In all our years of traveling, and stamps in our passports, we had never hitchhiked. We’d put miles beneath us in the air, on trains, in cars, on boats… but never had a stranger help us get to our destination.
But there we were, walking the dark streets of a small Japanese town with no yen. We’d spent the day on an impulsive excursion to Buddha No Osen – Japanese wine country – and didn’t make a stop to exchange our money. With nearly everything closed and a distance of 45 minutes left to our hotel, we tried getting the last cab in town to take us, but he wouldn’t accept our debit cards or fresh American bills. The hotel was not answering the phone, but with a two-night stay booked in a town where every room was booked… we just knew we had to get there.
Brainstorming, researching and wandering the streets, weighed-down by our backpacks, we collapsed at a gas station and tried every card we could to get money through their ATM without success. Resigned to sleep in the gas station thanks to the generosity of the staff, we settled in. With midnight approaching, a man came to speak with us and shared that one of his friends would take us to our hotel for free. All of this conversation took place through a speak and translate app, which brought us great bouts of laughter as we spoke in broken words with one another. Maggie and I looked at each other and thought: “Ok, so we’re hitchhiking now…” Despite all we’d ever heard, and knowing this was a potential crazy thing to do, we’d experienced enough of the Japanese culture to know that their hospitality is boundless.
We pack our bags in the back of a small black car, we buckle in and travel the curves of the mountains in the darkness (both nervously tracking our route to make sure he was taking us to our hotel). 45 minutes of app-translated conversation, we arrive at our hotel… which, apparently was closed for the night. Did hotels close? We checked nearby hotels and it seemed to be common policy because we couldn’t find anyone to help us.
Peering over fences, knocking on windows, trying to find an open door all proved fruitless. We told our kind guide that we would just sleep at the door of the hotel. He shook it head no and shivered saying: no way, it’s too cold. I can’t leave you guys here. We replied that we were fine and we’d just laugh about it later.
A light flickered in the hotel and we all started hollering to get attention.
A man came and unlocked the door and welcomed us in. He greeted us by saying, “You must be Allison Davis.” As we checked in, we recounted the hilarity and difficulty in the journey. His reply is one I’ll never forget: “Congratulations on your perseverance.” Maggie & I could not stop laughing. It was all too comical. And all too true.
Without any yen, we gave our heroic driver Katzia the only possession we could share: the one bottle of wine we bought in Buddha No Onsen. We hugged him, took a selfie and retired to bed about 2:30 a.m.
Even though it was nerve-wracking, a bit dangerous,
We went with our gut.
We took the risk.
Learned from our journey.
That’s what we’re here to do: to share our journey of the plans we’ve made, the excursions along the way, the problems and roadblocks, the risks we took, the way perseverance has paid off and how we’ve enjoyed and prospered along the way in the adventure of being a creative entrepreneur. And we invite you to hitchhike with us and trust us to take you on this part of your journey.
Our first popup workshop is Thursday, July 18 at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in downtown Dallas. Maggie & I are ready to share lessons we’ve learned in the years of being entrepreneurs and creatives. We hope you’ll come alongside us in this journey. The flyer below shares most of the details for this first experiential workshop. E-mail me at allison@allisondavisphotography.com with any questions and we hope to see you there.
