According to the Japanese zodiac, 2019 is the “Year of the Boar.” The boar serves as a symbol of abundance and peace. It also represents contentment and protection from negative vibes. Channeling the rich sentiment of this year’s zodiac animal sign, I’ve personally deemed 2019 as “The Year of Yes.”
Has anyone else been feeling unexplainable pressure and a lack of time affluence lately? According to Fast Company, we’re experiencing a culture shift, one that’s left us feeling as though we never have enough time. Time poverty then leads to feelings of exhaustion, which leads to cancelled or rescheduled plans with friends and family. If that all hits close to home, I’m right there with you. In an effort to reclaim my own time and energy in 2019, I’m attempting to kick my Compressionalist-like tendencies out the door and commit to the simple idea of saying “yes.” To making time for the people I care about and those that invite me to explore outside of my comfort zone.
As if the universe was listening in, my good friend Mary Walsh invited me to join her on a snowboarding trip to the North Island of Japan with Beyond The Boundaries, an all women’s snowboarding tour she co-founded with snowboarder Christine Savage. For a couple of weeks, I fought through the feelings of doubt that inevitably came rushing in and managed to karate chop the excuses (“maybe next time!”). This was my first opportunity to say “yes” in 2019 and commit to it, so I packed my passport, snowboarding gear and my Merrell RANGE AC+’s, and booked my trip to Hokkaido.
This was my first time in Japan and an adventure to be sipped slowly. The five days I spent in Hokkaido was in the company of a group of lady powderhounds of all ages, shapes and sizes who flew in from the U.S., eager to ride. Each day’s itinerary featured a different resort destination where we would spend hours weaving through winter bamboo trees and carving through waist-deep powder. At Annupuri, we took long breaks to get lost in the subdued sounds of falling snow and lazy, swaying trees. While riding at Rusutsu Resort, we took deep breaths before dropping into some seriously steep ridgelines (shout out to our guides Mari Mizukami and Ski Rusutsu).
In the late afternoon, our group would hop in a van and we’d make our way to dinner, but not before making a stop at the nearest onsen. Said to have therapeutic effects to cleanse the mind, body and soul, the onsen culture in Japan is a lesson on how to better manage our time and prioritize our physical and mental wellbeing. Remember that time affluence and exhaustion I mentioned earlier? In Hokkaido, those feelings evaporated the second we dipped our toes into the water of our first onsen.
After a week of surfing through the best powder I’ve ever ridden and taking in the remarkable views of Mt. Yōtei, it was time to pack up and head to Tokyo. As I mentally prepared to explore a city filled with 13.8 million other humans, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d lose that sense of tranquility I had found in the mountains. Was there something to be found in the contrast? There was only one way to find out.
I hopped on a plane and then a train to get from Sapporo to Tokyo. No stranger to traveling alone, I did the same thing I always do when trying to find my own rhythm in a new city: I stepped onto the platform, cued up The Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place” and started walking. At the same, I was texting with my friend Jamie Charles, another strong, fly female in my life who’s in the habit of encouraging others to get out of their comfort zones and say “yes” to new experiences. Jamie is a flight attendant, so naturally, I asked her to join me in Tokyo on a whim. After an hour or so at my Airbnb, a text read “I’m here” and I opened the door to find not just Jamie but two other close friends who had decided to sign up for a whirlwind, 52-hour adventure in Tokyo, too. Seeing familiar faces more than five-thousand miles from home evoked a different sense of mindfulness and calm in a place unknown to me. With my chosen family close at hand, I was ready to take on Tokyo with a sense of confidence and adventure that you don’t always find when traveling solo.
With only two days to see and do everything we hit the ground running. With the help of a Suika card, the opportunity to explore both the traditional and modern offerings of Tokyo was just a quick train ride away. On the way to Meiji Shrine, we found nature in Yoyogi Park and even got to witness a few traditional ceremonies. In Harajuku, we fully embraced our roles as tourists and ate lunch at the Monster Museum followed by cotton candy on Takeshita Street and a pop-up art installation at the Louis Vuitton store. Of course, the Tokyo trip wouldn’t be complete without the perfect bowl of ramen (which we would find at a vending machine) and a night out on Golden Gai. But perhaps our favorite part of Tokyo was when we took the train to Komazawa, a sleepy town where we stumbled into a coffee shop that doubled as record store and chilled at a skatepark with the locals. It was there I would revel in that recurring calm that kept finding me throughout my travels. Even with skate decks slapping the concrete around me or the train flying by while we stood on the platform to go back to Shibuya, that sense of tranquility was always there.
Now a few months into 2019, I’m still playing around with different ways to manage my time. But if the landscape, the culture, and the experience of Japan taught me anything, it’s that the chance to reclaim your time is out there. Because, if you think about it, what is time if it’s not well spent? You just have to be willing to say “yes.”
Images by Lisa Dougherty and Mary Walsh.
XX Lisa Dougherty
