I haven't been the most active on here as far as posting goes in a fair bit, so I'm not really writing to let watchers know that I'm not going to be active; I'm mostly just posting this to let artists know that I will be less responsive through the end of the calendar year and why that will be the case. But, since not all of them watch me, I can only hope they'll snoop my profile a bit and actually read this, lol. I also just want to put this down on paper - so to speak - so others can see a bit about who I am as a person.

Going to Japan has been a long-time dream of mine, but I'm not really the type to take time off of work unless I have a good reason, so this is all very new to me. I also haven't been super keen on figuring out the logistics of booking accommodations and travel and all of that, but I keep seeing and hearing so many friends inspired by their own trips to japan that I figured I've done enough waiting at this point... that and my PTO (and other collection of worked days off) has passed the point of maxxed-out and then some.

I'll throw my main travel location itinerary down here in case anybody's interested in seeing where I'll be as well as in case anybody I know is gonna be on-location at the same time to say hi. In the latter case, I can't guarantee I'll be free as I probably planned too much on some days in particular, but I'll figure all that out when I'm there.

tokyo: nov 14 - nov 18
nikko: nov 19
tokyo: nov 20
kawagoe: nov 21
tokyo: nov 22
shiroishi: nov 23
tokyo: nov 24 - nov 25
toyokawa: nov 26
obara: nov 27
nagoya: nov 28
osaka: nov 29 - nov 30
himeji: dec 1
okayama: dec 2
matsuyama: dec 3
osaka: dec 4
nara: dec 5
kyoto: dec 6 - dec 8
arashiyama: dec 9
kyoto: dec 10
kanazawa: dec 11 - dec 12
tokyo: dec 13
tohoku: dec 14
tokyo: dec 15

I also have a Navitime itinerary that I can pass out to people more interested in saying hi or grabbing a meal together to see if schedules permit. Give me a nudge if you're interested in seeing that.


Lastly, another part of the push for this trip is because I've been eager to leave the United States for many years now. Living as a black man in this country is detrimental to one's mental and physical health (as it unfortunately is with most places in the world), and I'm hoping this trend of travel will give me a glimpse into how people live in other places to help me search-out a spot I'd like to be elsewhere in the world. As such, I've also registered for my first international con - NFC 2026. This will be added alongside my usuals of FC, LVFC, and FWA for 2026. Hopefully I'll see some of you around! :>