Katy, I will see you next Wednesday.).