A Journey Through Korea and Japan (And A Few Thoughts About Everything)

Hello everyone—hope you’re all having a great start to summer. I just wanted to share a little about a wonderful vacation I took with my partner, all the way to Korea and Japan.

We decided back in January that we were ready to live—no more hesitating, no more excuses. So we booked our trip and bought our tickets to stay motivated. Shout out to our friends at Air Canada for helping us pull the trigger.

✈️ Planning the Adventure

After we got the tickets, we had a lot of fun spending evenings with our good travel agency friend (chatbot) to plan the route and decide where and when we wanted to be. Using new search capabilities, it helped us find lodging and recommended some of the best places. Honestly, I was impressed—everywhere we showed up, we were right downtown, immersed in cultural heritage and inspiration.

Once we picked how many days to spend in each city and booked the hotels, we decided not to hard-plan anything else. We just made sure we’d have a place to lay our heads so we could stay flexible. That turned out to be the perfect approach—we had so much fun every single day.

🌿 Leaving Before the Rains

We left at the end of May, which turned out to be a great time because Korea and Japan’s summer rainy season starts in early June. So we got nearly eighteen days of adventure—traveling from Seoul to Insadong, to Jeonju, Gyeongju, and finally Busan, all by public transit (which, by the way, was amazing).

From Busan, we took a short flight on Air Busan, crossed over into Japan, and landed in Fukuoka. We had a fantastic day exploring Canal City. Then we moved on to Hiroshima, where visiting the Peace Memorial was profound and powerful. I highly recommend it to anyone who considers themselves a conscious human being—it’s a sobering reminder of the horrors of nuclear warfare and the urgent need for us, as a global society, to stop screwing each other over over tribalism. (More on that later.)

🏯 The Cities and Their Vibes

From Hiroshima, we traveled to Kyoto, then Osaka, and finally spent the end of the trip in Tokyo. The whole experience was just magical. I’m so thankful we decided to do it now, before we got any older.

It’s something I’ve always dreamed of. Every day, we learned more about ourselves and the incredible cultures outside America. And sure, I know I have rose-colored glasses—these countries have their own problems—but there’s definitely a different vibe compared to the hustle and bustle of American life.

One thing that stood out: stores open late, often 10 am or later. Even on weeknights, cities would start winding down around 8 pm, and by 10 pm, most places were closed unless you were at a nightclub. I thought that was charming. It felt like people weren’t capitalist slaves grinding to make a quick buck, though I’m sure there are other challenges.

🚉 Transit Envy

The cultural heritage sites were stunning. When we first landed in Insadong, Seoul, it felt magical—even while we were jet-lagged. The train systems, buses, and subways were fantastic.

Honestly, I wish we had that in the U.S. It’s such a shame how dependent we are on the oil and gas car economy. Don’t get me wrong—I love my car. But if I could take a train to see my parents over the weekend or hop on a bus downtown—on a variety of routes, with consistent and frequent service—it would change everything. This trip was a reminder of how backwards our infrastructure can feel.

Of course, you wouldn’t know any different unless you traveled, so I’m grateful for the new perspective.

🚶‍♂️ Walking Culture in Japan

Japan—especially Tokyo—was so cool to see. The way they organize streets and prioritize pedestrians was refreshing. Cars are at the bottom of the transportation food chain.

We walked everywhere. At some point, my legs got tired, and my knee complained, but we made do. The biggest takeaway from the trip was this reminder:

There’s a whole world out there, and sometimes we’re just stuck in our own little box.

I feel like the whole world is struggling. Instead of coming together, our leaders keep falling back on basic tribalism, screwing each other over. We see it in our current American leadership. Honestly, it’s insane that a con artist, a demagogue, and a liar of the highest degree is in the primary driver’s seat. (Let’s just call him “the orange man.”)

I grew up thinking leaders were supposed to be people you looked up to—empathetic, wise, able to bring people together. But watching what’s happening in America? It’s just…bad. We’re constantly at war, fed media propaganda with zero substance. Everyone’s subdued, and it’s hard to think about resisting. I don’t want violent resistance—I just want to resist with my vote. But they’ve dismantled the voting system. We’re in this post-capitalist mess, and everything is falling apart.

And now I hear they’re not going to regulate AI technology for the next ten years, so Big Tech will just keep controlling our government. It’s insane. (I’ll stop—could go on forever.)

🌍 Expat Perspectives

We met an American expat in Tokyo—she’d been a Mormon originally—and she told us that in Japan, everyone’s basically against the government. It’s just there, doing things, but most people don’t want to engage.

In America, meanwhile, we pick teams and fight over everything. That was interesting to hear.

And yeah—maybe it’s obvious now why the Hiroshima Memorial was so powerful for me. I’m yearning for a future where, globally, we can talk about our problems and move resources to grow and heal communities instead of undercutting each other so a select few can buy their $9 million yachts.

🎓 Education Is Everything

One last thought—I still believe the only way we fix any of this is by rebuilding our education system. It’s been gutted over the past 30+ years. That’s why we end up promoting leaders like the orange man—people lack critical thinking. Money talks, and nonsense walks.

Education is everything. If we want a better future, it starts there.

💰 The Big Business Dilemma

And just to circle back to the trip—yes, it was expensive, but totally worth it. I’m excited to do something similar again, maybe in Europe next time to see the castles.

I recognize that travel like this is a privilege, and I genuinely wish more people could have these kinds of experiences. So many are struggling to find work or stability, especially as AI rises with little regulation and our data is constantly being harvested and used against us. It’s tough when so many don’t have the critical thinking skills to see how social media keeps them trapped on a dopamine drip.

Everyone deserves the chance to see the world and gain new perspectives.

And yes—Korea and Japan have problems too. In Korea, while we were there, a bus union strike started and ended successfully in one day. I wish Americans hadn’t been brainwashed to think unions are evil. They’re one of the most powerful tools we have to improve our quality of life. Sure, there’s always some corruption and factionalism, but everything now is so imbalanced—Big Tech is controlling the narrative.

When I was growing up, I believed if you worked hard, you could start a business and succeed. Now, I don’t believe that’s possible anymore. You can’t just take out loans and expect your business to survive when you’re up against Amazon. And yet, here I am, still using that service, knowing it needs regulation so small business owners can compete.

🏡 Back in Texas

Wrapping this up—moving forward, I’m going to keep focusing on my health and creativity. I want to bring some of what I experienced in those cultures back to the U.S.

Right now, especially in Texas, we’re just…lacking culture. I live in Austin, where there was a boom during COVID—the tech people came, prices shot up, and now it’s all collapsing. Culture feels sucked out from under us. Musicians can’t afford to live downtown. Prices are skyrocketing. Homes sit on the market for months.

How can you have culture when new people can’t move in? It’s just stagnant. And on a thousand-year scale, we’re heading toward desertification—soon there’ll be no water left here in Central Texas. But that’s planetary ecology…oh goodness, let’s not get into that yet.

🎶 Signing Off

Anyway, I’m going to stop here and somehow figure out how to edit this content and share it with you all.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for stopping by. Remember—if you need any music or technological services, you know where to find me. Speaking of which—remind me to put up the music page on my personal website you’re reading this on.

Thanks so much. Talk again soon, baby.

Disclaimer: Yes, AI was used to edit this. If you notice any suspiciously well-structured sentences, blame the robots.