36 Hour Car Ferry
I’ve decided to start writing these somewhat daily blogs to help keep a track of my life over the next few months, no idea if I’m going to be publishing them or anything but I suppose if you’re reading this it means I have. My original plan was to try the much more modern and popular TikTok influencer route but I’ve been reliably informed that just ‘isn’t me’, though I plan on including a few snaps and maybe the occasional video to keep things lively. Today (03/04/2025) seemed like a good time to start off documenting my life, not least because as of 10am this morning I was exactly half way through a 36 hour car ferry Journey from Tomakomi (in Hokkaido) to Nagoya (a bit below Tokyo) but also because I’ve now finished my ski season in Niseko and for the first time ever I’m travelling alone, in a van, in Japan.
For some context my plan for the next few months is to travel and sleep (most of the time) in my Nissan Serena Highway Star 8 seater van that I bought for about £1,700 back in January whilst on the ski season in Niseko. Since them I’ve been amassing a collection of camping bits as well as a mattress that fits snugly over the back seats if you fold them all flat and makes for a pretty comfortable bed. I’ve got a small gas stove and some basic cooking bits for making meals on the go, but I will need to stock up at supermarkets of convenience stores fairly often as space in the car is limited. Thankfully there is no shortage of either of those in Japan. I still have all my ski gear which is a bit of a pain but I’m hoping to pick up some rope tomorrow and come up with some way of fastening the skis to the ceiling of the car to keep them out the way. The rest of the boots, helmet, skins and clothes I think will fit under the bed – I’ll post a couple of pictures of this once I hopefully get it sorted.
The alone part of my travels began yesterday at the very American feeling port town of Tomakomi, I asked ChatGPT for some things to do but aside from a small shrine in the North of the town it didn’t manage very much other than ‘it’s an industrial transit town known for its ferry terminal’. Not deterred by this I spent a couple hours wandering around town before coming across a Don Quiote and DCM (worth a google if you haven’t seen what these sell before, they’re crazy). I then walked past what looked like a very innocent book store which, to my surprise, turned out to be just of row upon row of DVD Porn and sex toys, something you’d more expect to see in the shining lights of Akihabara than a run-down industrial town (Who even has a DVD player anymore?). I made my way back out of the surprisingly busy porn shop and headed for the much safer isles of the nearest 7 11 where I stocked up on snacks for the 36 hour ferry ride that lay ahead of me.
I boarded the ferry with the car, after double checking it was in fact going to Nagoya, dropped my bag in my Economy class C Western style room and began a walk around the boat. There were all the usual amenities you’d expect – restaurant, a small shop, vending machines, showers and additionally being of Japanese design there was also a Karaoke room and Onsen (public bath). I was exhausted so hit the onsen and went straight to bed at about 8PM, a wild first night solo travelling I know.
This morning I woke up feeling much better but discovered I’d missed breakfast and the shop was shut so I went hungry until lunch opened at 12PM. This afternoon I did some serious admin, asking for money off people who owed me as well as paying people I owed and even filing my VAT return for the company I run back in the UK. I hit the onsen again, which was a little more difficult than yesterday because the sea was much rougher and the water in each of the hot bathing pools was sloshing around with the ocean. This wouldn’t have been an issue if it was just me but being the only white person and sharing the tub with 4 other older, naked, Japanese men did cause me to have one of those self-reflection moments of how exactly I ended up in this situation – luckily I tried out some of my broken Japanese ‘hatsui des nei?’ which seemed to get a chuckle out of the locals.
After this I headed to the buffet dinner at the restaurant but there was no signal and all the signs were in Japanese so unfortunately I can’t tell you what I ate but it was pretty decent – certainly a lot better than the crap you get on P&O Ferries.
That pretty much brings us to me being sat here on the second floor of the sort of lobby area now writing this, there’s a screening of some Japanese film starting in the lounge at 9.30PM I want to make it to so will report back on that tomorrow. Oh and did I mention I’m going to the F1 this weekend?
