Tag: Michigan to Japan

Travel

Comforts After Moving Far from Home

CaitlynLeave a comment

The first morning we woke up in our temporary apartment in Tokyo, there were some things that really made me feel happy despite being so far from home. These things continue to help me feel comforted, even when I get super homesick!COMFORTS

1. Trinkets I brought along give me a lot of comfort. For Christmas, my mom made me a charm bracelet that had a little coffee charm, an “I love my cat” charm, and more. That, along with some other precious gifts, makes me feel special from miles away.

2. Chad gave me a calendar for Christmas that has pictures of our kitties for each month. My friend Timothy took the pictures, and although I get really sad because I miss my kitties so much, I am really glad I can look at sweet photos of them all year long.

3. My French Press has been AMAZING since we’ve moved here. That first morning in Tokyo, I felt completely comforted by the smell of high-quality coffee poured into my cup, fresh from the press.

4. When we lived in Japan the last time around, I remember not wanting to hang up too many pictures or anything because I figured our living situation wasn’t permanent. I don’t know what the heck was wrong with me–having pictures all over our apartment makes me feel tons of love. This time around we’ve got plenty of pictures up around our apartment.

5. I know this may sound silly, but I am so happy to have Starbucks no matter where I go! I really found my third place when I was working for Starbucks (even though it was also my second place…!).

6. I love catching little glimpses of Michigan goods around our apartment. I have a sweet little pillow made for us by a friend, as well as the travel pillow pictured above, to list a couple items.

Other things that have made me feel at home right away? Books and crafty supplies, though I had to be quite picky about what I brought due to luggage constraints. We also brought quite a bit of–you guessed it!–coffee and chocolate.

What are some things that make you feel comforted or “at home” no matter where you are?

xx Caitlyn

Learning

Moving

Caitlyn1 Comment

So everyone knows that living abroad is an amazing experience that gives you completely new insights into other cultures while teaching you about yourself and where you came from, too. The actual process of moving can be overwhelming, especially if speaking a foreign language is necessary (I remember when we moved from Yokkaichi to Kobe we handled getting an apartment all by ourselves, relying completely on our Japanese…). Despite the stress that moving of any sort (whether moving abroad or just to another state) brings, there are a few good things that come from moving as well. So, without further adieu, my list of three things good about the process of moving abroad.

travel

1. You are forced to organize and clean
Nothing like moving to another country to get you to go through ALLTHETHINGS. It can be overwhelming (believe me, we’re going crazy cleaning and packing our house right now!), but at the same time it feels so good to have everything packed up in an efficient, organized manner. (I’ll post some packing tips in the near future, too!) Moving abroad is an excellent chance to get rid of a bunch of stuff you don’t need as well, which brings me to the second thing on my list.

2. You realize how much you don’t actually need.
You really have to learn to let go of material attachments when you move abroad. Shipping rates are insane, so all we’re bringing with us to Japan is what we can fit in our checked and carry-on luggage. A lot of people have asked about this, shocked that we’re pretty much only bringing clothes and a few books and random supplies. But when it comes down to it, what more do you need? Oh, wait, that brings me to the next thing on my list.

3. You realize how much you need your loved ones.
Obviously, you probably know that you love your family and your buddies and Comet and Curry. I mean, your cats or dogs or whatever. But you probably love my cats too, even if you don’t know it yet. Anyway, when you move abroad, you take the time to tell people how much you care about them in a way you don’t tend to do on a regular basis otherwise. I’ve had some experiences where I had no idea I had impacted someone’s life in an extreme way and vice versa, as well as times where I just fell apart crying all over the place because it was so important for me to show how vehemently I cared about and would miss everyone (get ready for that fun time in about two weeks, folks).

There are probably a bunch of other difficult parts of moving abroad that are also positive in a way, but these three have been sticking out to me lately. Have you ever made a big move that taught you something you could add to the list?

xx Caitlyn