It felt fantastic to be on the road again. Somehow when I have my huge backpack strapped to my back, I just feel so…free. Free to experience new things, to go new places, to meet new people. Not tied down by anyone’s schedule but my own. It’s a very distinct feeling, and on that November 30th, after signing the final severance papers with my former Japanese employer, I felt it for the first time in probably half a year.
I also felt one other feeling that day.
Starvation.
I’d been running around trying to get so much done that before I knew it dinner time had come, and all I’d “eaten” since the evening before was a McFlurry. But I was on my way to Hakata, the Ramen capital of Japan, so I decided to tough it out for just a little bit longer. It was a quest for the perfect meal – a steaming hot bowl of Ichiran Ramen, prepared just the way I like it. I decided that I wouldn’t accept anything else. My own little Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Justin Goes To Ichiran.
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