My story

In 2016-2018 I lived in a tiny 676 person village in the mountains of Tokushima, teaching English as a JET.

Coming into rural Japan with no Japanese was a bit unnerving. The way I integrated was totally random: soft volleyball with the villagers. I went to every practice (our team pictured here). It didn’t take long to feel accepted by the community. Anyone who has travelled extensively knows: shared experience is much more bonding than shared language.



Tasting success

Like many country bumpkins, I craved the bright city lights.

I moved to Tokyo, determined to “make it” on my own.

Within ~4 years I was making 10x my JET salary and living on the 19th story overlooking Tokyo tower. At least on paper, I had found success.

I smiled, but deep down, I felt disconnected from my purpose. I felt numb when I should’ve felt happy or sad. Eventually, it turned to anger.

Somehow in the village, I was much happier with much less.

So I made a change.

My ‘holy shit’ moment

I left Japan to backpack around the world to reconnect with myself.

Along the way, I went on a 10 day silent retreat (Vippassana), worked with a brilliant life coach (Bill Ao), and interned with a permaculture farmer named Patrick.

One day, I was carrying goat poop up a hill with Patrick and I had a life-changing, realization: “Holy Shit, I feel so alive.” The sweat, the smell, the scenary, the inner peace, the purpose, the connection to the earth.

I was fully grounded again.

That seemingly unremarkable memory became a guiding light.

Redefining success

Thanks to coaching, meditation, and farming, I found a core purpose: Enjoy my life, and help others.

Enjoying my life means: feeling alive, freedom to plan my day, working outside, surfing, learning, and building something meaningful. These days I’m especially working on living sustainably and deepening my meditation practice.

Helping others means: life coaching to help others reconnect with themselves, volunteering in the community, and sharing my story. I’m not here to tell others how they should live their life, but if they aren’t satisfied, I want to help them redefine success.

I hope everyone can come join me at some point to experience the warmth and peace of natural living in the countryside.