It needed to be written. It needed to be shared. Now it exists. Take it and do what you will with it The Mountain Manifesto Introduction: Everything is Not Fine Why Non-Violence Matters Discourse on the World’s Power Structure The Crisis of the Individual in a Broken System Escaping Tribalism and Extreme Ideology The Harbingers…
Fifty-Three is a Prime Number – My Annual Birthday Reflection.
51 is a new beginning.
Merry Christmas from Vagobond!
December 25, 2024 – Satoshi Manor. Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope this season and day finds you surrounded by loved ones and enjoying peace. As for me – I painted a picture, I walked around and I ate some KFC. My neighbor brought me apples and oranges as a thank you for…
Back at Satoshi Manor – Thoughts on Travel and More
I thought November would be a boring month. It wasn’t. December is shaping up to be an enjoyable month too – but one mostly at home, I think. In early November, on a whim because the rain, the short days, and the start of the cold wasn’t very fun – I booked a ten day…
A Little Trip to America for Thanksgiving
There is one big reason I come back to America. I love my daughter and honestly that’s reason enough. My most recently completed book could easily be labeled roman a clef which roughly translates to fiction where characters and situations are more or less the author’s fantasy or desires from life translated to the page. Novel…
Vagobond in Vietnam – Hanoi
I could write a lot about Hanoi and I probably will – but for now, I think these pictures express it all pretty well. Amazing country, amazing people, amazing city. ~CD
Vagobond in Vietnam – 2024 – Part 1 – Planning and Expenses
As the weather started to get cooler in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan in late October, I realized that the time when it would be best to not be at Satoshi Manor was probably November. The issue was primarily that the great weather and wonderful colors of Autumn had almost ended and the cold and snow wonder…
2024’s Cultural Shock – Reality Shift. When both feet leave the ground
I’m distinctly uncomfortable right now. Not physically and not emotionally – but mentally and possibly even spiritually. I’m unsettled. It’s November 14th here in Japan where I’ve just returned from an eight day trip to northern Vietnam. What I’m experiencing isn’t culture shock, it’s not that experience of being in a new place and and…
It’s not a New America – It’s the same it always was
The first time Donald Trump was elected was a painful shock to many of us. The reason was hard to figure out at first, but ultimately it came down to the fact that we’d been lying to ourselves about what America represented, what it wants, and who it is. Don’t get me wrong, every person…
Satoshi Manor’s First Guest – a CouchSurfer!
It makes me happy to say that Couchsurfing is not dead. I’ve been grateful for all the friends and experiences that Couchsurfing has brought me through the years and it was unpleasant to think of it as becoming irrelevant and a dying platform. It still might, but for the moment at least, my faith is…