A short trip in March brought me back to Japan which we stopped over at during our previous travels. This visit though provided me with a different perspective and a newfound appreciation for the land of the rising sun. Typically I’d have avoided travelling during this period as late winter/early spring meant cooler temperatures that I don’t quite enjoy as much.

However being dressed in the appropriate gear made the experience tons better. On the invite of my friends, we jetted off to Nozawaonsen in Nagoya prefecture for a ski trip just before the season drew to a close in end March. Even though we had some practice on the snow simulator back home, the experience on real powder knocked out the confidence in us.

Thankfully on my friend’s advice, we took up a full day of private lesson and were soon shredding slopes albeit amateurishly and at laughable speeds (rewatching ourselves on video saw other skiers and snowboarders breezed past us). Nonetheless, completing a beginner’s run felt like a real achievement although it was not without tumbles and a stubbed toe still bruised till today.

Looking back, I’m glad that we joined the trip even though we were a little apprehensive initially as we were the newbies among the lot. But it turned out to be pretty manageable as the instructor put us through the paces and got us up to speed so that we can independently take on the slopes without jitters or being a liability to my friends the next day.

The novelty of trying out a new sport in a foreign land also challenged my conventional style of travelling. Had my friends not have invited us along for the trip, I don’t think I’d have ventured into a frigid locale for vacation, much less slip on skis and allow myself to barrel down the slopes of a mountain at frightening speeds without any safety barriers in sight.