I returned from my trip to Tokyo on Friday. And of course, with that comes to need to unpack. I don’t mean practically unpack – that has already been taken care of over the weekend. Along with a lot of extra sleeping hours as I was dead tired. But I need to unpack my experiences into some sort of logical and chronological order. I have experiences to share and stories to tell and obviously photos to show. And also to talk about my photographic processes and experiences. And that will likely take a little bit of time to sort out.

On my past trips to Japan, I had sent an email home to my family every morning while I ate breakfast. I would write to them about the previous day and what I saw and where I went, etc. But that was purely me reflecting on the past day, and I think that sometimes there were gaps in my recollections. This time around, I actually wrote and updated my travel journal several times a day. So the experiences were fresh and current. I did not send these through to my family as I did not specifically write a journal for them. I think this time I more wrote it for me. It is a little more introverted and perhaps a little more emotional and raw. Most of those journal entries I will share here with you all as I unpack everything.

If you have been keeping pace, before my travels to Tokyo, I wrote several blogs about how I prepare for my travels. These were written both as a personal process to follow but also as a bit of travel advice to anyone wanting to go to Japan. As I unpack further, I want to write about how those processes actually worked or didn’t work while I was in Tokyo this time around. Did I stick within my budget? Did I have any troubles with transport services? That kind of evaluation.

And then obviously, as a photographer and visual storyteller, I want to share my photos from this trip. On my past trips to Japan, I have taken thousands of photos. Tokyo 2017 saw me take over 7,000 photos. This time around, I was very conscious that this trip was more than just taking the photos. I wanted to be more present, relax more and not be self-damning if I wasn’t taking enough pictures. So I really focused on this and as a result, was able to take photos when I was in the mood for it and when I was inspired to capture a particular look or subject. In the end, I took just on 1,500 images and to be honest, used the Fujifilm X70 far more than the Fujifilm XT3.

Most importantly, I am back home with my babies. The humans and the fur babies. The older two did a fantastic job of looking after the house, the animals and each other. My dog Yuki nearly knocked me over he was so excited to see me. As for my youngest, he was thrilled to be back home with me. He had a great time staying with my folks and sister but was ready to come home. And I was ready to return home to them too. I spent the weekend spending as much time as I could with them – in between the need to sleep.

So please stay tuned over the coming weeks and months as I continue to unpack my Tokyo 2019 experience. I had a fantastic time, but not without complications. But I made the most of what was on offer, and I feel very refreshed and relaxed. Thank you for being a part of this journey. Happy reading.