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This is a story about an
international couple raising and home educating three
young boys on a small island in Japan, half living in
buses, engaged in organic, self-sufficient farming in
the middle of a mountain forest while dealing with
climate, cultural, and personal challenges. These pages
are about pretty much anything and everything all guided
by our family motto, Taking Chances, Making Changes,
Being Happy. Thank you very much for joining us on our
ongoing crazy adventure.
Comments or questions about this blog?....message me at
Facebook. |
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 Happy
New Year
January 1, 2024 - Another New Year and we are
taking the first pictures at home.
Picture - Us hanging
out together at home.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together at home-1.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together at home-2.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together at home-3.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together at home-4. |
 Outside
House
January 1, 2024 - We are
taking the first pictures outside at the house.
Picture - Us hanging
out together outside at the house.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together outside at the house-1.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together outside at the house-2.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together outside at the house-3.
Picture - Home - Us hanging out together outside at the house-4. |
 Eating
Lunch
January 1, 2024 - We are
eating lunch together.
Picture - Us eating
lunch together.
Picture - Home - Us eating lunch together-1.
Picture - Home - Us eating lunch together-2.
Picture - Home - Us eating lunch together-3.
Picture - Home - Us eating lunch together-4. |
 New
Years Food
January 1, 2024 - Akiko made traditional Japanese
New Years Food.
Picture - Traditional
Japanese New Years Food.
Picture - Home - Traditional Japanese New Years
Food-1. |
 Eating
Dinner
January 1, 2024 - We are
eating dinner together.
Picture - Us eating
dinner together.
Picture - Home - Us eating dinner together-1.
Picture - Home - Us eating dinner together-2.
Picture - Home - Us eating dinner together-3.
Picture - Home - Us eating dinner together-4. |
Mountain Day Trip
January 2, 2024 - This was another unusual one
day trip, and the first for the new year. We spent much of the day at the park
close to our mountain, exploring new trails and and enjoying new scenery. The
only work was grading a small piece of land close to the buses for our new
temporary kitchen. The weather was nice albeit seasonably cool. A Mamushi pit
viper slithered onto the street directly across from the campsite and was
promptly smashed with a garden hoe. Hopefully no more of those this year.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-1.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-2. |
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Camping Trip
January 4-5, 2024 - This was overnight trip
number 60 and was for two days and one night. We finished up a temporary
kitchen, to be used until a more useable kitchen can be built, and worked on the turnaround for
the truck. And it was really cold at night with the temperature dropping to
around 7 degrees C (44 degrees F) with us sleeping in buses with no warming
stove or fireplace. We went shopping on the way home and bought veggies and
sushi.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-1.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-2. |
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January 11, 2024 -
Facebook Post - Chillin up at our mountain tonight,,,,literally. The
first night of our 61st overnight camping trip in 2.5 years. Planning on staying
up to a week this time to wrap up a bunch of projects. About 10 degrees Celsius
tonight….brrrrrrrr. The campfire was nice and warm though. Akiko and the kids
are already sleeping now. |
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January 11-18, 2024 - This was overnight trip
number 61 and was for eight days and seven nights. This was our new record for
time spent camping for a single trip. Although we brushed teeth, and wiped up a
bit, we did not shower for the entire trip, which is typical for us as there are
no shower facilities available. The weather was incredible, albeit pretty cold
at night, with temperatures dipping into the forties. The focus of this trip was
our comfort. I added a wood frame roof over the buses and installed a 5.8 x 7.8
meter tarp, which is really thick and even typhoon resistant. This worked out
really well, except for cutting out a lot of light, requiring us to use lights
even to eat breakfast. Our main eating table is outside of the buses though,
with the small eating table between the buses only being used at night or when
it rains. The cover also enabled us to use our kerosene stove to warm us up. We
are hoping to begin construction on our cabin this year. With our new roof over
the buses, and us much more comfortable now, it was time to make things more
convenient for Akiko. This meant a functioning kitchen. I used a bunch of old
wood from other projects for the wood frame over the buses, and used everything
else to build small but useful kitchen shelves and work area. The BBQ is set up
next to the kitchen. A bit more time was also spent on the truck turnaround. We
also worked together to weed the farm and prepare for bringing banana trees up
to the mountain.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-1.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-2.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-3.
Picture - Mountain - Us about to return home
picture-4. |
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 RECENT
NEWS
Happy New Year to our friends and family and to new friends visiting this page
for the first time. We finished out 2023 with a lot of completed projects,
especially up in our mountain. We are now at the beginning of 2024 and looking
forward to warmer temperatures, and more overnight camping trips. The plan for
this year is to get out of the farm we've been using for the last four years.
During August 2023, a typhoon wiped out over half of our banana trees and it was
the catalyst that pushed the decision to get out of that farm for good. Since we
purchased the mountain, we now have a better place to grow our stuff. A lot of
work ahead for sure, but we're looking forward to transforming the mountain into
a comfortable second home.
We are home now after completing overnight camping trip number 61, which was for
an incredible 8 days and 7 nights, our new record. The weather was incredible,
albeit pretty cold at night, with temperatures dipping into the forties. The
focus of this trip was our comfort. I added a wood frame roof over the buses and
installed a 5.8 x 7.8 meter tarp, which is really thick and even typhoon
resistant. This worked out really well, except for cutting out a lot of light,
requiring us to use lights even to eat breakfast. Our main eating table is
outside of the buses though, with the small eating table between the buses only
being used at night or when it rains. The cover also enabled us to use our
kerosene stove to warm us up. We are hoping to begin construction on our cabin
this year. |
 MOUNTAIN
UPDATE
We managed to grade, by hand, the space for our new campsite which has a
panoramic view of the reservoir, park, and surrounding mountains. Our four buses
serve as our bedrooms, storage for our tools and other necessities, and as a
back up power source for charging iphones and lights. The small eating table in
between the buses is now finished as well. The next project is to use two meter
long pieces of wood to make a roof which will span the open space between the
buses and allow for the 5.8 x 7.8 meter tarp we bought to be installed. We plan
on using our oil stove for heat and the tarp will also give us a place to hang
out and eat on rainy days instead of being crammed into the large bus.
With our new roof (see above post) over the buses, and us much more comfortable
now, it was time to make things more convenient for Akiko. This meant a
functioning kitchen. I used a bunch of old wood from other projects for the wood
frame over the buses, and used everything else to build small but useful kitchen
shelves and a work area. The BBQ is set up next to the kitchen. A bit more time
was also spent on the truck turnaround. We also worked together to weed the farm
and prepare for bringing banana trees up to the mountain. |
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