As the end of the year was coming quickly we spent our last week at the base of Mount Fuji getting ready for the transition home.
Isabelle’s art has bloomed and she has set out to start a company to sell her work. She got selected as an Amazon merchant and is working on uploading images for clothing, stickers and more. Meanwhile she has been brainstorming business ideas and it is fun to see her passion. Her company, Arctic Threads, will soon be up online, on social media and on Amazon. It has been fun to see her passion grown and her take on all the details of starting a business from scratch.
Lily spent her week using her talent at organizing and her eye for beauty to create a book of images from this year that we can print and have at home. There is an art to telling a story and a beauty in having a project finished. Having a printed book of pictures feels like the best possible souvenir from a year of travel.
My life journey has been long and circuitous, simply following my heart, not sure how the pieces wouldl all fit together. This year has felt like coming into a clearing in the woods and seeing the view for the first time. I suddenly have a clear purpose and know where I want to go. Creating systems that support health and wellness is the next transition in health care and where I want to spend my time and energy both personally and professionally. This passion and my love of writing resulted in a book proposal, as well as submission and rejection by agents, but a clear path moving forward.
Traverse oversaw all of our project, providing encouragement and technical support as he continued to grow his business and make arrangements for our transition back home
Between work projects we climbed, ran, read and prepared for life back home. We befriended the women at the supermarket and the local onsen (Japnesse hot springs). We relished in little moments, the time, the quiet, the joy of this year. We took a deep breath before the final push up Mt. Fuji and back home.
Catching the train to Mt. Fuji area, clearly a tourist hotspot with its dedicated rail system.
Enjoying the amazing fish
Ordering a meal at vending machine.
Alternative entertainment near Mt. Fuji. All perfectly manacured in true Japan style.
The flowers around town have been amazing, and we are starting to find berries, a real sign that we have come full circle this year.
The kids at the end of their camp, all smiles with a world of new friends.
These two- they have grown so much this year.
Our “home” for 10 days, an old traditional Japanese house in the center of town.