4th Journey Update: Armand, Motherf***ers, & Nazi Panty Jokes

September 2016

Remembering back in…

September 16, 2015

Japan adventures are behind me, European adventures are ahead:

What a crazy amazingly fantastic phenomenal year it’s been!

I left Japan in August 2015 with this crazy idea to create a café for expats. It would be a sanctuary for traveling souls who perhaps love coffee and breakfast as much as I do, but more importantly, who want to feel like they’ve returned home. Only, I hadn’t any experience in or knowledge about opening a cafe. Thus, I decided to start this #internationalcoffeejourney in Europe, where over the next year, I explored the cafe scene and breakfast choices of several European countries. None of this would have been possible without the help from my new-found friends and the support from my friends & family around the world. For that, I am forever grateful. Each place I visited and each person I met taught me a little more about this awesome world and the beautiful people who live within it.

This past year…

I’ve had incredible once-in-a-lifetime experiences: I’ve wandered the streets of London at night, overcome my fear of being alone, learned a little more about myself, driven cross-countries with strangers, slept on many couches, danced until the sun came up, fallen in love and broken a few hearts, started a small social media empire, witnessed institutionalized racism, benefited from white privilege, started some bad habits, started some positive habits, eaten sheep guts, become vegetarian (well, pescetarian technically because… sushi!), taken a few barista courses, received numerous job rejections, packed then, repacked my bags, and I’ve even seen some crazy, effed-up things; so bad I can only tell you about them in person, and you must swear not to tell my mother, haha. #ZeroRegrets

Fast forward one year…

European adventures are behind me, Café adventures are ahead:

September 16, 2016

I have negative funds, but as everyone knows, money will come and go, but experiences will last forever. I’m back in Paris, and I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life; a chapter that is a little more stable. I’ll still be living out of my suitcase because a seasoned traveler is always ready to leave without a moment’s notice, but this time around I can hang up a few of my favourite dresses in the closet and leave my toothbrush near the sink. After 6 months of scouring the cafe scene in Paris, I’ve finally secured a job as a barista & roaster at Direction Coffee – a third-wave, hipster-style café; the brainchild of Columbus Café & Co. – a 2^nd wave, Starbucks-style institution, and training starts tomorrow (Sept 26)!

行きましょう！！！

As always, thank you for reading and joining me on this #internationalcoffeejourney

I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had the courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils.

Charlotte Bronte