My Road Adventure to Okinawa

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I was inspired to read about Karyn of www.savekaryn.com and how she changed from a compulsive shopper who ran up a credit card debt of $20,000 to a thrifty and frugal person. So I want to share with you my recent adventure to Okinawa, and how little money I spent on this trip and returned home with more money in my pocket than when I left. Any extra money that I can save I like to give to my fellow missionary friends in poor countries, like to Josh and Lydia's work in Ukraine for example.

On August 10, 2002 I began a journey from Niigata Japan all the way down to the island of Okinawa. It took me 4 days to travel over approximately 2100 Km or 1300 miles one way.

The purpose of this trip was to help the members of my Christian fellowship, The Family, teaching them computer basics and fixing their Windows problems. Most of them were still using Windows 98 so there were plenty of problems to fix.

My first stop was Kobe, a city just to the west of Osaka. You may remember that Kobe was devastated by an earthquake in 1995. It took just three rides on the expressway to get there. This is pretty good for 600Km or 400 miles. I stayed in Kobe for two days then went another 600 KM to the city of Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu. This is where I met the lovely person you see on the right. Her name is River. She is a new convert to the faith of Jesus and had dedicated her life one year ago to serve God and others!

After Fukuoka I hitchhiked in two rides to the city of Kumamoto where I met French David and his lovely Japanese wife, Liberty.

They have 8 children and one kid. Only 6 children are shown in the photo. Yours truly is holding the kid. There are 2 adult goats also on the premises. David took me camping in Oita prefecture where I spent a night in a tent. The next morning we went swimming in a cool mountain stream.

The next morning I hitchhiked to Kagoshima where I stayed with Jonathan and Sarah. I spent 5 days teaching Sarah computer. Kagoshima has an active volcano called Sakurajima. It used to be an island but an eruption made a land bridge to the mainland. This photo is not clickable.

After that I boarded a boat for Okinawa. Here's a sunset scene from the boat.

Japanese school girls in front of the sunset scene.

I arrived to Okinawa on August 24. Here's a typical beach -- clean and white -- quite unlike the rest of Japan. The folks here took me snorkeling once during the week I was here. The water was so warm and clear with colorful small fish swimming within reach.

But I was not on vacation! My hosts, Gabe and Honey sponsored the round trip boat ride from Kagoshima specifically so that I could teach them computer basics.

Here is Joan from Singapore (left) Honey and Mike on the right. Mike is around 20. He has newly dedicated his life to serve God and help his fellow man find a happy life of service and fulfillment.

The day before before leaving Okinawa, I visited Johnny and Joan and their 4 children. Johnny is a musician and a disk jockey working at a local FM radio station.

In the far right photo, Johnny's wife Joan is the front, the second from the left next to Honey. Third from the left is unknown but the lady on the right is Crystal from Germany. I haven't seen her in at least 10 years.

The total cost of the 3 week 4200KM or 2600 mile trip was less than $85. I had to spend some money for food, drink and a couple short train rides.

I only go where I am invited and welcomed. There are many more people and areas I would like to visit and would love to have me over but for lack of time I have to postpone those trips.

The chief reason I love to hitchhike in Japan is not only to save money but to meet people. Many Japanese folks who pick me up hitchhiking are professional people. This trip I met two scientists and one doctor. All agreed there had to be something more to the creation of life and the universe than mere chance. Though teaching about God is not part of their education, many honest people can concede what they call the God factor being the reason and rhyme how matter and life came to be.

I really ask Jesus for His protection while traveling as some Japanese like to speed. This trip one driver drove the fastest ever in my hitchhike experience: 175KPH or 109MPH. If he gets caught at that speed he could lose his drivers license for life according to Japanese law! I see people caught all the time. It's a wonder that the car who picks me up never gets stopped by the cops.

Once when I was 19 I took my brother's 450 CC Kawasaki motorcycle on a Chicago expressway up to 220 KPH or about 140 MPH! I promise you that I'll never do that again!

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