As the clock struck 12:00am, making it January 1^st, 2014, we were standing in line at a temple in Tokyo, Japan. I have always dreamed of traveling around the world, but never did I think that I would have the opportunity to make it to Asia. As we stood in line waiting to partake in the Japanese tradition on New Years of making that first visit to a shrine or temple, I thought back on major events that had happened in our lives in 2013…

2013 was, without a doubt, a year of busy excitement and hardships. My husband came back from spending 2012 in Afghanistan, which was the greatest thing of all I might add. Then we found out that we took an opportunity to be stationed in Sasebo, Japan for the next three years! So we rented out our home and began packing our bags. Although things were looking great on the outside, we had to face some hard times as well. As you can imagine, moving across the world is not an easy thing to do. You have to leave your home, job, dog, and biggest of all, your family and friends.  Once we arrived in Japan, my husband was deployed almost right away, so I spent just about the last half of the year adjusting by myself in a foreign country. ..

However, looking back, if we could do it all over again, we wouldn’t change a thing. Living in the military life is not an easy thing, and I believe no one can fully understand what it’s like unless they have the same life as well. But we work with what we have and always make the best of things. When he is not deployed, my husband works about 14 hours a day, going to work before the sun is up and coming home after the sun is down. Therefore, when he has a vacation, you better believe that we plan to experience as much of Japan and the Pacific when an opportunity presents itself.

We ended 2013 with a huge travel bug, starting out in Tokyo, Japan for a week and then ending in Hiroshima, Japan for a quick few days. Tokyo is full of bright lights and modern technology, but also withholds many cultural events and places that are important to the Japanese culture and its heritage. There are many places to shop until you drop, eat the most random and dangerous foods, explore shrines, temples, and museums, and you can reach it all in an instant via subways or shinkansens (bullet trains). Even though we haven’t been in Sasebo long, and even though we still have a lot longer to go, we never know how much time we will actually have together during our remaining time. So we packed our bags and set off for the busy city! With that being said, enjoy the next couple of chapters in our blog of our newest adventures that helped ring in a new year!

Kampai to 2014!! (Cheers!)

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