A couple days ago, I went on a little snowboarding trip with two of my good friends.

My friend who was planning found a really good package deal that included a one night and two day stay at the Prince Hotel with breakfast, full snowboarding gear rentals, and round-trip bullet train tickets from Tokyo station to Echigo Yuzawa station. All under 30,000yen! 


When we got there it was a LOT colder than Tokyo and the weather was a little gloomy, but we got excited when we saw the snowy mountains. We checked in early, rested a little, and headed out in our snowboard wear. 

I was a little nervous because it had been over a year since I last snowboarded. But as soon as we reached the top of the mountain and the cold, crisp air hit my face, I could only think about speeding down the hill! 

I was a little rusty, but cautiously gliding down I started to get comfortable. I tried going faster and faster which led to many embarrassing falls, but we all had a blast! We were there til past 8pm and I got to experience my first night snowboarding. After closing time, we ended the night with some pizza and headed to the onsen in the hotel. 

I love love love onsens in Japan. If you’ve never been to one, it may be a bit awkward at first, but I’m sure you’ll soon find yourself wanting to go all the time. I honestly believe there is nothing more relaxing than soaking up in a giant, nice hot bath after a couple of sauna sessions. 

While I was in the onsen I was able to forget about everything that was currently going on in my life. My mind was blank and I felt so happy. It was almost like meditating. 

Living in such a busy city like Tokyo where everyone and everything is constantly running around you, it’s easy to feel lost or stressed. I always feel stressed out by tasks I must complete before a certain deadline, all the errands I must run on my days off, the people I must meet, the places I must go. My mind is constantly focused on my future and how I could reach my goals faster. Which is not a bad thing, but can be very tiring. 

I would often get upset about not having enough time for myself or for the things I want to do. So I was a little surprised sitting in the onsen when I thought about how I didn’t do anything work related for an entire day and was able to enjoy spending time with my friends. I didn’t HAVE to stress myself out everyday like I did. That it was okay to relax and unwind once in awhile. Because if I didn’t, I would probably burn out sooner or later.

And I believe this doesn’t just apply to me, it applies to everyone no matter how busy they are. You might think a single bath or a day trip outside of tokyo might not have that much of an impact and I totally agree because not everyone has the same interests. Some may say watching a game on tv is their happiest time or eating a nice meal at a nice restaurant. Whatever it is, don’t over think it. Don’t think that you could be using your time more wisely than treating yourself because that is EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT. That little time you allow yourself to have will help you stay motivated and focused resulting in being more productive later! Rather than over working your brain and body until you have no energy left JUST TREAT YO SELF! You’ll feel happier and more content with life I promise.

“Sit, relax, breathe… There are 1440 minutes in one day, so taking 5 of those minutes to re-energize will not be the end of the world.”

Terra 🙂