Hello, friends, this is Youheum, and I
practice extreme minimalism.
Currently, as a digital nomad, I'm
traveling in Japan for three months.
Today I'll be sharing how my week
unfolded. I'm currently living in
Kanazawa Prefecture area and this is my mom's house
actually. She travels to different
countries for work and I'll definitely
do a whole tour of my temporary home and
also my minimal space. I do love how I
could sleep on the floor and
surprisingly I don't really miss my
hammock bed and I do enjoy how grounded
I feel. And I appreciate the soothing
scent of the tatami floor.
I'm still juicing celery and trying my
best to keep up with my self-care
routine like yoga and meditation. But I
admit that it's been difficult to do
this especially when I first arrived in Japan
because of jetlag.
Since my sister also joined me, I'm
enjoying the precious time I have with
my family. I'll be staying for a long
time and I'll also be visiting Korea
for a month after Japan. But my sister
will be returning soon to our Austin home.
So we headed to Kusatsu in Gunma to
stay at an inn and I was excited to finally
go to an onsen to heal my body and just
let go and relieve some stress.
Even though some of the places that I
went were definitely touristy and it was
a bit stimulating, I still enjoyed
connecting with nature in the outdoors
and I enjoyed cultivating some
nourishing experience and not really
focusing too much on accumulating
material things.
The inn I stayed at was called Tokinoniwa and it had such a beautiful
garden in the center. Our room had an
open-air bath but we went out for the
separate private baths outside and we
did this because we're not able to use
the public baths because me and my
sister both have tattoos.
After taking a hot bath we relaxed out on
the balcony while drinking some cold tea.
I'm being flexible with my caffeine
intake. so while I'm in Japan, I decided
to drink some matcha and green tea. At
5:30 pm we decided to go to the shokudo
the restaurant part of the inn. They
didn't have a specific vegan menu and I
completely understand that veganism and
vegetarian diet might not be common in
modern Japanese culture but we were
still able to make it work.
There were lots of vegetables and plant-based meals included in the course.
I decided to try out the hot spring
water inside my room and this was a good
way to start a relaxing day and I just
wanted to try it out before we had to
check out. For a few days, we decided to explore the
central area of Tokyo like Shinjuku and
Shimokitazawa and I'll share more about
that in the future. Also, feel free to
share what you love about traveling.
Let me know in the comments below.
Our next trip was to Kyoto and we had to
take the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station
for two hours and a half. We strolled
through the Geisha Street and I loved
how natural and well-preserved
everything was. All the architecture and
decoration were so mindfully created and
it was not stimulating at all since it
naturally blended with the surrounding
environment and I especially loved the
combination of moss green and the dark
wooden and natural colors and textures.
After walking for a few minutes we
decided to go to Murayama Park and we
also went to a nearby shrine. I
intend to visit a Zen temple in the
future so that I can reconnect with my
Buddhism practice while I am in Japan.
If you know any good temples feel
free to share with me in the comments
below. After wrapping up the day and
grabbing a quick meal for dinner, we
headed over to Nine Hours Kyoto. I never
had the chance to stay at a capsule
hotel even though I visited Japan many
times so this time I picked a minimal
place with a modern vibe. I
appreciate how they only kept the
essentials but they still had everything
to survive like the shower room,
bathroom, lounge area, and other
accommodations.
For breakfast, we went to a vegetarian a
vegan-friendly place and ordered a salad
bowl and a Japanese-style breakfast with
side dishes. It's really difficult
for me to avoid soy sauce and gluten
since it's so commonly used in
Japanese cuisine. So I decided to be more
forgiving and gentle with myself even if
I can't stick to my strict diet 100%.
Our last destination in Kyoto was to
Arashiyama and there were several places
we actually wanted to visit while we
were there in that neighborhood.
The first place was the bamboo grove. Upon
going inside
I definitely noticed that the air
quality was different and it was
very refreshing and I felt more grounded
when I entered into the bamboo grove.
We also passed by a lotus pond on our
way to Gio-ji temple. When we went to
Gio-ji, i i knew that this was going to be
my favorite place on the entire trip
because I felt instantly relaxed just
being surrounded by all the greenery,
trees, moss, and that I was able to
listen to the beautiful birds and listen
to the gentle sound of the water. It
was so different from the hustle and
bustle of the city and the crowded
touristy places.
For me, I find it difficult to remove
stimulation or toxic things from my life completely.
I see that nothing can be
destroyed, removed, or rejected entirely.
So when there is a busy crowded place
like the city and touristy spots,
there's also a peaceful and quiet place
waiting for me. I see that it's all
about the balance in my life, it's all
about where I choose to be, where I
choose to stay most of the time, and it's
all about being okay with the presence
of chaos when I have to face it head-on. This entire trip reminded me of the
value of balance and the deep connection
between the opposing forces like the
maximal Japan, the minimal Japan, and
the very modern industrialized Japan but
also the historical, ancestral, the
grounded and back-to-roots part of Japan
as well. So overall it was a good
reminder that everything is co-existing
even the opposing forces and even things
that seem so different from each other.
The last stop was to a local shop that
my mom wanted to check out. They had
handmade things made of bamboo and also
high-quality incense sticks that I was
very tempted to buy. Even though I am
an extreme minimalist, I don't really hate
shopping and I don't really criticize
maximum people or people who enjoy
shopping and enjoy the process of
picking things out for themselves.
It's not like I hate these things
it's just that I don't like to shop mindlessly.
I usually don't buy anything when I'm traveling but I
don't mind going to a shop with somebody
to simply observe what is there and be
respectful of the person who wants to go
see these. So I feel that it's important
for me to respect other people's
decisions and respect other people's
unfolding without rejecting them.
If you enjoyed this video please like
and subscribe to my channel. Thanks again
for being here my friends and I hope to
see you again soon.
