In June of 2013 I moved from NYC to Tokyo. It’s pretty hard to leave a city like New York.

There’s a vibrance I feel just walking down the street. It’s packed with people from all over the globe, focused. Driven. Rushing. It seems like everyone has a purpose, a goal.

The colossal skyscrapers, the culture, the subcultures, the food, everything about New York is a daily reminder of how insignificant I am to this world. It humbles me and I always want to do more. See more. Be more.

I go to sleep every night and ask New York: “Was I enough for you today? Did I live up to your standards?”…and drift off, thinking about what more I could’ve done that day. Mentally notating, so I can accomplish what I missed during the next day.

New York drives me to always be the best version of me.

This year, I reached a cross-roads and what I loved so much about New York started weighing me down. I craved a change of pace. A release, from the city that demanded so much from me. That I constantly wanted to please — needed to please.

In April I visited Tokyo for 10 days. It was the first time in six years, I stepped back into Japan. I was captivated.

Tokyo, is bustling but not noisy. Busy, yet there is order. There is conformity but the city is so large, so diverse, there is room to be different.

Tokyo has everything I love about a big city and more. It’s convenient. Clean. There are pockets of old within new and new within old. There are so many layers, so much history and every day I make a new discovery.

Tokyo constantly delights me. Surprises me. Catches me off guard. There are so many things that make zero sense. So much quirkiness. Tokyo keeps me on my toes, yet it is peaceful. Non-confrontational. Passive yet aggressive. Just like the people. My culture. My roots.

I am at ease in Tokyo.

There will always be a part of me that yearns for New York. Will always yearn for New York, but Tokyo stole my heart. It is my true love. And home, is where your heart is.

ただいま、東京。