Now

This is a page summarizing what I’m doing now. Now as in currently. It is updated somewhat regularly (probably a lie) with an earnest interest in keeping it fairly up to date and linked to my actual daily life.

Want your own? Read more about /now pages here.

Last updated 2026-08-26

Many changes are afoot.

On Friday, August 7, 2026, my daughter was born. At the time of writing, she is a week old, tiny, amazing, and absolutely in charge of my life despite her complete lack of management experience. Relatedly, priorities are changing, I’m trying to get minimized and organized, doing my best to clear all the unnecessary crap out of my life while growing my career and building my skills.

I’m (Still) Writing a Japan Travel Book

Currently writing a travel book based on my experience in Japan, as both a tourist and a long-term resident. When I started travelling abroad, the sort of travel book that would have benefitted me the most didn’t exist. Now I’m writing that book, in hopes of helping others who travel here.

Check out the project and help it happen by backing it early at davidwroteabook.com

Back the Project Now

What follows from here is a brand new attempt at a summary of what’s up. Bottom line, in the two years since I last updated this, a hell of a lot has changed and nearly everything on the previous version of this page was wildly out of date. So now, let’s try to do this again fresh in August 2026.

What I’m up to now (in no particular order):

• Rebuilding basically all my sites. This site, Somewhere in Japan, Aleatorist, Raking Sand, etc. I’ve decided to quit using Elementor, as the cost just isn’t justified anymore. It’s expensive bloatware and it’ll all be better once I rebuild without it, but it’s going to take some time. This site will be redone without WordPress at all, as my needs for this site are simpler and Hostinger's in-house builder is easier to use to get what I want. I can always migrate back to WordPress or something else later if needed.

• Doing my best to eat better and exercise more. Partly in the interest of getting my weight down, but even more in service of generally being much healthier. For my sake, and for the sake of my wife and child who deserve a healthier husband and father. Already down to under 74kg from about 79.5kg earlier this year.

• Working on travel articles for a client. Late last year, I was hired to start rewriting English language travel articles for a Japanese site, and since then I’ve expanded into doing photography and writing on original articles for the same client. It’s a good challenge, and a good opportunity to refine my skills.

• Working to launch a new service that combines teaching English with a second topic like photography, art history, or media literacy using what amounts to a CLIL framework.

• Doing my best to take care of my cat, Tora, who’s adorable and annoying and who has some kidney problems. They’re manageable, but it’s an added expense, and that’s added motivation to get more income coming in.

• Thinking of new ways I can teach photography, lead experimental walking tours and photo workshops in Tokyo, etc. Basically, I have an interesting but unconventional skill set and expertise in unexpected things. I believe I can leverage these to create value for others, but there’s no clear roadmap to pursuing it effectively.

• Trying to fix my sleep. I still regularly screw it up, but it’s getting better. No alcohol makes a huuuuuuuge difference

There’s more, but in the interest of getting the rest of the site rebuilt, that’s it for now. I’ll update more later on as I think of other things that should be here.