​From Oklahoma to Japan

 

I'm originally from the United States and grew up primarily in Oklahoma. In 2003, shortly after receiving my university degree in finance, I stumbled across a chance to go to Japan for a year and quickly took it. It was an intimidating and impulsive decision - but a serendipitous one that has guided and defined my life ever since. 

   

My foot-in-the-door opportunity was an English teaching position with a large language school. I didn't know anyone, couldn't speak a word of Japanese, had never taught and was living on my own for the first time - but my heart was full of wonder and optimism and I quickly adjusted to my new surroundings. I traveled by train and bus to areas near and far on weekends and holidays and fell in love with Japan hard and fast. Everything was foreign and fascinating and each successive day was the best day yet. The people and culture, the festivals, food and fashion... I was enthralled with it all, but the reason I'm still here almost two decades after my original visa expired -- the mountains.

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From Fuji to the Alps

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I was always obsessed with the outdoors and everything alpine, probably because I came from a flat state dominated by farmland. I started camping, hiking and dabbling in snow sports in high school - but only managed to do so a few times per year since it was a half-day drive or more to get anywhere interesting. But in Japan it is almost impossible to escape the mountains. They're everywhere, but there's one that literally rises above the rest; Mt. Fuji. 

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When I was still expecting to head back to the States at the conclusion of my initial 12-month contract, my number one goal was goal to climb Mt. Fuji before I left the country. I started training with short hikes on a small local peak and worked my way up to longer, harder efforts before the summer of 2004. In early August I realized my dream and watched the sunrise from Japan's most iconic summit. In the months and years that followed I parlayed my increased fitness and new-found confidence into adventures further and deeper into the country's incredible mountains, eventually transitioning from easy day hikes of solitary summits with friends to multiple, week-long solo traverses of rocky and sometimes technical ridge lines in the Northern, Central and Southern Alps.

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From Japan to the World (and back)

 

A job change in 2009 gifted me with a significant increase in time off and I began to spend up to 10 weeks per year traveling internationally. I stayed true to my passion and planned nearly all of my trips around trekking; organizing and walking fantastic, long and often remote routes self-guided and self-supported in amazing places such as Iceland, Nepal, northern India, Tasmania, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Morocco to name a few. I gained a lifetime of memories, friends and experiences, but also earned a renewed appreciation for the beauty and diversity of the wild places back here in Japan. Before I knew it I was spending less time chasing adventure abroad and instead using my extended vacations to explore and re-explore cities, sites and trails closer to home.

 

From the big city to a small village

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After years of commuting weekly from my home in Nagoya to the distant mountains, I felt it was finally ready to make a life change. My primary goals were to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and to pursue a career in guiding -- the perfect nexus of my passions for Japan, the outdoors, travel and people. I wanted to live closer to the Alps, and I also hoped to add another layer to life by settling in a small, rural village and making meaningful connections. However -- it can be notoriously hard to assimilate and gain acceptance into Japan's closed countryside communities, even for other Japanese who are relocating from urban areas.

 

As an American I felt I would need to be especially smart, careful and considerate with my move, and in the end I took a job in an isolated village (Otari) through a government-sponsored project that seeks to revitalize rural areas. This way I would be moving to the area as a semi-volunteer to work on the village's behalf, and have plenty of opportunities to meet and earn the trust of residents while doing so. I wrapped up my three year term in the spring of 2021. It was an absolutely wonderful experience, and Otari was and is everything I hoped it would be, making it an easy decision to stay. Investing in new relationships, exploring this amazing area more thoroughly, earning new experiences and learning new skills has changed my life and opened up a world of hidden wonder that I am dying to share with others. My wife and I were able to find a beautiful old Japanese home on a nice plot of land in a quiet hillside hamlet, ensuring we will be here for the foreseeable future. We're especially grateful to have established roots given that we had our first child in February of 2020 -- we see this as the perfect environment to raise our little boy.

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From dream to reality

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I've invested a significant amount of time and effort over the years preparing for and transitioning to full time guiding. In addition to relocating I've been steadily studying and acquiring specific knowledge and pertinent certifications (see my profile above) to compliment my experience, and partnered with a good friend to found Hike and Bike Japan. Planning and co-leading trips through Hike and Bike has been both enjoyable and invaluable and I will continue to be a part of it, but Nagano Adventures is my real passion project - a chance for me to narrow my offerings and focus on introducing the amazing areas in and around my home to others. Like any good walk there has been joy at every step of the journey and as the coronavirus pandemic fades from the scene and international tourism begins to rebound I hope to share as many miles, smiles and joyful conversations in Nagano with as many of you as possible!