What I'm Up To
​Volume 106

Hey friends,
​
Here’s what I’ve been up to since Vol. 105...
​​
1. April Happenings
​We celebrated the 13th anniversary of The ONE Thing to kick off the month. Our “teenager” has now sold close to 4M copies in 48 languages!

Clearing the decks before Japan was intense – 8 days, 7 podcasts, 7 coaching calls, 4 newsletters, 2 discovery calls, and one live webinar. 🫠 Wendy left 4 days before me. She hosted a Her Best Life gathering in Monterey, CA, that included a day of driving classic cars along the coast! Then she took her admin team to the Philippines to meet their VA team before meeting me in Tokyo. Coolest boss evah!

My trip was different. About a year ago, my publisher called and asked if I knew how long it took to make a friend. (Turns out it’s around 200 hours.) He was planning a trip to make some new best friends in Japan. Did I want to come? Sign me up! (Full story here.)

I would hike the Nakasendo Trail with my pals Todd, Tim, and Charlie. I started calling it the “friendship walk.”

The trail is an ancient postal route through the mountains that connected Tokyo and Kyoto. We walked through cedar forests, over mountain passes, past waterfalls, and stayed in traditional inns – some run by the same families for over 400 years. We did, in fact, become great friends, and we made some new ones as well. Most nights, we shared meals with four Malaysian women and a couple from Hawaii. The ladies spent most of their time teasing us for being slow while they raced ahead.
​
By the end of the week, we'd logged 131,893 steps and 59.4 miles. My knees have thoughts.

The second week, Wendy joined me and we explored Tokyo and Kyoto on our own. Highlights included visiting the Hachikō statue I wrote about last June, a private tour of the Senso-Ji Temple neighborhood, a kintsugi pottery class, and a visit to the Morioka Shoten bookstore – a tiny shop in Tokyo that sells only one book per week. We also stumbled into a two-star Michelin Chinese restaurant in Kyoto called Velrosier that blew our minds. Twelve courses. Each one paired with a different wine. The tempura sea bream with baby shrimp might be one of the best things I've eaten this year. But maybe that’s the sake talking…

I also butchered the Japanese language on a near-daily basis. My crowning achievement was trying to tell a waiter his food was delicious – "Oishii!" – and instead confidently declaring "Yoshi!" He gave me a quizzical look I can only describe as quizzically gracious.

Even though we were in motion for most of the trip, I found a stillness inside that I'm holding onto. And I was reminded of something a friend once told me on a backpacking trip – friends know all the bits of your life. Great friends know how they fit together. Two weeks on the trail will show you the difference. I shared my favorite ahas from the trip in a TwentyPercenter article.

2. What I’m Reading
​I started the month with I Hope So by Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe before our podcast together. Hope is a great topic for our times. We need more of it!​
​​
Next up was a Japanese-themed, stand-alone fantasy The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang. The story took time to unwind, but I really enjoyed it, especially reading it in the mountains of Japan. (Thanks to Sam Holiday at the Painted Porch Bookstore for the recommendation!)

After Kaigen, I yearned for something light and fun. So I downloaded Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Carl and his girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, get sucked into an alien reality TV show that is equal parts The Running Man and Dungeons and Dragons. It’s also hilarious and addictive. Wendy jumped in. By the end of the trip, I was on book four, and she was on book three. There are eight books. You’ve been warned.

3. What I’m Watching
​I wrapped up season 2 of The Pitt (HBO). The show is poignant, gripping, and more than a little exhausting. This season raised the question: Who helps the helpers? It got me to check in on the caregivers in my life. We also loved the third season of Shrinking (Apple+) and celebrated when they announced Harrison Ford would be back for season 4.

Wendy and I loved Train Dreams (Netflix), based on a wonderful Dennis Johnson novella. We also watched Zootopia 2 (Disney+), which was a worthy sequel. Finally, I’ll cop to watching all three Lord of the Rings movies on my flights to and from Tokyo. They hold up surprisingly well.

That’s it for this month. Please reply back and let me know what you’re up to!

Be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!
Jay

Forward to a Friend

See something that you know a friend would like? Forward to them so they don't miss out. And if you were forwarded this email and want more of What I’m Up To, you can sign up here.

Unsubscribe

If this isn’t for you, feel free to Unsubscribe