Sayonara Japan, Xin Chào Vietnam!

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Ok guys, here's an ultra quick note just to let everyone know where I am and what I'm up to since the disasters in Japan last month.

So to put everyone at ease who have been asking if I'm Ok, YES, I'm healthy and I just set up here in a Couch Surfer Hosts' place in Hanoi, Vietnam. I'm right in the Old Quarter and I'll be here for about a week before moving on, eventually making it down to Saigon in about a month. And if you didn't know before, this is the trip that I've been planning for a while, taking about three months to do the full circle of South East Asia with a small backpack, an open mind and some good footgear.

It's been a tumultuous time this past month, but I have everything to be thankful for, being healthy, getting to say goodbye to the country I fell deeply in love with and to see and thank most of the people I became super close with during the past year and a half in Japan. I ended my contract about a month early with my company, with no hard feelings either way thankfully, and after hastily sending a few bags home and clearing my apartment, hopped on a plane and now I find myself here, next to this incredible 'chicken legs on a stick' food place (i wouldn't say restaurant) with nothing but opportunities and adventures in front of me for 90 days.

There's so much to tell you, including my trip last month to Australia and Bali, which changed my life and showed me what it's like to really plunge into a new culture, and so much more of course. Of course the whole crisis with the massive earthquakes and nuclear reaction leaks affected the whole country and was, if not disastrous for most people, an eye-opening event that will have lasting effects for a long time to come. Talking about the Japanese's reaction to the entire ordeal is a story in itself, and getting to see the resiliency and stoicism from an entire nation was astounding. I see a lot of people changing their thoughts and behaviors in a really positive way, and there's been so much help shown to the country that it brings hope that we are really becoming a world that is coming together peacefully.

So I'm taking that attitude on the road and seeing what kind of goodness I can get into around the world! I'll check in soon with a bunch of pictures and updates from the past month once I get settled in and find a second to take my eyes away from the outside stimuli!

Gotta quickly say a super thanks to The Ryan family in Sydney for having Rob and I stay there and have such a great time in your country, including that delicious "Roo' steak! Then I cant forget my man, Dave in Brisbane for a fantastic trip to Byron Bay. Shout out to Corinna and Josephine, Ada and Sara in Ubud, Bali, and all my amazing friends and co-workers in Nihon! Samishiiiiii!!

Check in soon and remember you don't need to wait for an earthquake to shake-up your life!!

Sloan-Bones

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