blog — When Home is Now Here

Exploring Cambodia

I spent most of the month of June traveling to Cambodia and Vietnam with a couple of friends. We did very little pre-planning...

travel, asiaSarah HarperAugust 28, 2014cambodia, travel, summerComment

Grant's Eat, Pray, Love in Northern Japan

After taking in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, we took the shinkansen, or bullet train, to Misawa for the more scenic half of Grant's trip.

asia, travelSarah HarperAugust 8, 2014japan, festival, summerComment

Elephants & Tigers, Oh Chiang Mai!

Before Mark deployed, we traveled to Thailand for a two-week getaway. We spent the first half of the vacation in Chiang Mai, and the last half in Phuket.

travel, asiaSarah HarperApril 27, 2014thailand, travelComment

Rokkasho Salmon Festival

In the past year, I have found myself doing things I never thought I would do in a million years. Things like coming face to face with my fears...

asia, travelSarah HarperJanuary 26, 2014japan, festival, fallComment

Big Ass Bali Adventure

At the beginning of September, my friend Maggie and I went to Bali for a week of awesomeness.

travel, asiaSarah HarperJanuary 2, 2014summer, travel, bali, foodComment

Welcome to Hell

When my parents came to visit, we took them to Osorezan, otherwise known as Fear Mountain or the Gates of Hell, one of the three most holy places in Japan.

asia, travelSarah HarperNovember 3, 2013japan, fallComment

Beef & Garlic Festival

Hi friends. So can we talk about the BEST festival in all of Japan, possibly even the world? We can? I knew you'd feel that way.

asia, travelSarah HarperOctober 7, 2013food, japan, fall, festivalComment

Obon & Big Buddha

Last week was Obon, one of the biggest holidays in Japan. It is a weeklong celebration in which the Japanese honor relatives who have passed on to the afterlife.

asia, travelSarah HarperAugust 24, 2013summer, japanComment

Akita Kanto Festival

The summer festivals have started, which tend to be much more boisterous and flashy than the others throughout the year.

asia, travelSarah HarperAugust 16, 2013japan, festival, summerComment

More Cherry Blossoms

ll the festivals have begun, as the spring has slowly began to fade into summer. But before getting into the crazy of summer, and it is pretty crazy, I wanted to share the cherry blossoms from Hirosaki Castle.

asia, travelSarah HarperJune 15, 2013festival, spring, japan, foodComment

Spring Has Sprung!

It's finally spring in Misawa! The winter actually wasn't as horrible as everyone made it sound, but leave to the Alaskans to be unimpressed.

asia, travelSarah HarperMay 24, 2013spring, japan, festivalComment

Nightmares Take Flight

But the most notable happening has been our accidental discovery of Kabushima...or more commonly known as Seagull Island.

asia, travelSarah HarperApril 23, 2013spring, japan, foodComment

Frosty Weasel

This past weekend was Frosty Weasel, a huge three-day ski trip to Appi Kogen. Our neighbor was in charge of planning the trip, so needless to say, we signed up.