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I’m in the home stretch now and it’s only 26 days until I becoming a traveling photographer/businessman, independent from the world and dependent on my own skills. It took me a while but I finally decided on a date. All my procrastinating on when to leave had to come to a halt when I looked over some of my previous posts and realized I was ignoring my own advice, make a decision and act or you will never reach your goal.
Whats been done
This last week I’ve been busy, just like the week before that, but I feel I’ve made a few big steps forward. I finally buckled down and bought a camera I had been considering for the last couple months, the Canon 50D (15mpixel semi-pro level digital SLR), with the money I had received from selling my TV. Some people might question such a large expenditure so close to departure but I knew that I was getting close to the limits of my 4 year old Rebel XT (an 8mpixel intro level digital SLR) and for what I want to do it just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. I realize that it is not the camera that makes the picture and the photographer is the key to any memorable work but having a good set of tools never hurts and if I am going to become a traveling photographer and try to sell some of my work I want the best I can afford (and understand).
The next thing was taking the time to go through my house packing stuff I wanted to keep and throwing out stuff that really didn’t matter. It took about 5 hours total but as I ground to a finish with 7 bags of garbage waiting to be taken out I looked at the two medium sized boxes sitting in my bedroom and was a bit stunned. Two boxes, one filled with books and the other loosely packed with nick-knacks, represented 5 years of living (I’m not counting the 250 or so novels in my downstairs room that I plan to give away and sell). It also made me wonder a bit, where had my money gone?
The last big thing was finally contacting my housing company (as mentioned above) and negotiating with them my early release from contract. I admit that as I dialed their number I was a bit nervous. In almost all of my dealings with Japanese companies to date it has been a rather painful drawn out process involving many ‘face-palm’ moments. As me and the pleasant female voice conversed I explained that due to unexpected circumstances I would have to leave Kyoto rather soon and unfortunately have to end my contract before the set date. She demurred and we went back and forth about paying the full rent for April (when I was not going to be there). Finally, in a polite tone, she said that she would have to consult with some superiors and would be sending a fax through with a form to cancel my contract. About ten minutes later a fax came through with a short note. ‘We understand your difficult circumstances and will let you out of your contract early with no penalties. For staying an extra 5 days to move out in April we ask that you only pay 10,000yen. Is this acceptable?‘ Darn skippy it was. Another hurdle jumped in my quest to become traveling photographer.
26 days and counting
Time is short and there is still a lot to do. My parents are in town for the next 2 weeks which makes things a bit more complicated but in a good way. The fact that my parents have made this pilgrimage to see me not once, but twice, makes me feel pretty special.
In less then 30 days all the preparation of the last 4 or 5 months will come to fruition and I will be on the road, the Tramp Royal.
As a last note I cannot recommend this book enough to people who are about to set out on a journey of any kind. To me it has been a great inspiration and a source of knowledge. Please check it out. You may not be able to get it from this link but find it somewhere. You can check out other books by Brian Tracy but this one I think is his best.
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