Never A Simple Goodbye

by Brenna Holeman

osaka-bar-1 osaka-bar-2 osaka-bar-3 osaka-bar-4

Osaka, Japan

My mother, father, and brother are spread across 4000km in Canada, in three different cities. My sister lives in Beer Sheba, Israel. My boyfriend lives in Tokyo, Japan. My dearest friends live in South Korea, Australia, Japan, Canada, France, and America. The thing about living a perpetually transient life in a place that fosters transient lifestyles is that sometimes you feel very alone. I feel like I am always saying goodbye.

You may also like

4 comments

jesse September 10, 2010 - 6:04 pm

Hey! I’m curious how old you are, and how you have funded so much travel… I travel a lot and people are always curious how I manage to do it and at such a young age (I’m 21) and also as a female. I work while abroad often, and there are definite ways to get by on a lot less money than people think.

Anyway, I love reading your blog/looking at your pictures. I have a blog at http://jessehorne.tumblr.com which I post my photography at if you want to check it out (sorry for the shameless self promotion…)

Hope you find yourself somewhere awesome after Japan, I look forward to new posts!

Reply
Brenna September 11, 2010 - 9:22 am

Hi Jesse,

Thanks for your comment! Your photos are beautiful…you really have an eye for detail, as they say.

I am 26, and have funded my travels mostly through dumb luck and some hard work (mostly high-paying albeit temporary jobs, such as working in the movie industry and teaching overseas). I try to save as much as I can and spend as little as I can when I am actually in a place.

Good luck with all of your travels! I’m sure wherever I find myself after Osaka it will be amazing. It always is if you have the right attitude.

Reply
Colleen Brynn March 31, 2011 - 8:54 pm

Brenna… I have just spent an hour poring over your blog.
“I feel like I am always saying goodbye”…
When I lived in England, I had a very dear Mexican friend, and we lived in different cities. I may or may not have been in love with him. When I said goodbye to him for the last time in England, he told me that it is never a goodbye but “Hasta luego”… See you later.

Reply
This Battered Suitcase April 1, 2011 - 1:30 pm

I try to do the same thing – say, “see you later”, not “goodbye”. Because, really, the more I travel the more I realize that our world is very, very small.

Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.