Todd Wassel's Blog

Updated on March 31st, 2020 during lock-down in Laos with my family as we wait out the COVID-19 Pandemic

Over the past 20 years I have traveled and worked in an out of conflict zones, balanced a growing family in a shifting world of job insecurity and risk, and learned to make decisions with scraps of information together with with a big bag of hope. None of this has been easy. It has always been filled with anxiety and self doubt at the time of the decisions. But each time my wife and I made our decisions based on an assessment of the risk and as much information we could pull together at the time. Each time a decision had to be made and we made it, moved on and were fortunate enough that we never regretted anything.

We are Sheltering Away From Our Home Countries

As the COVID-19 crisis sweeps the world we were faced once again with a decision to make. This time the stakes were much higher, we have two beautiful little kids, 6 and 8 as of writing this. Should we stay in Laos, were we currently live and work? Or should we leave and get back to the US or Japan? Most people we know back home were shocked we decided to stay. But for us, the call to continue our work helping the people of Laos, together with our assessment that we would be safer hunkering down helped us to make our decision. More importantly it has helped us to enjoy our decision…but not without some struggle.

Each border that closed, each flight that was canceled, each time our window to leave narrowed and eventually closed our stomached churned and emotions ran wild. We doubted ourselves, questioned if we made the right decision as other people chose different paths. But each time we came back to our risk profile, we came back to an assessment of all the information we were actively pulling together from embassies, friends, government partners, the news (yes, you need to read the wild reactions too). Each time we decided we were still making the right decision. Each time our amazingly resilient kids just figured emergencies like this were a part of life. For them, they probably are.

In the middle of change, in the middle of unprecedented times, it is hard to have perspective. But there are things that make it easier. There are ways to prepare to make the next event easier to handle. We have learned how build a resilient life, to see that Y2K, the popping of the tech bubble in the early 2000’s, 911, the subprime mortgage crisis, and now COVID-19 were all unprecedented.  Unprecedented crisis always happen. That is what a crisis is. Change always comes knocking.

When life kicks you in the teeth, smile back. When life gives you a present, good or bad, say thank you. When life changes, accept it as the one rule in life that never changes, things change. This is not meant to be an inspirational post, if it gets wishy washy then I give you permission to click away, shut down your computer, and walk away. Actually, if it’s a nice day out, go ahead and take a walk now. You won’t get too far, half of the earth’s population is in lock-down! I’ll still be here when you get back.

Things change. Life changes. We change. Our significant others change, our family changes. Jobs come and go. You get the point. But how do we manage all this change? Uh, er, did you read the title? We don’t manage the change, we should just accept it, adapt to it, and move on. I know, easier said than done, especially when you are in the middle of it. But if nothing else, the past 20 years traveling the world, and working in difficult places has taught me it’s a waste of energy to bemoan change.

Don’t believe me? Here is an 8 year turn around as a case in point.

Child on the Way- I’m Unemployed

But Todd, you have a great life, what do you have to worry about? Well, nothing really. Didn’t you just read my last paragraph? I’m a big fan of giving advice ONLY when I live that advice myself. Eight years ago I found myself quitting my dream job, having my first child, and moving in with my in-laws in Japan. Does my life still sound sexy?

First the job. My contract was up and there is no more money in the project to pay for me. I loved working for the United Nations in Northern Kosovo. But instead of wishing things were different, I’m worked my ass off to leave the project with what it needed to survive after I left. I wanted it and the people there to succeed. I’m grateful for the time I had, and would never have changed a thing. Instead I brought the experience from the job forward with me.

Sometimes you have no choice but take a different road.

Towards the end of June my wife delivered our first child. Instead of being worried about being unemployed at the same time I would become a Dad, I decided to look forward to it. I was given the gift of two months of NOT working to spend with my wife and new child. Who gets that? Not many people. Sure, it required some sacrifices, like moving in with my wife’s parents, living in a small room with the three of us etc etc. But the rewards were so much. Two months not worrying about work, living in Japan, being close to family. Amazing.

Don’t be Lazy

Being calm, thankful, and hopeful is not the same thing as being lazy. I spent my time looking for new work. Actually I spent my time creating my next job. I was working on a Hiking Guide to Southern Kosovo and this landed me another job building the tourism sector in the same area with the United Nations once again. One year later, I found myself changing life again as we moved back to Timor-Leste to run a conflict resolution program. I felt I still had the energy to work in managing conflicts, and my family needed a change of air. So I left my job again, and we moved on to my next dream job. Each time I took the time to decide if I was happy and if my family needed something more. We decided to move and take a three year contract, not knowing what would be next.

In Timor we lived life to its fullest. Our family grew and my jobs changed a couple of time. But seven years later it was time to leave. We didn’t have a new job lined up but we gave ourselves a year. Kay and the kids moved to Japan for the experience and because we could, while I worked and tried to find a new job. Eight months later we were all reunited in Laos. Thankful for the new job, for being together, and for exploring a new country. Of course, now we had to decided if we should stay or leave due to COVID-19. Yes, yes, you already know what we decided. This is not a murder mystery and you know how it ended. I hope you are beginning to see how all of the ups and downs have ended.

Now What?

Great, you have filled my head with ideas of happiness, joy, and fulfillment, but what next? I still have to face the uncertainty of COVID-19 or some other pandemic, crisis, unprecedented event that will know doubt come again. I don’t have a job, I still have responsibilities, I have bills. Well, life is about making the most of your time RIGHT NOW. I’m sitting here on a Tuesday evening, updating this blog for you, a glass of whiskey in hand. I spent my day locked in my house, homeschooling my son, working full time to keep our office running, and exercising in my garden with my wife. I’m taking action, doing the things I love. I’m reveling in my change, enjoying it, sharing it. I could be sitting on the couch, watching TV, doing nothing. But I’m not. OK, well I do that too sometimes!

But here is my secret boiled down into 7 steps that range from personal finance to career development. This is the foundation that has helped me not only accept that I can NOT manage uncertainty, but it ensures I have the space to enjoy the change, to learn from it, and grow. This plan has allowed me the space to take advance of opportunities when they have found me:

1) Never Carry Credit Card Debt. I know this sounds easier than it is but it is a fact that you are paying more for what you buy today with credit due to the interest fees. If you have credit card debt, make it a priority to pay it off. Once you pay it off take the money you were paying each month and apply it to another fund (more on this below). Pay off your credit card bill before the end of each month. This way you get the convenience of a credit card without having to pay for it.

2) Make a monthly budget. Cut up your expenses, savings, and discretionary funds. Start with bills, then see what is left for savings (retirement, house, emergency fund etc) and then put the rest into your passions.

3) Establish an Emergency Fund. If you are worried about losing your job and paying the bills than this is a must. Try to have at least 2 months of expenses in the fund but build it up to 6 months (more if you are in an uncertain career field like me!). Because you followed point 2, you know exactly how much you need each month to survive.

4) Establish a passion fund. Life is not about squeaking by. You need to ENJOY life. As you know, I love to travel and it would be easy to blow all of my money on traveling. Instead I put a dedicated amount of money aside each month for travel. This keeps me sane and means I don’t go overboard. Last year I visited 10 countries…This year I’m on 3 so far…

5) Keep things balanced. I paid/saved what I could when I was younger, and as my salary increased I have made the necessary increases to my funds. Most of my extra money goes to savings and investing. I’m not able to save 60% of my income because I haven’t let my lifestyle inflate as my career has grown.

6) Always think a few steps ahead. I plan to be in my current job for the next 4-5 years. But I always take something valuable from each job to help me get the next. Be strategic and always look at upgrading your skills, knowledge and understanding. I have a sense of where I’ll be in 5 years. But I don’t know exactly what it will be. I’m excited to find out!

7) Do things for free. If you love something and have a passion for it, do it. Years ago I managed a free Lonely Planet Book and the relationships I made are still with me. The free hiking guide in Kosovo led to a job because I was already the expert in the area. One of the reasons I got my job in Timor was because they were impressed with my blog! Now as I’m getting ready to launch my book on Japan and escaping from “normal” life, I have built up a lot of friends who are willing to help spread the word. Always be useful to others without thinking about your own self interest.

Yes, it’s that simple

I know you are thinking that I’m the exception, that these are just general ideas, and it can’t possibly be you. I have been living and working abroad for the past 20 years, and I wish I had realized all of this from the beginning. I didn’t get my finances in order until I made a plan 12 years ago. I left college and moved to Japan in 1999 with $30,000 in student loan debt. I graduated from Graduate School in 2006 and moved to a small island nation in the middle of crisis with $120,000 in student debt. I was unemployed when I got married, and then again when I had my first child. I have a wife and 2 kids and we are out in the world while COVID-19 is raging. Life is what you make of it, and what you tell yourself it is. I can’t wait to see what’s around the next corner and how we all change from this pandemic!

Question: How do you deal with Uncertainty and Change?

Photo Credit:

The post What Uncertainty Teaches Us About Change appeared first on Todd Wassel.

I was clubbing in Tokyo, Japan and it was three to one. Three soldiers, to me. An ex-girlfriend on my arm, scared. How did I get myself into this situation? More importantly, how did I get myself out of it?

When we are kids we all have dreams of being the karate kid. No, not being lanky and whiny (I didn’t have to dream about that part), but being the guy who fights the bullies in the bar…and wins of course. In the summer of 2002 I had my own karate kid moment in Tokyo, Japan.

Yes, it seems I jumped straight to Part 2 rather than training on the beach in California with a small Japanese guy who can act really really well. Despite not being in Okinawa, I still managed to find a group of *US Soldiers.

*Note, I really respect all US military personnel and thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart. There are jerks in every crowd.

The Break Up

Fresh off of a break up, I decided I needed a night on the town. My relationship was one of those overly complicated emotional roller coasters where the girl’s ideal ending of the relationship was mutual suicide. Yeah…I really need to blow off some steam, especially after our last talk, “I think we want different things. I’m not ready to get married.”

“I never wanted to get married. I just want to be with you for the rest of my life.” We had been dating for 2 months. The water was boiling, the steam whistled, it was time to take the pot off the stove.

A Night on the Town in Tokyo

Dance Dance Revolution!

In Tokyo the options are endless, so I gathered a group of friends and we hit the clubs in Roppongi with the aim to drink and dance the frustration out. Clubs in Tokyo rage all night and after bar hopping in some seedy, sweaty, overly packed clubs in Roppongi we headed down the hill to the more refined, upmarket area of Azabu Juban to find a club where we could dance until the first trains started at the crack of dawn.

It was 1 am and this was our last stop for the night, a dark, smoky sweaty club filled with well dressed 20 somethings. Past 2 am there was no getting back in, you stayed until you were forced to greet the morning sun. We wove our way through the crowds, grabbing shots and beer along the way until we hit the dance floor, beads of sweat flying to the beat of underground Japanese house music. The bass beat deep into our souls, it cleared our minds just as the booze erased the past. Only now existed. The beat, the rhythm, the…why was she staring at me? Through the haze I could see a girl at the bar, looking at me with an intensity you don’t ignore when you’re drunk and looking to forget the world.

Reality is a Bitch

I staggered over, preparing my first clever remark (“hello”) and…smack….I walked right into a wall. The wall of reality. I could now see the girl closely and who was it but my ex-girlfriend. Thirty three fucking million people in Tokyo, 23 city Wards, and thousands of bars and we choose the same one. I don’t want to bore you with the details of our conversation. You know how they go. We rehash the break up, she cries. We rehash why we can’t be together, she cries. I try to be polite but firm, I cry. She tries to emotionally black mail me. Good times.

We are sitting on stools, facing each other when suddenly three heavily muscled white guys, heads shaved, walk up. All were wearing t-shirts that were 3 sizes to small. Maybe they were better at working out than shopping. The leader takes her hand kisses it and says, “You’re the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.” He turns to me “you get the fuck out of here.” He turns back to her. She turns to me with frightened eyes.

Beat the War Drums

Amazingly, as if out of a movie, his two buddies stand behind him staring threateningly at me, cracking their knuckles. I tried not to laugh. The pressure was building and if I couldn’t dance to blow it off then how about a good fight? I was pretty sure I could take 2 of the cocky soldiers, but the third might have been a problem. What to do? My ex was looking scared, and she had no idea what was going on. Time to man up.

“Where are you from?”

“Fuck you. Get out of here before I kill you.” Cracking knuckles danced to the bass pulsing from the dance floor.

He tried to turn back to her. I kept his attention and his lips away from her hand. “Look, I’m here with her.” I kept my voice low and polite, he kept his loud.

“We’re going to beat the shit out of you if you don’t get the fuck out of here.” Why was he talking so slow? “We’re fucking in the army and you’re fucking nothing.”

I turned to face him further. He stepped closer to me. His buddies stepped up. I stayed seated. “If you don’t stop swearing in front of my friend you’ll have to leave.” Calm, controlled. I shouldn’t have been, but I was.

How you Beat 3 Guys at Once

“Yeah, fuck you! What the fuck are you going to do about it.” He released her hand. That’s what I had been waiting for. I raised my hand slowly, high over my head, and extended two fingers. Did I mention I know, Karate, Aikido and few other arts? No? Well, here we go. I extended my index and middle finger and…made a “come here motion.” The boys seemed confused.

Within seconds five extremely large Japanese bouncers descended on the group, wrapping the soldiers up in tight grips. “Throw them out,” I said in polite but firm Japanese.

From the corner of my eye I had seen the bouncers getting more and more tense during the conversation. Three in morning and the guys would never find anywhere else that would let them in. They would be stuck on the streets until the first trains started.

The bounces started dragging the guys out when the leader lunged for me. He got low and began to plead. “I’m sorry. I”m sorry. We were just joking man. It’s cool, we’re sorry.”

“Fuck you.” They got hauled out of the club. My heart pounded to the rhythm of the music. The club gyrated along oblivious to our drama. A bouncer returned with two warm yellow towels for us to clean our hands, to help wipe away the distastefulness of the situation and the unwanted kiss.

Moral of the Story…Nah, It’s Just a Good Story

The girl and I didn’t work out, but that’s no surprise. But I had my Karate Kid Moment. I like to think that Mr. Miyagi would be proud that I didn’t resort to fighting. “Todo-san, you have strooong Karate.” Sometimes you don’t have a choice but to fight, but in most instances there is always a safer way out.

Just remember, there is no bar….

Stay tuned for more alcohol induced ,judgement impaired situations in future posts. Like how I found myself in a penthouse with the head of Sri Lanka’s mafia and an empty bottle of scotch. But that’s another story…

Have you ever felt unsafe while traveling? How did you handle it?

Photo Credit 1, 2

The post My Karate Kid Moment: Bar Fight in Japan appeared first on Todd Wassel.

Japan is not all Samurai, Sushi and Modesty! Japan accepts quite a bit of eccentric freedom.

If you are heading to Tokyo, changes are you are looking to experience eclectic Japan. While temples and history are nice, so is soaking in the vibe of cool and young Tokyo. It is hard not to drool cliches when writing about Japan these days, especially when talking about the eclectic youth culture located in Harajuku, Tokyo. Just about every guidebook recommends “people gawking” along the Jingu Bridge where you can usually catch Japan’s insanely strange youth fashion. You’ll find everything from lolita to goth, french maids with a sweet spot for fake blood, to cross dressing little bow peeps.

At times the Jingu Bridge area just next to Harajuku station feels a bit contrived, teenagers dressed up waiting to have their picture taken by photographers, hoping to land in a fashion magazine. Don’t get me wrong, it is fun to gawk, and if you are headed to Meiji Shrine you have to pass over the bridge anyway (this is a must-see shrine in Tokyo). But if you are looking for a slightly more authentic creative spirit, and you like to walk, continue past the bridge towards Yoyogi Park.

Travel Tip: Your best chance at premium gawking is on a Sunday when most people are out on the bridge and running around Yoyogi Park (yes, rebellious youth have to work and go to school on the weekdays too).

Map of Harajuku, Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park

To get to Yoyogi park, just cross the Jingu Bridge and instead of turning right into the Meiji Shrine with the large, beautiful, shaded, wooden torii gate, take a left and follow the sidewalk around the corner to the right. You’ll see the Harajuku entrance to the park right in front of you along with some delicious street food vendors!

Yoyogi Park Tokyo

Yoyogi Gyoen (park) is Tokyo’s largest and has a number of wonderful wooded areas that will make you forget about city life for a short while. The park comes into its own on Sundays when groups gather from all over Tokyo to meet and share their mutual interest in just about anything you can think of. This includes everything from skateboarding, to freestyle cycling, African drum circles, dance troupes, cross dressing senior citizens, bird watchers, musicians, jugglers, martial arts and students practicing for upcoming plays.

For me this is where the excitement of the Japanese culture is on display best. You will still get outrageous fashions of the young and bored. But what you will get more of is the Japanese predilection for forming groups and trying to perfect a certain task. It doesn’t matter what that task is, what matters is being part of the group and progressively getting better (or trying to).

What is “Normal”?

So while most guidebooks will tell you to come and witness “crazy” Japanese society, I’d challenge you to come and witness “normal” Japanese society. Sunday is a time for groups to gather, for creativity to be let loose, and for people to polish their stones with a singular conviction. It doesn’t matter if it’s a dancing elf, a cross-dressing little bow peep, or a juggler. They are all welcome in Yoyogi, they are all involved in the same cultural experiment, just expressed differently at times.

So many Japanese are free to be themselves in public

Once you’re done in Yoyogi don’t forget to take a walk around the Meiji Jingu grounds for a more subdued expression of Japanese culture. Once you are calm you’ll be ready to shop for the crazy costumes in Harajuku’s back streets and especially along the always crowded Takeshita Street, just across the street from the train station.

What do you think? Are the Japanese youth in Yoyogi creative or conformists? Is this a must see for a visitor to Tokyo?

The post People Watching in Tokyo Japan, Yoyogi Park appeared first on Todd Wassel.

As far as red light districts go, Tokyo’s Kabukicho near Shinjuku station is relativity tame. Unlike Amsterdam there are no pot houses (aka “coffee shops”), sex workers are not selling their services live in windows like a pimped out version of a holiday display, and at only 600 square meters it’s not even that big. What Kabukicho lacks in in your face raunchy, it makes up for in subtlety and uniqueness. Walking around during the daytime is always a safe bet, but come after 6 pm and the streets are packed with partying salary men showing business associates a “good time” and getting hammered. Sounds enticing doesn’t it.

What type of clubs exist in Kabukicho?

 

DVD and Peep shows seem to be a favorite the world over

The area is dominated by small drinking holes, DVD shops, peep holes, and host and hostess clubs that cater to lonely husbands and wives who need a little attention from well dressed, flirtatious professional conversationalists. If you are expecting the run of the mill strip club or sex club found in the west, think again. Kabukicho caters almost exclusively to the Japanese and their unique passion for the stranger side of sexual fantasy. Clubs are often themed and filled with pretend secretaries, nurses, maids, dominatrices (well they might not be pretending), and any other fetish you can think of. There is naked karaoke, sex dolls for rent, reconstructed trains were you can group school girls (who are showing their age), and the eloquent “soap lands” where the ladies use “soap” to scrub you happy.

If you want to get to know the area in a more intimate way (no not that way!) you can get an audio tour from http://www.tokyorealtime.com/

Be Careful

 

This Love Hotel is as classy as it gets!

Kabukicho is an interesting look into both a sexually liberated and restricted society. Something a go into a lot of personal detail on in my upcoming book. The strange tolerance of places like this, and the need for them is itself an interesting commentary on Japanese society. However, as with most sex districts in the world, criminals and crime syndicates pray on the drunken loneliness of the back ally visitors. Entrance fees can be hundreds of dollars and non-negotiable so don’t just pop in a place to check it out or to use the toilet. Touts are on the streets selling themselves, their business or funneling the drunk and naive into holes in the wall.

A recent ordinance in Tokyo dictates that all sex clubs need to be closed by midnight (as opposed to closed in general!). Any open after midnight are sure to have protection by local gangs and should be avoided.

By the Numbers

This tiny area of Tokyo boasts over 300 sex shops, nearly 200 clubs, 80 love hotels, and hundreds of bars and restaurants. It is estimated that around 150,000 people pass through it each day. Whether you agree with it or not, it is an interesting facet of Japanese and Tokyo culture. My advice is check it out for yourself, but don’t get sucked into this money trap. If you want to have a great, authentic time, go drinking in Golden Gai, a small block of bars just next door that have Japanese hip built into their DNA.

Have you been to Kabukicho? Curious?

The post A Guide to Tokyo’s Red Light District Kabukicho appeared first on Todd Wassel.

Don’t get too close!

I was excited, nervous and sweaty. It was 2000 and I was on a date in Japan. I chose the perfect spot, the 11th floor bar overlooking Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake and where I spent 5 years of my life after university (near the lake, not the bar). The bar was called Medusa. Small and smokey (like most Japanese bars at the time), the dark room was sandwiched by glass. One side was a wall-to-wall panoramic view of the lake, distant mountains glowed as the sun retreated for the day. A massive aquarium claimed the wall behind the bar, glowing blue from black light. At first glance it looked empty.

“Look again,” the bartender advised. He didn’t look up and kept at his task, chipping away at large cube of ice until a perfect sphere emerged. One for each whiskey destined for a group of black tied salary men. We found two small jellyfish, tentacles undulating as they pushed and floated around the tank. It’s hard to know if the bar was being cheap, or just going for ultra minimalist sheik. We weren’t drinking in Tokyo, but this was a cool as it got in Shiga and we were cool to be there.

Everything was going my way. She was laughing at my jokes, almost touching my arm, and hadn’t once looked at the business men who really could afford the place.

But this isn’t a story about my date.

Everything was going well, the drinks arrived. “Kampai.” We clinked our mojitos together. Yeah, mojitos were very cool back then. No one knew what they were.

I know, you are reading thinking everything is normal, but please, please remember it was 2000, and I was a shy, quiet young man with not much sense of style, short on self confidence and even less money in my pocket.

Halfway through our drinks I decided to play it cool. “I’ll be right back. Just need to use the toilet.” Smooth, right?

I walked through the dim, smokey den like I owned it. When I passed women whispering, they were talking about me. [In a good way, seriously, a little credit please]. The men avoided my eyes because they couldn’t compete. I had everything. Then I entered the restroom.

Small, like most things in Japan, but stylish, like the rest of the bar, brushed steel trimmings and a glass sink basin. But what really drew my eyes was the toilet. A shiny, ToTo, complete with heated seat and full control panel that was as complicated as a airplane cockpit. A airplane cockpit with all the direction written in Japanese.

There were some instructions.

I sat down to enjoy the heated seat, even though there was no need to sit. I stayed away from the buttons not wanting anything to go wrong. I hadn’t yet learned to read a toilet. But then I saw it, the button I had been looking for all my life. A cute little button with the picture of a bird and two chiming notes. Could the Japanese have invented a melody to prevent unfortunate bathroom noises from escaping into the absurdly nearby bar? It made perfect sense, a lack of space in Japan meant bathrooms were basically one poorly insulated wall away from the drinking and flirting.

And lets face it. If you have to flush more than once people start wondering what’s going on. If you leave the sink running you are wasting water and destroying the environment. Either way, your screwed with the beautiful lady waiting for you outside. That day I didn’t need to flush or use the sink (except to wash my hands, yes, of course I wash my hands!).

But I couldn’t leave without listening to the greatest invention of the new millennium.

A little tip to anyone in a foreign land. Don’t push buttons if you don’t know what will happen. Especially buttons on a toilet. But then again what harm could a cute little bird be?

Needing to satiate the same driving curiosity that led me to Japan in the first place, I extended my index finger and pushed the cute little bird. “WHOOOSH, WHOOOSH, WHOOSH…” The sound of a flushing toilet assaulted me. Over and over again, louder and louder each time. There was no end. What the fuck! Where was the cute little bird?

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…” the flushing sound continued one after another. I panicked and pushed the button again hoping it would turn off. It just extended the noise for another round. I panicked further. What if my date could hear? What would she think of me? I pushed more buttons out of desperation. I got hit immediately by a powerful stream of warm water. I jumped up.

Wrong choice.

The water followed me out of the toilet and soaked my jeans. I turned around and got it in the face.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…” the noise wouldn’t stop. Adding to the cacophony of embarrassment a blast of hot air roared out of the toilet like a jet engine. There was no place for me to escape the stream of water so I sat back down into an odd mix of wetness and heat. I sat in misery for what seemed like 10 minutes but was probably just another 30 seconds until everything finally shut off.

I sat there. Jeans soaked around my ankles wondering what to do next. Who in their right mind puts a bird tweeting picture to describe the sound of flushing? Why the hell would you make the flushing sound so vigorous? Of course this was Japan and there must be special technology to sound proof the bathroom. Right? Of course, this was Japan. I could explain away the wet jeans by blaming it on a tragic sink malfunction. I stood and gathered myself. I was about to leave when I remembered that I hadn’t actually flushed the toilet yet. I cursed, gathered my courage and flushed.

Nothing. Hardly any sound at all. The water drained away peacefully. It made me even angrier at the little cute bird and its mocking tweets. I had been in the toilet for almost 10 minutes. I was soaked, and thoroughly embarrassed. My only hope was that that no one had noticed.

The lock clicked loudly. Why was everything in this cursed bar so amplified? I gathered myself together and was ready to walk coolly through the crowd. I opened the foggy glass door, stepped back out into the smoky room and stopped dead in my tracks. All 20 patrons were staring at me. My faced turned a deep red as I limped through the room, caught up by tight wet jeans. Everyone was now certainly whispering about me.

I reached my date. She looked at me. I looked back. I braced for the questions. The water spread to my underwear, and I smelled like the toilet. A fancy, evil, Japanese toilet, but still a toilet.

She smiled, looked away… towards the bartender. “Two more” is all she said. The music started again, the crowds stopped whispering, I was still soaking wet but I had another mojito.

So you have a toilet story or another misadventure while on the road? Share all your dirty, embarrassing stories below.

Photo Credit 1, 2

The post When Japanese Toilets Fight Back appeared first on Todd Wassel.

Another story from my 2 decades of travel. This story took place in 2001.

By the end of this story a number of people will be dead.

The compact dirty white van left the tourist choked streets of Hanoi, Vietnam’s French Quarter early in the morning. We were a group of 10 strangers bound together by our desire to see the turquoise beauty of Ha Long Bay, and its breathtaking limestone islands thrusting out of the waters. We were also cheap, backpackers looking to save money but desperate to spend 3 days living on a boat, cruising the pearl culturing backwaters of Vietnam’s UNESCO World Heritage site, and exploring the natural caves dotting the area. Sixty eight dollars was a lot to us for two nights on the boat, three meals a day, and an English guide. Sixty eight dollars almost cost all of us our lives.

What you get for $68 Dollars

Seagulls screeched as the van jerked to a stop at the crowded fishing port near Halong City. The harbor was oddly full, tourists milling around watching the sea, the sky and the ever increasing number of groups ruining each others once in a lifetime trip. “Wait right here and I’ll see what’s happening.” Our guide jumped out of the van leaving us to sweat with the air conditioning turned off.

Twenty minutes later and he was back. He pulled open the sliding door with a forced smile. “I’m not sure if we’ll be able to leave today,” he confessed. Before he could get another word out the van erupted from the back as two French girls started yelling.

“What do you mean?” They never gave him a chance to answer. “We paid good money for this trip and I’m not getting screwed by you.” The other members of the group looked away embarrassed.

The guide blushed. Or was it the heat? “There is a hurricane moving up the coast and we are not sure if it will turn off into the ocean or make landfall here in Ha Long. Until we know we can’t risk getting out on the water.” That made perfect sense to me and the rest of the group. We got out to stretch our legs without complaint. The salt air scrubbed away some of the bitterness we felt at flying halfway around the world to be stopped at the water’s edge.

“We paid for this trip!” The blond French girl, dressed in dirty fisherman pants continued to yelled. “You will take us on our trip,” the other French girl demanded. The guide shrugged his shoulders helplessly. It wasn’t his call, his company was only hiring the boat and the captain said no.

The longer we waited the more frustrated the crowd became. The French girls led charge after charge whipping up the fervor of the other tourist groups, demanding to get on the ocean while the sun was still low. Our first destination was supposed to be a massive cave used as a military hospital during the Vietnam war to protect the injured from constant air attacks by the US forces. The guides and the boat captains looked like they needed the shelter from the verbal bombs being thrown at them. Threats of being fired, losing their tips, curses and accusations of being cheated were launched with laser accuracy.

The Journey Begins

Our guide returned from the front lines as the rest of us relaxed on the wooden dock. Movement in the other groups meant something was happening. Decisions had been made.

“The hurricane is moving out to sea so we can go.” The French girls grumbled that the delay was pointless. “But the captain doesn’t want to risk going to the main cave. We’ve decided to take a different route and see another, smaller cave. The area has better protection in case the storm reverses direction.”

“WHAT. Are you fuckn’ kiddn’ us. We paid for the Cave and we are going to the Cave.” The rest of us were fed up with the tantrums and agreed to vote on it. The French girls pouted and yelled when they lost. I’m from an island on the ocean and you don’t question the captain, especially when he has been fishing these waters all his life. The French girls started to yell at the captain too when we reached our two story wooden cruising boat. He yelled back happily before slamming the the cabin’s door shut.

“He says the water from here to the hospital cave is too open.” It was clear he had also said something less polite about the French girls.

I wish I had not been so relaxed and shy back then. I might have questioned the sensibility of going to sea with a hurricane off shore. I was sure our guide was just mistranslating as no one would get near a boat if an actual hurricane was close enough to shore. Right? Plus, I had paid $68 dollars.

Ten boats set out from the harbor. Seven towards the main cave and two others joined us for the ride to the smaller, less spectacular cave. The sky was overcast but nothing to hint a hurricane was just off shore. The waters were a bit choppy but I’d been in worse.

Stunning limestone cliffs burst out of deep green waters as we sailed through narrow channels. Standing on the top deck I never felt so alive, so enchanted by the stunning force of nature that at once eroded the surrounding bluffs and fed the greedy green ocean more limestone to maintain its jade coloring. The wind whipped through my hair as I posed for a photo, a majestic grouping of islands and cliffs behind me. The sudden shock on my friend’s face told me something was wrong seconds before a warning bell sounded throughout the ship. I spun around and and saw in horror as a massive wall of mist, rain, wind and power come pounding through a narrow gap between island and straight for us. The hurricane had shifted and it was upon us without any notice.

Battle to Save the Boat and our Lives

The shrieking of the French girls were drowned by the high winds as the boat erupted in organized chaos. The crew couldn’t speak English and yet we all knew what to do. The main cabin was made of glass windows and doors. We had less than a minute to lock everything down before the storm hit and we all pitched in, fastening locks, shutting doors. We battened down the hatches. After closing the front main glass door my friend Rob and I stared wide eyed as a side door began banging around as the waves picked up height and uncertainty. We ran together, the storm chasing us.

We reach the door together….BAM, the storm hit, knocking the boat steeply to the side. The world slowed down and we watched in horror, slow motion horror as the the door swung violently closed shattering the glass directly onto us as we desperately turned our heads and shielded our eyes. We were both only wearing bathing suits and a thousand glass daggers tore through our skin and spread like a minefield around our feet. Grabbing each other and the now glass-less door for support we tried in vain to stay still as the storm pounded the boat rocking it from side to side. Torrents of rain streamed through the gap preventing us from getting a firm hold as our bare feet slipped across thousands of tiny shards of glass.

Blood steamed down our bodies. We gritted our teeth and bore it, riding the waves, pitches, and glass for the next twenty minutes. The storm ended as quickly as it started as an eerie calm fell across the jade waters. Rob and I were alive. The whole crew was alive. The captain kept us from hitting the surrounding cliffs, the hull wasn’t pierced. We were alive. We turned to see how everyone else was doing and stared into 8 faces of shock and pain. Rob and I didn’t understand until we started walking towards them and pain exploded across our bodies all at once.

A Dinner Celebration and a Time for Mourning

Rob had taken the worst of the glass spray and had a 6 inch piece of glass embedded in his left foot. We both had hundreds of cuts all over our bodies and our feet were so sliced that we couldn’t walk without falling in pain. The others, no longer tourists, but friends and survivors rushed to help us. It took over an hour for our friends to pick the glass out of our skin, and then disinfect our wounds. But we had survived. The specter of death didn’t do anything to mellow the French girls’ moods and we suffered through a tirade longer than the the storm and more painful since we couldn’t move to get away.

“Haven’t you ever cleaned a wound?” one girl chastised the guide. “We are NOT giving you a tip” the other girl assured.

Rob and I groaned and that sent them into another tirade of insults, threats and irrelevant chatter. “Shut up and be glad your alive,” Rob said softly. Maybe it was the glass dagger being taken out of his foot or the shard being removed a hair’s breath from my eye that convinced them to remain quiet.

Bandaged, dressed in clean clothes a few hours later we relived the story under the shining stars, thanking the beautiful breeze that caressed our skin and the cold beers in our hands. Sixty eight dollars didn’t buy a fancy dinner but the rice and vegetables tasted like heaven. Suddenly, a second boat pulled up to ours and a large bellied man jumped on board carrying a large bucket. He paid us no attention and walked straight to the steering room. He was the owner of the boat. He used to be the owner of a fleet. The bucket was full of crabs for the crew that had saved his last boat. He didn’t even look at us.

Our guide rushed to the celebration but came back slowly, deep in thought. “The boats what went to the Cave didn’t make it. The storm caught them in open waters and capsized all of them. Everyone is dead. The owner is here to thank the captain for saving his last boat.” The owner never looked at us as he left.

Aftermath

Almost 70 people died* that day and we only survived because we were on the right boat, 3 of 10 that decided to go the other direction. We drank our beer in silence and paid our respects. A few days later when we returned to the mainland we all rushed to the internet to tell our parents and loved ones we had survived. They all asked why we wouldn’t be! The outside world never learned of the deaths, or the news wires never picked up the story.

Two months later Rob was playing softball and a ligament in his foot snapped. It turns out the glass dagger cut the ligament so that only a thread remained. I still have a few scars as well, but we made it out alive. This was the first time I almost died and I have respected the winds of fate and happenstance ever since. Live your life to its fullest, don’t complain about hard working folks doing their best to survive, treat each other with kindness, be happy. You never know when you will be among the seven other boats.

* Post script . While researching the details for this story I found an obscure BBC news report that quotes government sources saying 3 tourists (1 Thai and 2 Indians) died along with 2 crew members during the storm. My death estimates come from witnesses and other tourists from nearby boats who gave estimates from 20-100 dead. It is still unclear how many people actually died.

The post The First Time I Almost Died-Ha Long Bay, Vietnam appeared first on Todd Wassel.

This is an older story from 20 years ago in Laos. It also won the People’s Choice Award from the Southeast Asian Travel writing Competition in 2010.

No, Thank You Laos

How many people can you feed with a 600 pound catfish I wondered as I walked down the deserted street in northern Laos. Somewhere, in the darkness close by, the mythical Mekong River snaked its way through the intense blackness, hiding the massive catfish and the largest population of gigantic species in the world.

It was just after 9:00 PM but there was no one else on the streets. I walked cautiously, afraid to disturb the romantic stillness in the air and the humming wildlife from the encroaching jungle. I was in Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

Lost to a bygone era, the French inspired Indochinese houses surrounded me, converted to coffee and gift shops but still trapped in a memory of the past that attract nostalgic tourists in search of the Asia from grandfather’s stories. Latticed white balconies hung over the street as I moved farther down looking for signs of life. Nothing, no one was awake, doors were barred and windows shuttered. The only light came from an exposed light bulb dangling from a small overhang slightly ahead.

Life was slow but predictable in Luang Prabang. The locals rise at 5:00 AM to offer rice and vegetables to the hundreds of brightly robed Buddhists monks who walk silently down the road each morning seeking alms. Nothing exciting usually happens in this small town, especially at night. As I approached the light bulb I noticed a crackling sound as blue sparks danced from the frayed, dirty wire. Worried, I watched for a few minutes before moving on, conceding that there was nothing I could do. Electrical safety is not a strong point of the region and as I took one last look behind me the bulb exploded and a jet of orange flame raced up the wire, quickly taking hold of the wooden eves.

I looked around frantically, forgetting that I was all alone, as the fire began to flare just above the wooden door to a small shop. “Bang, bang BANG,” I pounded on the rough door as splinters and paint chips flew in my face. The fire was spreading quickly as a short middle-aged man opened the door just enough to peek out.

“Sir, there’s a fire on your roof. Please come out!” I pleaded into a blank face. Behind him, through a small crowded store stocked with postcards and bottled water, I could see his family sitting on the floor watching television.

“Closed,” he said and shut the door abruptly. I knocked again, feeling the heat spread just above my head. The door opened again. His face was no longer blank as he shook his head and waved me away. His family, three generations packed together, looked concerned as a crazed stranger jumped up and down yelling. Just before the door slammed shut again I grabbed the father and pulled him outside by his shirt. Screams of protest erupted from the family inside.

The father struggled against me as I forced him onto the street releasing him just past the fire, which was spreading to the next building. He yelled, went limp and then rushed into the house screaming. The family streamed onto the street yelling at the top of their lungs. The cry was repeated and soon the whole town was awake as Laotians, young and old surrounded the house.

The town organized itself to fight the fire. There was no fire station, or water hydrants. A fire threatened everyone as the rows of wooden houses held each other up. Buckets of water were passed in lines from the houses across the street and others set off in search of fire extinguishers. Smoke, ash, and the screaming of babies choked the once silent streets.

A young man ran up the street with the first fire extinguisher as the crowd cheered. “Phsst…” nothing happened. One more try, still nothing. A second, and then a third extinguisher arrived with the same result. We worked harder at throwing water towards the second floor. Thirty minutes into the fire a fourth extinguisher arrived.

A sudden jet of white foam shot from the extinguisher to the delight of the crowd. Ten minutes later the fire was out. Just as suddenly as it began the people disappeared. Without a word to each other or to me, they gathered their buckets and went home. Doors shut in unison and before I knew it I was once again alone in the middle of the dark street. I was confused and hurt. I had just helped save a house, possibly a whole UNESCO heritage site from destruction. Where was my thank you, or at least the collective camaraderie that comes with a challenge overcome? I walked back to my hostel in a daze wondering what had happened.

I woke up at five in the morning with the rest of the town and walked back to the scene of the fire. The blackened wall was the only evidence of the previous night’s excitement. The family waited patiently in front of their store and home for the monks to walk by. One by one they placed spoonfuls of rice into the alms bowls of the silent monks. Neither side gave or sought recognition. When their rice was finished they returned home without a backward glance. The monks continued on without offering even the slightest recognition.

At that moment I realized it wasn’t the architecture or the Buddhist temples that offered a glimpse of an older Asia. It was the people of Laos, of Luang Prabang. They taught me, or rather reminded me, that you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Good is its own reward, something we’re quick to forget in our media hyped, competitive modern society. It’s a lesson I have not forgotten, so thank you Laos, if you permit me to extend a bit of my own culture to compliment yours.

[photos by: Hanoi Mark]

The post Fighting Fires in Luang Prabang, Laos appeared first on Todd Wassel.

This year marks 20 years since I first left the US for Japan in 1999 to live abroad and travel the world. Ten years ago people where wondering how I could travel so long. After another 10 years most people in my life see my lifestyle as normal, while others I meet assume you have to be successful first to achieve it. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Recently a number of people couldn’t get over how cool my life seemed and asked EXACTLY how I managed to piece this international lifestyle together. Because flattery works every time on me, I decided to update my original post from 10 years ago. Here is the road map for how I managed to travel the world, do what I love, fall in love, have a family and get paid for it for 20 years. 

For those of you who don’t know my background, I left the US in 1998 to visit Japan on a study abroad program in Osaka. Coming from a middle class family, it was my first time on an airplane and I was 21 years old! Over 50 countries (I’m sure I’ll forget to mention a few below) and countless jobs later I’m still on the road, now with my wife and two children (6 and 8 as of 2019).

WARNING: This is a long post.  For word nerds, it is exactly 3,119 words long. For time nerds, it will take the average reader 15 minutes to read and 10 more seconds to understand. Proceed carefully. It might cause you to change your life.

We Want the Dirty Details including Money, Money, Money…Money!

I know that it can be difficult to relate to such a life sitting behind a pile of bills, late payments, and screaming kids demanding your attention. I was sitting in my hometown bar a few years ago reminiscing with a buddy about the countries he visited me in. A hard drinking, hard working local took exception:

“Who the fuck do you think you are? Stop lying, no one could have been to so many places.

What are you 30 years old? [I was 28] Get the fuck outta hea (that’s New Englander for “here”)”

My sister was bar tending that night and told him to quite down. Drunk Dave turned quiet, grabbed his beer tighter and just repeated softly “it’s just not possible”.

Well it is possible, but I’ll be honest, it does require a number of sacrifices, leaps of faith, and the ability to go against the collective wisdom of just about everyone you know and love.

I try not to speak too much about money here, since I do like to maintain some privacy given how much I put myself and my family out there. But it is important for this post to be useful, and it can only be useful if it is honest. I’ll show you just how little you really need to travel the world, and that you don’t need to sacrifice your future for your dreams. As you will see, you can do it while heavily in debt, you don’t need nearly as much as you think, and long-term travel doesn’t have to equal abject poverty. In fact, due to lower costs of living, beneficial tax breaks, and a personal desire for simplicity and lack of acquiring “things” I think I have led a higher quality of life outside of the US than I could have if I stayed (wars and bombing raids included).

1998- Study Abroad in Osaka, Japan

In 1998 I was all set to go on my university’s study abroad program in Japan. At the last minute it was canceled as there were only two people signed up. Undeterred, the two of us created our own program, found a school to enter and arranged everything ourselves. I was a poor collage student, paying for my school all on my own through student loans and scholarships. I saved roughly $1,000 for extra expenses through my part-time job. Somehow, I thought that would be enough for 4 months of living expenses in Japan.

Luckily, as we organized the whole trip ourselves I had to pay the tuition upon arrival. Japan is a cash society so I carried $12,000 in traveler checks (yeah that is a lot of $100 checks!) with me on the plane. As I flew over the Pacific Ocean for the first time the exchange rates went crazy and when I landed I didn’t need all $12,000 to pay for school and was able to use the savings to live and travel.

I also cashed in a $1,000 in inheritance to pay for the 900 mile, 88 temple walking pilgrimage I went on after school ended. Yes, the same one I’m now publishing a book about. Life has never been the same since.

Counties Visited: Japan and Jamaica (yes, spring break called)

Money Saved: Nope. Maybe your expectations are too high for me.

Balance Sheet: Sinking further and further into student loan debt.

1999-2001 Shiga, Japan- JET Program

I was lucky and graduated university with only $30,000 in debt. Yes, Gen Z and Millennials, we also had student loan debt way back when!

After graduation I got a job as an assistant language teacher with the JET Program in Japan. This was a fantastic first job and I earned roughly $36,000 per year. I got 20 days of paid vacation, left work at 4 p.m. everyday, and didn’t have to work over the summer. I spent all of my money traveling around South East Asia, and exploring Japan. Since I lived in a village of  only 8,000 people my Japanese got way better than my expensive university ever managed to help me with.

Counties Visited: Japan, Spain, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea

Money Saved: $0

Balance Sheet: -$30,000 ++ in student loan debt (interest is a tough master)

2001 Peru, Parent’s Attic, Chiba-Japan- Private English School

After two years in Japan I was looking for a change and returned to the US. I didn’t have a job so I moved back in with my parents and lived in my old room. Despite not have much money in savings I headed down to Peru for a few weeks to hike the Inca trail and explore the Andes Mountains.

I decided it was better to be work abroad than be unemployed in the US and found another job teaching in Japan again. This time it was for a private English school that paid me even less money, $30,000 a year, to live in Chiba (near Tokyo).  The Tokyo area is as expensive as you can imagine, but I stilled traveled and managed not to save any money. I kept paying the minimum on my student loans and saving money for travel.

Countries Visited: USA, Peru, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Thailand

Money Saved: $0

Balance Sheet: -$30,000, getting a bit tired of treading water!

2002-2004 Shiga, Japan- Elementary School English Teacher

Living near Tokyo just wasn’t for me, nor was being broke and stressing about bills. So, I called in some contacts and found a new job back in my old area of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Getting back to the Japanese countryside was great as was the return to my JET salary of $36,000 a year. Money and free time went to paying for jaunts to South East Asia as well as slow travel around Japan.

Countries Visited: Japan, Thailand, Myanmar

Money Saved: $9,000

Balance Sheet: Getting smaller. -$20,000 still in the hole.

2004-2006 Graduate School in Boston, Thailand and Japan (yes again)

Five years after graduating I was out in the world but making the same amount of money as when I started. I was also chained to a job and was only able to travel during vacations (of course living in Japan was nice). I was growing restless and it was clear that teaching English was never going to fulfill me. It was time to make a change. I got into graduate school for International Relations and moved to Boston (yes, that is a longer story for another time).

I visited Japan (yes, an ex-girlfriend) over winter vacation, broke up and then for the summer between year one and two I took an internship in Thailand. I lived in Bangkok for 2 months, toured the country, visited Cambodia again, and then headed back to Japan for 1 month to walk the Shikoku Pilgrimage, again. I paid for it with a $2,000 grant and a work for shelter agreement with the NGO where I volunteered.

I paid for two years of graduate school the only way I could, I took out massive amounts of loans (private and government subsidized), blew through the $9,000 I had saved, worked part-time, and maxed out credit cards, and then maxed out some more.

This was a huge gamble. I took out over $100,000 to go into non-profit work! In the end I decided I would rather live the life I wanted and owe money than be miserable with a mortgage Looking back with a bit of insight in life, these probably weren’t my only choices!

Countries Visited: USA, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Canada, Las Vegas (trust me it’s like another country)

Money Saved: Ha!

Balance Sheet: Took a beating, -$120,000 in debt (Credit Cards and Student Loans)

2006 San Francisco, Timor-Leste (East Timor)- Intern, Governance and Conflict Consultant

Life is serious business filled with nice hats and big glasses

When you are $120,000 in debt, what is the smart thing to do? I clearly didn’t know. Whatever it was, I did the opposite and took another internship, this time in the expensive city of San Francisco for three months. I was paid exactly $3,000 to keep me alive and barely breathing. I cobbled together a string of couch surfing and sublet agreements and slept in five different houses over the three months. I managed to drive the length of route 1, party in La Jolla for the 4th of July, and enjoy Big Sur on the way back.

The phone rang one day, one week before my contract was up, and I was offered a one month assignment in Timor-Leste (yes, the number “one” seems to be important here). I said yes without the .slightest hesitation, dropped a bag and flew out a few days later with no intention of returning to the US. I lived in Timor for 6 months, traveled the country, and explored Bali and the rest of Indonesia.

Oh, by the way, Timor-Leste is where I met my now wife!

Countries Visited: Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore

Money Saved: Just glad I was able to start eating again.

Balance Sheet: Still -$120,000 over my head.

2007-2009 Sri Lanka (the civil war years)- Human Rights Advocate

Everyone loves Elephants!

With a few months of experience under my belt in my new profession I followed a girl (now my wife) to Sri Lanka right when the civil war was starting back up. It took me about three months to find a job, after being broke and down to my last dime. But I found one, threw myself into work as a human rights advocate, and eventually turned it into a Country Director position. The NGO had no idea that I was going to do that, but it just shows what you can accomplish if you try something new.

During this time we enjoyed the hell out of Sri Lanka and I got to start traveling for work and adding fun to the end of each trip. It is an amazing thing to get paid to travel! But I knew I needed to get my finances in order. Unless I paid down my debt I’d never have a future. So I created a plan I cashed in a $10,000 inheritance I came into and paid off my credit cards, rolled the monthly interest savings into my student loan payments, started saving for retirement, an eventual house, travel, and food when I had a chance.

Yes, I learned to budget. It is probably not the secret you were hoping to hear.

I did all of this making $38,000/year and and finished out my time there making $47,000 a year. But with no taxes and low cost of living, life was good.

Countries visited: Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Switzerland, England, Japan, Dubai, USA

Money Saved: Probably about $15,000 over three years.

Balance Sheet:I still owed about -$89,000. But I was beginning to learn to how to swim.

2009-2011 Kosovo- Consultant, Peacebuilding, Rural Tourism

My wife and I on the border between Kosovo and what is now called North Macedonia.

The war finally ended and it was time to move on. We did the only sensible thing and my wife and I packed up and moved the Balkans. She took a job with the United Nations and I followed her and started consulting. When consulting work dried up I landed a job also working for the United Nations in the divided town of Mitrovica in Norther Kosovo. I moonlighted pro bono writing a hiking guide to southern Kosovo and writing more travel articles. Yes, this was the beginning of combining my travel writing with development work.

Let’s just say working for the UN in a non-family duty station (yes, I had my family with me) is very good for the bank account. From here on out my career takes off a bit, and numbers are too fresh for me to be specific. But working for the UN I was making over 100k a year.

Between the UN, consulting, and having a baby boy in Japan I did quite a bit of traveling these three years. Despite my income increasing, I always assumed I’d go back to a lower NGO salary. So I kept my “normal lifestyle” and used the extra money to aggressively pay off my student loans, save for a house and…you guessed it… travel.

Countries visited: Singapore, Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka, Austria, Kosovo, Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, England, Netherlands, Jordan, USA, Japan, Maldives, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Italy

Money Saved: $50,000

Balance Sheet: I owed about $36,000 in student loans. I paid off all private loans with high interest rates and continued the practice of never carry credit card debt into the next month (ie never going back into debt), and the rest of the loans were at a low 3.25% interest rate. My plan was to pay the minimum payment for the rest of my life and put the rest of my savings into investments. Every time I make a plan, something else happens…

2012-2018 Timor-Leste (yes again)- Community Policing, Land, Management

With the birth of my first son it became clear that the pollution in Pristine was not good for his little lungs. Despite having work offers in Kosovo, we decided to move back to Timor-Leste. This time my wife followed me as I took up a job with an NGO managing a community conflict prevention program focused on community policing. I took a pay cut down to $70,000/year compared to the UN, but you can’t put a price on doing what you love, in an organization that you love. Plus it was more than enough for us.

One year into life in Timor-Leste the student loan companies had pissed me off one too many times with their fees, and making it difficult to actually pay. So I took my house savings and paid off the full balance. We were debt free, and I felt more free than ever. I’m not sure that I ever really believed that day would come. But I will remember the feeling of sending in my last payment and feeling like I was finally sticking it to them. I was able to really decide what I wanted to do in life, and change when I wanted.

Twice we decided it was time to leave Timor-Leste, and twice I was promoted and we stayed. If I had only been worried about money I probably wouldn’t have been in a position to ask for what I wanted, directly and without emotion. I was able to ask for more because I felt secure in knowing what I wanted and that I had the means to support my family. This was a great seven years for our family and we added a daughter to mix. But, we knew when it was finally time to leave so we set about making it happen. It took year of planning and 10 months living a part but we did it. Next stop….

Countries visited: Singapore, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, USA, Austria, Germany, Philippines, Holland

Money Saved: We are getting too personal here. Let’s just say I no longer need to keep track of this part of my life any more.

Balance Sheet: Positive

Dark and seedy, just how I like my alleyways.

Just about every visitor to Japan searches for that stereotypical traditional atmosphere where they can sit and breath in the “real” Japan. The truth is that this “real” Japan is fading fast, especially in Tokyo. It has been relegated to the shadows and corners of mainstream Japan and usually you need to head to the countryside to find a taste of traditional culture. Besides, the “real” Japan is not usually as clean and orderly as people think. One place that still pulses with the traditional back alley street culture can be founded tucked into a corner of Shinjuku, Tokyo’s red light district, Kabuki-cho.

Drinking in Golden Gai

Golden Gai is a small city block east of Shinjuku station made up of over 200 shacks, formerly brothels. The area consists of just 6 narrow alleys with even smaller passageways connecting everything. This atmospheric drinking area is renowned for the artists, actors and directors that frequent each nomiya (bar). Each small bar is big enough to fit a counter, stools and between six and fifteen patrons. The seedy image of Kabukicho, with its strip clubs, massage parlors, and breast bars (yes, you can suck on the breasts of waitresses and try not to think about the last guy had for dinner) keeps all but the most knowledgeable/adventurous visitor from discovering this oasis of small town Japan in the heart of one of the world’s largest metropolises. Each bar typically has a theme and caters to a slightly different crowd with the dimly lit streets and shanty-like building preserving one of the last areas of Tokyo not to be redeveloped.

In fact, despite a career of living in and passing through many of the seedier places on earth, I had yet to fully explore Golden Gai, assuming it was dangerous and controlled by the Yakuza. It turns out it’s anything but dangerous, but still has a grit to it that ensures you’ll walk away with a memorable night, if you can remember it.

Finding the Right Fit in Golden Gai

Finding the right bar can be challenging in the labyrinth like streets but is also part of the fun as you try to find the right atmosphere for you. My friends and I found our way to a typical bar , but with a Portuguese theme. Portuguese Port (where else could it be from) was the house specialty, along with three cute bartenders who just managed to fit behind the bar together, ready to keep the conversations going and the single customers engaged and feeling welcome. The bar was so small that each time a patron made a move towards the restroom everyone had to stand and press against the bar counter.

The bartender closest to me started working in the area a few months ago, moonlighting after her regular job as a theater actress for historical dramas ended. She figured she got around 3 hours of sleep a night and saw her French boyfriend even less. Next to me sat an architect who taught at a famous University nearby, next to him a women half his age hung on his elbow. Down the bar one man was too drunk to engage in conversation and the next was a political correspondent for Japan’s national news service NHK.

As three young Australian’s entered the bartender leaned close and said more and more tourists were stopping by as the area became fashionable in guidebooks and as the area cleaned up its seedy image. I guess I wasn’t a tourist as we were speaking Japanese.

Golden Gai Etiquette

Most bars are welcoming to visitors and happy for you to share their night. However, remember that many of these bars are filled every night with regular customers and taking their seats can cause a bit of an issue. Bartenders are generally good about letting you know if you are welcome or not. Just ask if it’s OK to sit down when you first enter. If they say no, don’t take offense or think it’s because your a foreigner. Most likely the seats left are for regulars. Say thank you and move on down the street, with 200 holes in the wall you’ll find someplace to call home for the evening.

The Curse of a Popular Traditional Area

It’s difficult to know exactly what Golden Gai is any longer. It is a remnant of a bygone era, the playground of the rich and famous, a bohemian wonderland in a stifling city, as well as a tourist cliche recommended by every guidebook and their grandmother. Yes, I realize the irony of posting this article!

The truth is bound to be different for everyone, on a different night in the Gai, and upon stumbling into different bars. Golden Gai sums up the Japanese experience better than just about anywhere else. It is a place with enough personalities to be different for each visitor, allowing you to interact superficially or to find a home among those of similar hearts. If you want to get pissed and walk away with a story, that’s fine too, the bars are happy to take your seating charge (usually between 800-1,000 yen).

Whatever Golden Gai is or isn’t, it is definitely unique. It’s a place that you should walk into with an open mind and not in search of the exact atmosphere, story, or experience related in a guidebook or travel blog. It’s one of those amazing places where the story writes itself and all you need to do is keep flipping the pages (buy more drinks).

Map How to Get To Golden Gai:

The entire Golden Gai is situated on one block just 5 minutes walk from Shinjuku East Exit-  1-1-8 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku

View Shinjuku’s Golden Gai Drinking Area in a larger map

Do you have a favorite place to drink in Tokyo? Share it with us in the comments below.

The post Get a Taste of old Tokyo and Drink in Golden Gai appeared first on Todd Wassel.

Getting blessed for my new job in Laos with a full chicken and an elder.

Welcome to my shiny new website ToddWassel.com and my companion blog, The Fermented Word (that is where you are if you didn’t know). Now, I need to be honest. This is not my first introduction to you. Some of you may in fact be here because you were redirected from my old website Todd’s Wanderings. You may also be wondering what happened to me? Where have I been since I disappeared from the Internet in 2012 (I’m a little sad no one called the FBI)?

The short answer is, I took a forced vacation from the Internet. My old site was hacked and stolen. I have been hiding out in Timor-Leste for the past 7 years where slow internet and fascinating work has combined to keep me firmly in actual reality. Throw two small children into the mix, an increasingly ambitious academic writing schedule (see how busy I have been), the inability to stop traveling, a growing love for whiskey and beer, and well, I’m sure you can understand.

Speaking of the FBI, in fact I need to contact them myself. Remember when I told you about my site being hacked? (I hope so, or you might not be the type of reader I’m looking for). Well it has re-emerged 4 years later, “owned” by some Chinese guy in Guangxi, with all of my writings, all of my photos, all of my videos of me, and all of the Viagra links that I never put on all of my posts. I’m sure you will hear of the story someday where I travel to China and confront the thief, escape over the land border into the golden triangle, and float down the Mekong selling Viagra, but for now I should probably just get to the point.

This is my Official Website, one mostly slanted towards my life as an author traveling the world (I’ve been at it since 1999, seriously, you can get to know me here). But since I believe in loving everything that you do, it has a bit of my other professional life mixed in, that of a peace building and development specialist. It will be ground zero for my books, the first of which is almost ready, and other stories, musings, wrong turns, wonderful people, and stupid things that I do as I go about living my life adrift in the wide world. And let’s be honest, getting myself into interesting situations make up most of my traveling life.

A short flight to explore South East Asia

So grab a coffee (or a whiskey if it is after 8:00 am) and enjoy the show. Please consider following me on Twitter or Facebook, and subscribing to my infrequent updates below. If you do, you’ll not only get the first chapter of my new book for free, but you will be the first to know when I find my website thief in Guangxi, and how much Viagra I find on him.

See, I have woven Viagra into my very first post three (no make that four) times!

I think we are both in for a ride.

The post Welcome to my shiny new website appeared first on Todd Wassel.