Hey, everybody! Reader here.

We’re deep into February, and we’ve managed to make it through the nasty cold snap that made it a royal pain in the arse just to step outside.

While it was so gross outside, lots of people were jumping on a plane and heading for warmer destinations. In fact, my brother Ward, his wife Aimee, and their daughters Abbie and Brynn, recently flew down to Mexico over the February break. I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures and videos of their voyage.

Seeing that, and highlights of trips taken by my friends, is giving me the itch to travel, though my travel budget isn’t exactly through the roof! Anywhere I go, will pretty much have to be within driving distance.

As far as my dream vacation destination? It’s not somewhere tropical.

I’d actually love to go to Japan!

I don’t know what it is exactly that captured my imagination about the Land of the Rising Sun. Whe I was a kid, my brothers and I had a set of Time-Life books about the different countries of the world. And I found myself pulling the book about Japan off the bookshelf again and again, poring over the pictures, and thinking it was the coolest place in the world.

I mean, watch a bit of this video, and you’ll see that there’s such contrast within the country. From beautiful nature scenes to unreal cityscapes, there’s so much to see and do!

Over the years, seeing movies and TV shows featuring Japan, like “Lost in Translation” and “Mr. Baseball” (a very underrated baseball movie, by the way!), sampling Japanese food, and watching some of my favourite Japanese professional wrestlers, I’d love to spend some extended time over there. It just seems amazing!

Whether it’s seeing Mount Fuji up close, experiencing the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the tranquility of the cherry blossoms, or the spectacle of sumo wrestling, Japan seems like the perfect place for me to explore.

Of course, another place I would certainly go, would be to Hiroshima, and pay my respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and the A-Bomb Dome. It’s the site of the first atomic bombing, in August 1945, and a reminder to the world to work always toward peace, to prevent such a devastating event from ever happening again.

It’s a huge world out there. Where in the world would you like to go?