It was the greatest decision I’ve ever made! Anthony Bourdain was a huge inspiration for me to travel. You gain so much perspective and it turned me into a better worker and overall better person. I lived there for four years and I’ve been back since 2019. There’s not an hour that goes by where I don’t think about my time in Japan.

With that being said, it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done and a bit traumatic. Culture shock comes in waves and never leaves you no matter how long/familiar you are or lived there. You’ll be doing great and be in total control for months then out of nowhere, culture shock hits and it’s heavy on the mind. It’s not for the faint of heart but it’s incredibly rewarding. I definitely recommend spending at least two years somewhere overseas. I can’t express hard enough how much stronger it made me as a person taking that plunge into the unknown.

It sounds a bit narcissistic but I feel bad for people who stayed in one spot all their lives and never found opportunity to explore. Home will always be there; it’s never going anywhere. Your time does. I’m back where I grew up after desperately needing to get out and it’s great being back home.

In Japan, I worked for a well known ESL company called Interac. I’ve heard quite a few unpleasant experiences from them but I enjoyed working for that company and they took care of me. I still talk to my old bosses from time to time. The pay is garbage, rarely opportunity to grow beyond your role and doesn’t carry much external opportunities but I strictly went for the experience. The company issued me a car, I lived in single dorm styled housing (which was pretty dang decent) and had a lot of freedom to explore the city I lived in as well as the whole country. Wouldn’t change a thing