Our First Booking: The Beginning of Welcome to Japan

On March 12th, just ten days after launching Welcome to Japan, we received our very first booking.

It might look like a small moment from the outside, but for me it represents a year of change, risk, growth, and the beginning of an entirely new chapter of life.

A Moment That Changed Everything

In August 2024, I was made redundant from what many people would consider a stable and secure job in a stable and secure industry.

At first it was a bit of a shock. A lot of a shock actually. But it didn’t take long before I began to see it from a completely different perspective.

It was an opportunity.

An opportunity to stop and stand completely till. An opportunity to step back from the life I had been living, and ask myself some honest and hard questions. Who do I really want to be? What are my values as a human being? Am I living in alignment with those values? How do I want to live this life?

Over the next four months I travelled, sometimes alone and sometimes with groups, joining volunteer programs and adventure programs along the way.

I travelled through SE Asia and then through Central America. But more than anything, it was a time for reflection. I spent a lot of time journaling. Every morning and every night, meditating, going on long runs, and simply sitting with my thoughts.

It wasn’t always easy to answer those questions, but slowly things started to become clearer (journalling is the secret sauce to this btw). I realised that I wasn't living in alignment with my values, and that had to change asap. I realised I wanted a life that involved people and contribution. Through culture, food and things that I love, I wanted to connect with people and create experiences that bring others together.

Once that clarity arrived, everything else started to fall into place.

Selling Everything and Starting Again

When I returned to Perth at the end of January in 2025, I knew what I needed to do. I was going to move to Japan and start a tour company.

So the next two months became a whirlwind of preparation.

I began selling almost everything I owned. Furniture, equipment, personal belongings. Bit by bit, my life in Perth started to shrink down until everything I owned could fit into a couple boxes and two suitcases.

I didn’t even have a permanent address during that time. I stayed in hotels, Airbnbs, on friends’ couches, and occasionally even slept in my car. Looking back, it was the beginning of a period of immense transformation. I was completely locked in on becoming the best version of myself, aligning my thoughts and behaviours with my values, and slowly shedding the belongings and identity of my old life.

Then, in early April, I boarded a flight to Japan. Sitting on that plane felt surreal. I wasn’t just travelling somewhere for a holiday. I was stepping into a completely new chapter of life.

Building Welcome to Japan

On May 22nd, 2025, I officially incorporated Welcome to Japan LLC.

From that moment onward, nearly every day was dedicated to building the business. There were bank accounts to open, accountants to find, legal paperwork to navigate, a website to build, tours to design, and marketing systems to set up.

Starting a business anywhere in the world is challenging, but doing it in a country where the language is not your first language definitely adds another layer of complexity. Japan also has a lot of processes and bureaucracy, which meant that many things took MUCH longer than expected.

But every challenge was also an opportunity to learn. Step by step, piece by piece, the foundation of the business started to come together. And throughout the entire process I kept coming back to the same simple idea: I wanted a life built around people and contribution, creating experiences through food, culture, and the things I love that bring others together.

Launching the Business

On March 2nd, 2026, we officially launched Welcome to Japan to the world.

We began sharing organic content across social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn, slowly introducing the idea and the experiences we’re building.

Then, just ten days later, on March 12th, our very first booking came through GetYourGuide.

When I saw that booking appear, I took a moment to let it all register. It wasn’t about the booking itself. It was the feeling that everything was starting to come together, and the realisation that this was the beginning of the next chapter. The first thing I did was call my parents.

A vision that had lived in my mind for years was finally stepping out into the world.

What Happens Next

Now the real work begins.

Starting in April, I’ll be running regular walking tours around Tokyo. The goal is simple: get out into the streets, meet people, and start sharing the experience that Welcome to Japan is all about.

Asakusa on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Yanaka on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Harajuku on Fridays and Saturdays.

Many of these tours will begin as free walking tours so we can introduce people to the experience, build reviews, and slowly grow the community around Welcome to Japan.

Building something meaningful takes time, consistency, and patience. But that’s all part of the journey, and I’m incredibly excited for what’s ahead.

A Heartfelt Thank You

To everyone who has supported this journey so far, thank you.

The messages, encouragement, and belief from so many people has meant more than you probably realise. Starting a business and building a new life in a new country can be challenging at times, but knowing that people believe in you and what you’re building gives you an enormous amount of motivation.

We launched the business on March 2nd.

We received our first booking on March 12th. (And just in the couple days since then, I've been waking up to more and more bookings each day!!)

This is only the beginning guys.

As I like to remind myself "how I do anything, is how I do everything". And, I'm doing everything to the absolute best of my ability.

The journey continues. I love you guys <3