I have not been feeling well since the end of last year. At first I thought that I had entered a “bad luck cycle” that is common in my life, but things did not improve and my physical condition was not good either. The cause of all the problems seemed to be insomnia, according to my acupuncturist, which was highly likely owing to my high heart rate even while I am at rest. The results of medical checkup showed that there was no problem with the heart itself, so it must be an autonomic nervous system problem. I decided to purchase an Apple Watch and monitor my health status.
After a 4-day trip to Taiwan in February, the situation was improved. My heart rate dropped and my insomnia somewhat eased. However, the golden time was over after three weeks. Hay fever triggered another bad cycle, things were even worsening due to natural factors such as typhoon-class low air pressers coming almost every week and harsh temperature fluctuations in this spring. The insomnia worsened as my physical condition was weaken.
My acupuncturist and I share the same view that fundamental solution to my autonomic nervous system problem is quitting my job, but that simple solution will likely to lead other problems. It seems to me that an effective strategy getting better would be to go on a trip.
It was around the end of March, but I did not think I can wait until Japan’s Golden Week holidays in May. I decided to go to Hotel Keifu on the outskirts of Hakodate, which I had planned to visit in late fall. I have decided to make the trip advance. Since the purpose of this trip was self-therapy, one-night trip would be too short. After some research, I found out another hotel named Hotel Hakodate Hirome-so, also on the outskirts of Hakodate. I also found that When I stayed two-nights in a row, they would provide a shuttle service between accommodations. Since there is a favorite high-end sushi restaurant in Hakodate where I may visit at the end of the trip and I have heard that no hay fever in Hokkaido, it would be a perfect escape from reality.
Even though I omitted spring break period, there were no seats available on frequent flyer award ticket for the flight leaving Tokyo on Saturday morning. In fact, the plane itself was nearly full. Rather than having a seat in the middle of three-rows of seats at a fare close to the full amount, I decided to take the Hokkaido Shinkansen even if the ride took four and a half hours. For about the same fare, I could ride in the green car (upper class). Since I would be sleepless at night, it would be good to get a sleep while on the Shinkensen.
I bought a beer at Tokyo Station for a morning nightcap (or whatever called in English), but before I could finish it, I lost consciousness around Ueno Station, and when I opened my eyes a few seconds later, I was already in Aomori. I didn’t even notice Sendai or Morioka Stations on the way. By drinking a stale, room-temperature liquid, I passed through the Seikan Tunnel with my consciousness often losing, then arrived Hokkaido Island. With this much sleep while moving on the Shinkansen, the green car ticket would have paid for itself.
When I arrived in Hakodate, the weather was clear and the temperature was hot. It was so hot that it seemed a different city where I had been freezing in a snowstorm a few months back.
I took a streetcar from Hakodate Station to Jujigai. After a lunch at Gotoken, a favorite curry restaurant, we boarded the hotel’s shuttle. On that day, the Tsugaru Strait had a calm seascape. After arriving at the hotel, I went out to see the nearby Todohokke fisheries port and lighthouse.
I went to bed early on that night, perhaps tired from two hours of walking around, or perhaps from the good effects of the self-therapy.
The next morning, I was in bad condition. Was the effect of the self-therapy an illusion?
I went out for another walk to take some pictures. It was warm again that day. As I walked, my eyes were caught by a cedar tree with a disturbing brown color – bad sign for cedar pollen.
I guessed that the reason for my poor condition that day was hay fever. This was completely unexpected. I heard that only birch trees could cause hay fever in Hokkaido Island, but it might be a different story in southern Hokkaido. It is true that about 20 kilometers across the Tsugaru Strait from the hotel is Honshu Island. Therefore, it would not be surprising if there were some cedar trees growing in the area. Unlike the Kanto area, where pollen dispersal was just about to over, this was probably the peak of the season in southern Hokkaido.
I have hay fever only from cedar trees, not from birch trees for sure. I thought I would not have hay fever, and did not bring any medicine with me. Moreover, there was no drugstore in the neighborhood in remote area of Hakodate.
Even so, thankfully my hay fever did not get much worse, perhaps because there are fewer cedar trees in the forest, or perhaps because there are fewer air pollutants.
When I returned to Hakodate city central in the afternoon of the last day, I finally found a drugstore. I thought I would be okay to return from Hakodate without any medicine, but the last and biggest event of the trip, the dinner at high-end sushi restaurant was planned just before my return flight.
I rushed into the drug store. There was a shelf of nasal inflammation medicine, but as much as seen in the Kanto area. I wondered if the demand was rather low. Still, the medicine was the same.
I finished up my trip at the sushi restaurant without a dripping from my nose. On the return flight, there were seats available on the award ticket, I took the last flight back to Tokyo. The weather was fine during the trip, and I returned to Tokyo extremely satisfied.
As I was sitting on the express bus from Haneda Airport to Yokohama Station, my Apple Watch beeped just before the Yokohama Bay Bridge as the bus entered Yokohama City. My Apple Watch was set to sound an alarm when my heart rate exceeds 120 beats per minute at rest. By the time I arrived at Yokohama station, it had calmed down to about 100. There was no way I could sleep when I got home in that state, and my insomnia returned back.
Is a three-day trip not enough time to deal with insomnia? Or do I need to have a passport for a self-therapy trip?
It is possible that the idea of traveling as self-therapy is an illusion. However, I would like to avoid the fundamental solution to my autonomic nervous system problem, so I need to devise a different coping remedy.
In order to come up with a new strategy, I need to reexamine my life from a new perspective. In order to make a fresh start, I decided to go to travel first.