Around this time last month, Bryson and I celebrated our 7 month Japanniversary, as well as our 7 year anniversary.
We chose to make this year a little more memorable by taking a seven day trip to Ishigaki Island, one of Japan’s southernmost islands.
We spent our nights at Iriwa Guest House (the most beautiful, relaxing, and cozy guest house on the planet), and our days swimming in the beautiful clear blue waters surrounding the island. The staff at Iriwa were the most friendly, inviting, and warmhearted people, and the guests visiting from all over the world, were equally as lovely.
We would spend our mornings outside drinking tea, swinging in a hammock, listening to the cicadas sing, and enjoying the view of the dancing sugar cane fields. Our afternoons would be spent ducking under banana leafs on our way to the nearest beach, where we would spend the rest of the daylight hours exploring the ocean’s reefs and shell and coral covered beaches. In the evening we ate local foods, made new friends, played card games, and learned songs on the ukulele, guitar, harmonica and bongo drums.
We were also lucky enough to spend a day visiting Taketomi Island, an island known for it’s traditional architecture and population of under 350 people.
I don’t think a day goes by where we don’t talk about picking up and moving our lives over to Ishigaki Island, to live like we did during those magical eight days.
The warmth, blue waters, and beautiful people, are memories that will never be forgotten.
At the end of this post is a little video of the first firefly Bryson and I have ever seen. We were trekking through a pitch-black sugarcane field, trying to find a fresh body of water to better our chances at seeing one. It had just started raining and we were beginning to lose hope, when all of a sudden one appeared like a little forest spirit dancing between the rain drops.
