Fast forward to 2021
I graduated from Pacific University in 2014 with a double Bachelor’s in Anthropology and Japanese Studies. I worked for a non-profit agency supporting Intercultural Communication by hosting Japanese college students in Portland, Oregon. We wrote and planned a program that would take these college students to various locations in the area that represented a stage in American life. They stayed a month, learning visiting places like the Nike Campus daycare, Cannon Beach for Smores on the beach, and pre arranged homestays with American families. But it was a temp job (with low pay) and real job prospects using the language were slim in Portland, Oregon. I fell into a retail management job in 2015 and went from content to misery quickly. I walked away from my last shop, knowing the universe gave me the absolute worst possible place to work so I would truly understand I didn’t belong in that world. I spoke Japanese one time in all of my time in retail management, and I was very quick to tell anyone who listened that it had been over 20 years since my last trip to Japan, and there wasn’t a single day I didn’t think about going back. My children were almost fully grown, I had spent the past 23 years parenting, unable to find the time or funds to return.
In 2021, my friend posted pictures on social media about her job as a tour guide. I inquired with her, “What are you doing and how do I do this?” She recommended a tour director certification program in NYC called TripSchool. I didn’t know much about it or the job, but I knew I did want to travel, and I had never been to NYC, and I definitely wanted to go. So I took a vacation, and on that vacation, I took some classes. Until I left, I was unsure about guiding, as it seemed the industry was focused on student tours on the East Coast. But I knew the job I had was not the job for me, so I left. “Leap, and the net will appear,” echoed in my ears. My same friend who referred me to TripSchool then referred me to a couple of local tour operators, and I quickly found myself leading tours to Multnomah Falls, the Oregon Coast, Mt Hood, Wine Country, and downtown Portland. I quickly started to establish a network in the industry and found myself getting repeat gigs from Midwestern Tour Operators.
When I was at TripSchool Boot Camp, I expressed my desire to work in my hometown and eventually guide in Japan, my beloved and sorely missed second home. I was told international guiding isn’t an easy world to break into, and that it probably was a bit niave to think I would find something anytime soon. But I knew I would find a way. My same friend (seriously, my ANGEL!) messaged me with an amazing opportunity. She works for a British tour operator that sells cruises, and pre/post cruise excursions. She meets their guests on the east coast and they do various tours before she puts her guests on the cruise ship. This company was looking for a guide in Japan, and she told them while she doesn’t know anyone in Japan, she knows someone on the west coast of the USA, that would be a perfect fit.
Next thing I know, I am in negotiations with the British tour operator and receiving a guest list and itinerary. I am scrambling to get a renewed passport expedited and buying a suitcase for the first time in 20 years. The next few years would be a wonderful blur of multiple trips, with different itineraries, challenges, and amazing guests! Temples, shrines, blistering humid heat, snowy walks, kaiseki food and onsen, Shibuya scramble and Meiji Jingu, we explored my beloved Japan.