Chris - I'm in my late 50's, still collecting passports (have 2, and working on the 3rd) and looking forward to the next countries I plan to live in (Japan has long been on my list, and I study Japanese every day). None of us know how long we'll be on this planet. Yes, sadly some of us will struggle with health issues, and we won't be as strong as we were in our 20's. HOWEVER much of age is an attitude, and if you're diligent about taking care of yourself physically - most of the world is open to you, as long as you don't think you're "too old." The current record holder for the oldest man to climb mount Everest is 75 (according to a quick Google search - but honestly I think there are older Nepali sherpa's out there). Don't set too many limits on yourself. Love your work! So happy you and Sharla have found each other in life. Congratulations!
Hi Chris, I always get a smile from some stupid things you say 🤣, I am Australian, I am a baby boomer, I am 65 and I watch a lot of You Tubes, ranging from people in Chateau’s in France, to Foreign RU-vidrs in Japan to craft/stitching You Tubes, I do a lot of crafting and my mantra is “RU-vid is your friend” 🤣🤣 oh I worked for a Japanese company in Brisbane for 30 Years, one of the top 5 Shogo Shosha in fact, Marubeni Corporatioan. I watch you and Pete do your Pod Casts, 65 may sound old to you, it’s just a number, I don’t feel “old”, I still have many miles left in me yet 💃🏼 I’m heading to Japan in November for 3-1/2 weeks and very excited……
1980s movie idea. "The Barber" a young yankee named Natsuki is an apprentice at a barber shop in Shinbashi, Tokyo. A mix salary men and yakuza frequent the shop. One day a drunk yakuza demands a haircut and spills some secrets that sends Natsuki on a quest of revenge with his sheers
Seriously, getting up early and exercising makes you crazy productive. When I don't have a day job I get up early, go for a jog as the sun is rising (in spring and summer), practice a bit of Taekwondo to keep myself flexible then get to work. If I get drowsy during the day I just have a power nap, instead of forcing my way through it as that would slow me down and cause mistakes. But alas... I'm currently an employee. I can't live like that.
Early mornings every day keeps the sleep schedule consistent which helps with getting good sleep, and you get a lot of daylight to actually do things during the day. Getting up early is great
I feel so blessed to be a natural morning person because 5am is GLORIOUS, even when it's dark. It's private, quiet, no one will ask for your time, there are little distractions (few people are posting, no shows are on, etc) and going out into normally crowded places at 6am when the roads are almost dead is just lovely. The only downfall is pretty much everything is closed, but for a quiet walk it's stunning.
One group of people who cannot avoid going in August are the new incoming JET participants. By the way the reference in the book about how few JET's go to Tokyo is rather out of date as the number has ramped up since then and about 1 in 10 JETS are now based in Tokyo, including, soon, our son.
Yes, Hideous Fidias is now a Cypriot MEP! He hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory with his initial forays into the murky world of European politics - Apparently when asked to help organize an event marking 50 years since the Turkish Invasion he replied - “what’s that got to do with me?” - he doesn’t seem to understand what an MEP should be doing. He has also tried to hire his sister as his personal assistant, against EU rules. The only good thing about him becoming an MEP is that he will now have to spend a lot of time in Strasbourg and Brussels so we won’t have to endure his presence as much here in Cyprus!
I live in Australia and it takes 13-28 hours to get to Japan depending on the flight. Direct flights are fastest but also the most expensive. Long layovers can be rough. I love the lack of jetlag though.
Agree, on our last trip to Japan we had five hours to Singapore, had a seven hour layover then onto Haneda. As soon as we landed forwarded the luggage to Tokyo before we headed to Hakone for the night. Unfortunately the weather was so wet we had no views of Mt Fuji but we still had a great time. The onsen that night in Hakone was just perfect. But no jet lag as there is only one hour difference between home and Japan.
@@fixxundfertig it was an epic journey, two trains from Haneda to Odawara, then the switchback train up the mountain, next a cable car, then two ropeways and finally a short walk to the train station. I wanted to go to Hakone as I love the anime Samurai Champloo.
We got on the wrong Shinkansen in 2018 and we're told "Get out". No problem getting on the correct train at the next stop, only an hour delay. We loved traveling in Japan, very easy.
I love watching RU-vid because I am a thrifty cheap Canadian abroad in America lol. Cut the cords so don’t have any cable company to watch TV for several years now.. saves at least $200 a month
Come on Chris, 35 is spot on age for travel. My wife and I did 5 weeks buzzing around Europe when I was 51, you have plenty of years left in your life. What I would suggest though, is marry that gorgeous girl of yours and have some kids before you get too old, they take stamina. Love the Podcasts and the Abroad channel. Cheers from South Oz TJ
I agree with you about Chris being young and has plenty of time to travel. FYI both Chris and Sharla have said in videos that they don’t want children.
Wow, after a quick search I can tell you it is worse than that - only about 20% of people in Japan have passports. Insane for one of the strongest passports in the world.
Some movies that I've enjoyed that are either 80s or Japan related - To Live and Die in LA - Thief, by Michael Mann - Blood Simple, an early Coen's brothers film - Pale Flower, a post WW2 yakuza film - Tokyo Drifter, a stylish 60s yakuza film - Vengeance is Mine, loosely based on a manhunt for a serial killer in Japan
I think I must be a freak of nature, when I went to Japan about six years ago from the UK it was a 14 hour flight and an hour or so train to Kyoto and frankly once I got to my hotel I had a bath, unpacked my luggage and then went on a two hour evening walk around Gion only to the next morning get up at 5am and head out, I was at Fushimi Inari by 6am. No feelings of tiredness what so ever.
Craving Chris and Peckish Pete, I am currently traveling in Japan for 4 weeks from Hiroshima to Tokyo. I have been loving the local dishes and everything to offer at every convenience store. Ive had a fair view Coolish already and was thinking what the perfect Pete diet would be for a full day in Japan? Breakfast, lunch and diner. Keep up the great work, Auke from the Netherlands. Ps. Going to ride the shiminami kaido tomorrow, wish me luck!
I hate waking up early, but I love being up early. Early morning cool weather. The sun isn't blinding you yet. When out and about there is way less people. Plus by the time you finish your normal morning stuff, it's still early in the day.
Coming from Australia myself, you can do direct flights to Tokyo depending where in Australia your flying from. You can also fly to South Korea which is about 10 hours, and another 2.5 to Tokyo.
I get the age difference in viewers. I am 58 with a vintage stuff channel called Thisoversuffedhouse and the majority of my subscribers are over 50. Either because they enjoy the sales or because they also inherited a huge amount of stuff and are trying to get through it all. So I am surprised when I get comments from those under 50 watching my channel. I love your channel, Sharla, and Rachel and Jen because you all give me a chance to see my Aunt Michiko's homeland. She is 92 now and suffering from Alzheimer's.
Hah! I'm not the only one! It wasn't a bullet train, but I was planning to travel from Taipei to Panchow (three stops down the line) and got on the noon express by mistake - all the way to Tainan, the other end of the country. Three hours down, seven hours on the slow train back. Didn't cost me anything but most of a day's date... As far as "up early", I've been getting up at 5 since I was about 14. We lived in the mountains and the bus ride to school was over an hour. Then I joined the Army, and when I got out I taught ESL in Korea so 6 AM classes had me up at 4 AM. Moved back to the States after four years of that and construction work had me up at 5 AM. Now I'm 56-year-old software developer and still just getting up at 5 AM and hitting the sack at 10 PM. The gist of that? Once it's a habit it's nice, and the quiet hours in the morning are excellent for concentration. It's not for everyone, but I really like it. My daughters, though? They're like their mother - wake up at 10 AM and to bed at midnight. Jet lag and visits home... During my ESL tour in Korea I ran to Guam or Taiwan for visa renewals, and so spent four years away from my home in the U.S.. I personally am not very family-oriented and don't generally feel a need to visit them often. I don't understand the homesickness aspect of travel and living abroad, really, but I do understand it's a factor for many people. Hey, you whippersnapper! I'm 56 and .. grumble grumble! Anyway, entertaining streams, glad to hear your takes on things Japanese.
Thank you for being open to allowing us old folk to watch and listen. 😂 It just happened out of nowhere and I’m still not sure how to stop it. 😉 PS The flight to Australia is brutal, especially if you have a layover, but the flight back to the US is somehow worse. I don’t know why. 🤷🏻♀️
I'm 44 and even my 100 year old granddad watches RU-vid videos every day 😉 He is also on X (Twitter) and Facebook and loves his Apple watch. So I guess you're never too old for something, especially if you stay fit both physically and mentally.
I was in Narita and saw a small TV crew doing an interview and I will admit I loitered in the area a bit for the possibility they would look for another tourist to interview just because I thought it would be funny. Unfortunately after like 15 minutes of interview the same backpackers I left for my bus
After working in the medical field for 20 years, and having a set schedule, my body can’t sleep past 06:00. It’s a bit annoying sometimes. Mostly when I really just want to sleep in. Doesn’t matter how late I get to bed either. I just wake up at 06 😂. It’s also hell if I’ve had a late night out 😂.
Europe is awesome, but be bold, bring Sharla to Australia. All the talk of killer animals is bollocks! Plus, no jet lag. Onigiri for breakfast, and a juicy rib filet for tea! PS: I been watching since that noisy bird pissed you off in that tiny flat.... and I'm 54!
Hello Chris, I'm from Cyprus and was really mad when I saw the fidias train video. After him being elected. Really wondering if he is doing it for the good of the country or just for his friends and family benefits. I enjoy your videos everyday, keep it up
@petestival Not sure when you travel to Bratislava, but I highly recommend to go also outside of the city if you get a chance, the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of August is great in Pezinok - Vine under the Stars - you get amazing music while you can get drunk at the same time. Bratislava can feel like a smaller Vienna and is nothing like the rest of the country. If you are stuck in the city take a trip to Devin Castle, much better than Bratislava Castle. And if you are going just to drink the mandatory to try are: Tatra Tea - ideally the 72% strongest one Slivovica - a plum alkohol Borovicka - is what happens if Slavs try to invent gin Mead - APIMED is a great mead brand but most good places will have at least some choice of good mead Becherovka- what happens when Slavs try to invent jeagermeistrer - drunk often with tonic as a cult drink - BETON (concrete in slovak)
Get yourself some electrolytes. Bit of sodium and potassium to keep the pump running. But make sure it is isotonic. It is not the same (iso) place (tope) but has the same tonic as your blood.
Oh jeeze, I did hop on the wrong train...literally the one right before the one I was ticketed for. I think both were Hikari ### and I wasn't attuned to Japan's uncanny precision in rail timing. Thankfully there was space so the attendant was able to shift me to an open seat nearby so I didn't end up in someone else's way at future stops. Embarassing.
Come on Chris get a Century ! You could get one for your 80's film, then do a road trip it and a few friends, then sell it back with maybe a profit from the content created. Or maybe get another vintage sedan, like a old Crown or an old Skyline, they will be getter on fuel. ^^
When I arrived in Japan, I took the wrong train to the Sendai in the South...I got to Japan at 7 am in the morning. I arrived at my hotel in Sendai city at 8pm 🫣
I have been in an 80s mode too. I was watching the old classic movie First blood with a friend of mine that I do a podcast together with. It was fun. Witch movies did you watch Chris?
Whenever I hear talk about Jetlag I think about this beautiful quote from William Gibson's novel Pattern Recognition : "She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise that is London, that Damien's theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can't move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage." DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email message is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or retention of this document is unauthorised. If you have received this document in error, please delete and contact the sender immediately.
Age and RU-vid - RU-vid has a LOT of crap content that's worthless. But over time, it's possible to find good stuff, but it takes a great deal of filtering. Spoken as a nearly 60year old. Curious if this is a hint that Mr Abroad will go abroad from Japan? Perhaps time to make an Abroad in Korea channel and go live in Korea for a while? :)
I really enjoy both Abroad in Japan and the podcast. One correction: Pete, Lauryn Hill never said that. Please read the Daily Beast's "How a Racist Smear Campaign Derailed Lauryn Hill’s Career." That rumor was debunked over 6 years ago. Chris, I love your and Sharla's content. I, too, found Sharla first but I've enjoyed every one of your videos as well. Best of luck to you both.
It’s pretty easy to find the right Shinkansen. Look at the arrival board which displays in Japanese and English. It will list the Shinkansen Name such as Nozomi, Sakura, Hikari, Kodama, Mizuho, etc.,. The number of the train and the platform it will stop at. You then look for the number of the platform above or near the Platform entrance. Some Entrances have two platforms on one each side. Example Platform 21 and 22 could be on the same entrance and when you enter Platform 21 could be to your left and Platform 22 can be to the Right. You then look for the digital signs above the platform parallel to the track where people can line up for entering the Shinkansen. It will have the name of the next Shinkansen arriving and what car number that line is for. Just ensure the Name and Number of the Shinkansen matches that of the one you want take. It will be switching from Japanese to English every so often. If you reserve a seat (highly recommended during spring cherry blossom season). The Ticket will have the car number on it. Line up at the digital sign thar shows the car number that matches the one on your ticket. If you riding unreserved seat the digital signs will say which cars are reserved and you can line up at any non reserved car digital sign.
Boomers are around 60 - 78 - that's the generation that isn't on RU-vid as much; but many Gen-Xers were on the internet when RU-vid came out, so yeah I'm sure plenty of 44-59 yr olds watch your channels.
Have you even been to Japan if you haven't caught the wrong train? There should be a word/phrase for getting on the right line but going the wrong direction. *laughs knowingly* "ho ho ho - looks like I popped my Shinkansen cherry"... nicer than saying I'm fucked now?
F**ker, here's something that will make you feel old, a Boomer is at least 60 to 80 years old now. People in their 40's to 50's are Gen-X, ex-skateboarders that listened to Nirvana.
