I spent the New Year in Hawaii.
The day after going to RIZIN on New Year's Eve, I was on a plane abroad. (I wrote the previous RIZIN blog on the outbound flight.)
It was my first time in Hawaii.
Still, I had a weird confidence that Hawaii would suit me.
That's because, even on domestic trips, I don't really want to be out and about in a busy way while traveling.
Scheduling everything — go here at this time, then go there next — is something I'm truly bad at. It drains me.
If a friend I'm traveling with is the type who plans tightly and wants to see everything because it's a precious trip, it gets pretty stressful, so I either don't go with that type or we completely go our separate ways.
(This time it was a close friend of ten years who knows my personality well, so there was no stress at all.)
Bottom line: Hawaii was incredible.
I spent maybe eight hours a day just looking at the ocean.
Walk, drink, talk while looking at the sea, sleep, wake up — and repeat.
Hawaii itself has a morning culture — cafés and supermarkets open early, and there are lots of people exercising. It feels healthy.
As for drinks, I was mostly on Japanese beer. Overseas draft beer, Heineken, Corona, Budweiser — that kind of stuff doesn't suit me. Even allowing for travel mood, I can't drink more than two.
(For some reason I remembered my Iranian landlord during study abroad saying Budweiser tastes terrible — as bad as piss. After that I got into a fight with that landlord, so if anything I'm Team Budweiser.)
I like Asahi, so I bought as much as I could at convenience stores and drank looking at the ocean from the hotel room. Places that had Japanese beer in restaurants and bars mostly had Kirin. It was striking how Kirin had the Hawaii crown.
(※ When the conversation turns to "what's your favorite beer?", I often talk as if it's already settled that Asahi is the best. I think the best one is already decided. My friend who came with me said Premium Malts. Impossible. Doesn't your mood drop the moment it's Premium Malts at an izakaya?)
Prices in Hawaii feel very high — partly because Japan is too cheap. For breakfast, once you add drinks to the food, two people can easily hit about $40 (around ¥5,000).
For meals I mostly ate hamburgers and steak. The hamburgers were good.
But you could probably find similarly good food in Japan too.
Hamburgers and steak aside, Japanese and Chinese food are definitely better eaten in Japan.
(On the last day I had miso soup at the hotel breakfast buffet and felt weirdly reassured — if you like miso soup, maybe bring some.)
Anyway, that's enough of this thin travelogue. I really only looked at the ocean, so I don't have much to report.
There were many moments when I felt happy.
Basically, it was while looking at the ocean, and while walking, I think.
Of course the scenery and the special feeling of travel were part of it — but what those moments shared was the sense that I could use time freely, without other people's interference. That's when I felt happiness.
Being able to use time the way you want is truly important and fortunate in life.
Put the other way: anything that forces you to sacrifice that had better have a huge return, or you shouldn't do it. Extremely put, "push yourself while you're young for the future" over a 10- or 20-year span is not something you should just endure — and if you do, it only balances out if it's a big goal you've clearly set yourself.
So this isn't "set a goal." It's: protect time you can control. Don't waste it on things you don't value, and don't give it away for foolish other people.
Stop investing valuable time in an unclear future.
If you invest, properly estimate the future value of that prospect.
© 2024 ZUUHE