After 43 days of nomadic lifestyle, I finally settled in London.

Last year, my girlfriend and I decided to leave Hong Kong and move to the UK in pursuit of fame and fortune. After bidding farewell to my colleagues in early August, I began the exhausting task of packing.

My tenancy in Hong Kong ended on 18 August, while my flight to the UK was on 6 September. In the meantime, we became homeless nomads.

“Staying in a hotel in Hong Kong costs about $700 per day, while the daily cost of a hotel in Japan is the same,” I said to my girlfriend one day. “Why don’t we travel to Japan for 2 weeks and spend only 4 days staying in a hotel in Hong Kong?”

As a result, we bought the flight tickets and booked the hotels.

18 – 20 August: Hong Kong

On 18 August, we left our one-year rental flat. Fortunately, my girlfriend’s father was already in Japan on that day, so we stayed at his home that night. The following day, we moved to a hotel near the airport.

When you go to the airport, you typically rush to catch a flight or meet friends or relatives travelling to other countries. Staying in a hotel near the airport gave me a different perspective on the airport. I hadn’t realised the airport actually a pleasant place to walk. There’s a gelato shop and a Chinese restaurant that I don’t normally pass by.

20 – 24 August: Kumamoto and Fukuoka

Since we were so busy packing the cardboard boxes for moving to the UK and adjusting our plans due to the potential Nankai megathrust earthquake, we didn’t have time to organise the journey to Kyushu.

We met my girlfriend’s family in Fukuoka, and followed along with them on their trip to Kumamoto. It was my first time travelling to Japan without planning anything, except for the final 2 days.

My girlfriend’s family ended their trip on 23 August, so it was just 2 of us in Fukuoka for the final 2 days. The last time we had been there was in early May, less than 3 months before. There weren’t any must-visit places on our list, and we still hadn’t fully recovered from the exhausting work before flying to Japan. So, we simply took our time and enjoy the wonderful food in Fukuoka.

24 August – 1 September: Sapporo

We initially planned to travel to Hokkaido but changed to Wakayama to accommodate a few days of travel with my girlfriend’s family in Kyushu. We invested most of our planning time researching Wakayama. My friends and colleagues had recommended many places for us to visit.

Unfortunately, a M7.1 earthquake struck in the Hyuga Sea, and the Japanese government issued a “Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information” advisory. This led to the suspension of all trains and activities near the Nankai Trough including Wakayama. To minimise the risk of encountering the earthquake or a tsunami, we cancelled all bookings in Honshu except our flights and booked a new flight to Sapporo – one of the safest place in Japan.

It was our first time taking a domestic flight in Japan. The procedures and restrictions are much more relaxed than those of international flights. You can even bring food and drinks, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic, on board. We were really impressed by how disciplined the Japanese passengers were. The boarding gate opened just 10 minutes before it closed, and the whole boarding process took only 5 minutes.

Since we changed our itinerary just 3 days before flying to Japan, we hadn’t planned much for Sapporo. However, our goal was simple – to take it slow, visiting one place each day. Every evening, we would discuss and decide on the next day’s plans. We visited places we hadn’t seen during our trip in October 2023, like Hokkaido University and Nakajima Park. We explored different coffee shops, tried our first omakase, and even took a local bus tour to Furano, where we had a great conversation with an Indian couple who had lived, studied, and worked in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the UK.

This might be our last trip to Japan before 2025, but we learned and experienced so much during our time in Sapporo.

1 – 2 September: Osaka

After our 9-day journey to Sapporo, we finally reached our last stop. Due to a change in our plans, Osaka ended up being our layover city, where we spent just 1 night. Simple and smooth? Not quite.

Thankfully, the Nankai Trough Earthquake didn’t happen during our visit. However, Typhoon Shanshan affected southern Japan for over a week. Although the typhoon doesn’t affect Sapporo, the Japanese government predicted that the typhoon would hit Osaka on 1 September, the day of our planned flight there.

While in Sapporo, we were concerned that the typhoon might lead to flight disruptions. Checking the flight schedule and typhoon updates became part of our daily routine. We also debated several times whether we should book a direct flight from Sapporo to Hong Kong.

Fortunately, Typhoon Shanshan weakened by 30 August, and the airlines indicated no further cancellations. We managed to fly to Osaka successfully. Despite the rainy weather in Osaka, we felt thankful.

2 – 6 September: Hong Kong

Despite enduring temperature over 32ºC every day and dining at a fast-food restaurant with impolite staff, we cherished a couple of farewell dinners with our families.

On 3 September, Typhoon Yagi approached Hong Kong. While we dodged 2 natural disasters in Japan, we couldn’t escape the third. The Hong Kong Observatory issued Gale or Storm Signal No. 8 the evening before our departure to the UK. Most transportation services would be halted at night. We had no option but to vacate the hotel early and catch the final bus to the airport.

This marked my first experience sleeping in an airport.

6 – 30 September West London

This was my first time travelling to Europe, taking a long-haul flight, relocating to another country, and… Yes, I am now in the UK, facing tons of new things and situations for the first in my lifetime. But I would stop here as I don’t want to turn my blog into another “Life in the UK” blog.

On 30 September, we secured a tenancy and settled into our new home, marking the end of our nomadic lifestyle.

Truly, there are hardly any takeaways from our nomadic journey, as somehow we were forced to become nomads. Learning to pace ourselves is very important. Unlike previous journeys, we reduced the number of places to explore. With fewer steps to walk, my legs didn’t ache in Japan, except for the days after hiking on Mount Aso, Kumamoto.

The time has come to restore normality to our lives. I invested in a gym membership and resumed my weight training. I reached out to local archery clubs to see if I was eligible to join them. I also set up a workspace for my professional work. My reading challenge and blog updates were slipped out since mid-August. This blog post marks the resumption of most of my activities.

While funemployment has been pleasurable, it must come to an end. It’s time to confront the real challenge, and further sharpen my technical and communication (in English) skills.