Why do I want to get a Working Holiday Visa for Japan?

There’s a bunch of reasons, most of which are completely disconnected, so I will attempt to make this as coherent as possible.

Ok, so.

1. I did a WHV before, to Australia. I lived and travelled there for the whole of 2015. I was just 21 when I arrived, incomprehensibly young and naive. It was undoubtedly one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I really stepped out of my comfort zone. However, if I’m honest, I kind of freaked out the entire time. I was riddled with doubts about whether what I was doing was the right thing and whether I was truly enjoying it – not to mention my lack of self esteem. I loved Australia though and never wished I was back home in the UK. I think this time round, I would be a lot more relaxed about the whole thing, and hopefully enjoy it even more!

   

2. I’ve visited Japan twice now and I am completely in love with the country. The food, the culture, the history, the cities, the countryside, the architecture, the media, the people… what’s not to love? I always talked about taking Japanese lessons and finally this year I went ahead and enrolled in a class. It quickly became one of the highlights of my week. I’m still very much a beginner but I’ve found it so fulfilling and enjoyable to make the effort to learn a language and more about the country!

   

3. Since coming back from Japan last May I’ve said that moving there was part of my 5 year plan. But when in the next five years? When would be the perfect time? What exactly am I waiting for? Last weekend I was complaining to a friend about my job. He just pulled a face and said “I don’t understand why you don’t just move there now.” I had nothing to say in response to that! I’m not convinced about getting a corporate 9 to 5 job akin to what I do now in London out there – that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. A WHV sounds perfect – the emphasis is on travel and exploration. I can always do the more formal career move later if I’m serious about living there long term.

   

4. My life in London is pretty good. It’s all very stable and comfortable. My job isn’t too demanding, I can be as social as I like, I get chance to travel and so on. It’s all very settled. However, I’m also certain that if I extracted myself from it for a year, nothing major would have changed when I came back,. I could probably more or less walk back into a similar job, living situation etc. So while I’ll no doubt suffer from some FOMO, there are hardly any drawbacks to not being around for a bit.

   

5. If last year taught me anything, it’s that you don’t know how long you have on this Earth. You also don’t know how long the people you care for have either. While my family is in good health, it seems like a good time to have my year away. Who knows what the future could bring?

That’s more or less how and why I’ve come to my decision. I’m currently thinking I’ll head out next May when the lease on my flat ends. This gives me some time to save up some more money and plan exactly what I want to do with my year. First step – get the visa approved! Once I’m back in London for a few weeks that’s the first thing I’ll do (my job has had me working in Poland the past few months).

I’ll of course keep the blog updated with all the latest developments =D