Perhaps because this new year was unbelievably good, it’s taken me a little longer than usual to get back into the usual routine, and, as with the last time I took a summer holiday in January – the trip which provided the impetus for the move to Japan – this time it has me plotting a more audacious escape yet: to work less and write more. As one of my students observed last year, you are a writer, you need the idle life.
So my thoughts naturally float up from packed commuter trains and fly towards empty beaches, pausing midway through a full schedule to recall the luxury of a book a day, are given over to musings on falling asleep with just a sheet as cover, instead of a pile of blankets wrapped around a hot water bottle. Time to make the holiday a permanent part of life, to realise that travel alone can occasionally look like running away, but if you can find an accomplice it becomes a plan of escape.
4 comments
A question from the left field: did you know much Japanese before you went to Japan?
Cheers,
Ben
Not much at all! We speak English all day at work too so there’s little opportunity to learn unless you make an effort to. It’s a shame, I think.
Ah, cool. I’ve been wondering about travelling in Asia. (And, thus, enjoying these posts!)
Thanks Ben, glad you’ve been enjoying them! I would say do it, no question.