Art By Tali Landsman

We are traveling light to see the snow monkeys in Nagano prefecture, Japan. We have left our heavy bags at the apartment we've rented in Sapporo, and taken only a tiny day pack each.  In my airy, light backpack I carry a book, my iPad, a camera, a phone, a charger, our passports and wallets. For toiletries, I have a hair conditioner, a disposable hairbrush, a natural stone deodorant, a disposable toothbrush and a small bottle of Jojoba oil. I plan to use the Jojoba oil as a multipurpose leave-in hair oil, face cream, hand cream and lip balm. We each have a change of clothes and one pair of good walking shoes. We will be staying in Onsen hot spring hotels where they provide guests with shampoo and personal scrubbing towels to use in the baths, and yukatas (casual kimonos) to wear as well as sandals or slippers. We are making a small pilgrimage to the Japanese Alps to see the snow monkeys in their forested natural habitat in Nagano. After an overnight stay in Nagano city, we took the...

                                                                                            Our summer in Japan has come to an end. We finished our studies at the Hokkaido Japanese Language school, and said our sad goodbyes to our lovely and devoted teachers, and the friends we've made while we've been here. There is now a distinct chill in the air in Sapporo. When we arrived here two months ago, we wore t-shirts and rode our bikes to school. Now the bikes are parked by our apartment and we wear heavy scarfs, hats and gloves when we go for walks, braving the rain and the autumn winds. The autumn colors are beautiful. The ginkgo and maple trees are glowing with beautiful reds and golds. We use our free time to take day trips to some of the many Onsens (hot sprin...