I really dislike Spring.

Due to hay fever, for this entire season I feel like I'm just on the edge of being ill. I have managed to get through it with the use of medicine but I would much rather not have to do this.

This does not stop me however. I still try to get out and maintain my fitness and mental health through cycling. Hitting the mountains whenever I can.

I don't want anything to stop me, and it's not going to.

I've been using cycling as a way to keep my mind and mental balance. I love it. Tokushima is a great place to go cycling. You can go down major roads with very little elevation change, or into the mountains to be as hardcore as you want. It's perfect in every way.

I've always been a computer person. Ever since University, I have been using a computer for just about everything. My handwriting is terrible! I was almost unable to read it myself, which defeats the purpose.

So I decided to start writing a journal. In pen. Daily.

At first it was quite hard. My writing wasn't good and my hands hurt. But, day by day, things have improved and I'm quite happy I started.

The plus side of writing a journal is that it allows you to write down the things that you would normally just have flowing around in your head. Good and bad things, once put down on paper, seem to become less of a problem or issue. It's an amazing side effect of this.

Do you journal?

I’ve been in Japan long enough now to have experienced enough summers to have gained a fairly good understanding of what “normally” happens in summer to know that what we’ve seen this year is rather extraordinary. Record temperatures followed by record breaking typhoons. Maybe it’s time we looked at this differently and started looking for solutions rather than just blame. Ok, rant over.

My year on the bike is going well. I have just passed 26,000 kilometers. My goal im is reachable but still not going to be easy.

Home can mean many things to many people. For some, it's where they grew up. For others it's the place where their parents reside. For me, it's where I am right now. My family live in many different places and it's hard to pin down exactly where and what. The house where I grew up is no longer owned by my family, so that's gone. My parents new house is not familiar to me. But, here I am, with my own family, living in my own home. Where's your home?