About Me
- I am Miho, a native Japanese girl living in California.
- I was born and grew up in Fukuoka Japan.
- I am currently working as a Product Manager at an IT company on the West Coast of the United States.
My Travel History
I love to travel, so I have visited 35+ countries so far in between my working life.
- 1998 – First trip to outside of Japan. Las Vegas, USA. 5-day trip. Enjoyed the first Casino and misty Ground Canyon.
- 2001 – NASA visit with my sister. I was very interested in the space. Visited NASA in Houston, TX and took a photo with astronaut clothing. Observed the launch of space shuttle in Orlando, FL.
- 2002, 2003 – India with my research group. My professors studied an nebulae with Indian professors. To observe starts, I stayed in India for months. This experience changed my life.
- 2004 – Thailand and Malaysia
- 2004 – Cambodia
- 2009 – Relocated to U.S. for my work.
- 2009 Fall – Italy (the first Europe)
- 2010 – Vietnam with my mom and my sister.
- 2011 – U.K. for my work.
- 2012 – Hong Kong
- 2012 – Relocated to U.K. for my study.
- 2013 Spring – Iceland with my best friends at British university. I did not know how beautiful the iceland is. I was 100% fallen love with Icelandic nature. Specifically the glacier.
- 2014 Spring – Turkey with my best friend at British university.
- 2014 Summer – Hong Kong, China, Taiwan
- 2014 Summer – Relocated to U.S. for my work.
- 2015 Spring – Hong Kong and Taiwan
- 2015 Fall – Turkey and Thailand for my friend’s wedding
- 2016 – Iceland
- 2017 – Iceland
- 2018 – Travel all over the world
- 2019 – Taiwan
- 2022 – Canada
My Bucket List
Life Changing Travels
India changed my life
My first interest in tourism goes back to India, where I went when I was a graduate student. I was originally interested in space, so I belonged to an astronomy laboratory. I stayed in Hyderabad, India for several months during our astronomical observations, that I first realized that there were many different places in the world, and I wanted to see more.
After that, I got a job at a Japanese company in Tokyo. Fortunately, I was in a work environment where I was allowed to take long vacations, so I traveled alone to Asian countries, mostly for a week in reality, with Kotaro Sawaki’s “Midnight Express,” a bible for backpackers, in hand. I traveled to the Malay Peninsula, local bus trips from Cambodia to Thailand, Borobudur ruins in Indonesia, etc., all by myself even though I could not speak English then.
Travel after quitting jobs
At 40’s, I quite my job to travel with my husband. I had nice co-workers and okay salary at that moment, but I wanted to see the world more with my husband. We decided to quit jobs and went to travel after selling our cars and storing all furnitures at a storage! We had a lot of concerns about our life, but more excited to know the world by ourselves. Such a crazy decision we made.
Motivation of my blogging
I have worked in many places, both in Japan, United Kingdom and United States of America, and the most difficult thing I have had to do is to bridge the cultural differences between the two sides. I’ve seen scenes where people are unable to understand the differences, which leads to a state of enmity, not being able to give 100% of their abilities, and not being able to make the most of the opportunities they have. Cultural differences cannot be understood by watching books or videos. I believe that cultural differences can only be bridged by actually experiencing and understanding other people.
I believe that tourism can play a major role in bridging these cultural differences.
In this blog, I am introducing my experiences and thoughts in the hope that they can serve as a platform to help people in Japan understand the world, even if only a little.