24 Feb 2026
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air,
drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself
to the influences of each.”
- Henry David Thoreau
Fresh year. Fresh snow. Fresh art.
Just returned from Japan, skiing the deep, fluffy powder of Hokkaido.
As always, traveling with my art supplies, I try to capture the atmosphere, the light, the colour, and the culture. Funnily enough, even though I’ve spent years in the snow, I’ve never painted it.
This ski trip was powerful for me.
It confirmed my love of skiing; it’s in my bones.
I come from a devoted ski family, and I have missed it so much living in Australia. Ten years have passed since I last skied, and with a new knee, I’ve decided I’m going to ski every year for the next ten.
I’m looking for friends and family to join me. Are you interested?
I love the speed, the snow, the views, and that wonderful exhaustion at the end of a good day of carving turns, followed by a relaxing soak in the onsen.
Aside from a few falls, I’ve got my ski legs back after three days on the runs. I took a day off after the first two days to rest my muscles, having forgotten how many you use in both the upper and lower body. My new knee handled everything beautifully. Skiing is such a wonderful sport and a fantastic workout.
During this visit, I stayed at Moiwa Lodge a communal, cozy, fun lodge at the base of the hill. Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort is renowned for its soft, endless powder snow, the resort welcomed me with peaceful slopes and breathtaking views.
It was also a great visit with my nephew Maximilian. Spending some one-on-one time allowed us to get to know each other better. Turns out he has the travel bug, just like me.
Inspirational book:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
It is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel from 2014 about a blind French girl, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, and a German boy, Werner Pfennig, whose lives collide in occupied Saint-Malo, France, during World War II. The story alternates between their perspectives, exploring themes of survival, morality, and human connection.
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