Traveling with purpose. Writing from the heart. Marie Journals is a personal travel blog about slow travel, hiking, and intentional journeys—mostly around Japan. Here, I share honest travel stories, detailed guides, reflections from the trail, and practical tips from my own experiences hiking and walking pilgrimages like the Camino de Santiago.
I’m gonna be honest with you. As much as I love hiking and being in nature, it terrifies me to my very core to go hiking by myself. I’m scared of snakes, wild animals.. and spirits. Yes, I’m talking about ghosts and stuff like that. It stopped me from going hiking by myself for the…
I love hiking. I also love onsen. If you ask me which one I love more, I don’t think I’d have an answer. So if you’re like me and want the best of both worlds, you should definitely check out the Mt. Mitake – Mt. Hinode – TsuruTsuru Onsen route. TIMELINE Sep. 22, 2024 /…
After our Nabewari-Tonodake fiasco, I needed a pick-me up (easy) hike where I can feel good about myself again. Some friends are going to Mt. Takao- Mt. Jinba and I decided to tag along. TIMELINE SEP. 14, 2024 , 9:00 – Our meet-up place was Takaosanguchi Station. We took the Inariyama course / 稲荷山コース /…
If you’re looking for a beginner friendly dayhike, Mitake-san is perfect for you. Mount Mitake has long been worshipped as a sacred mountain. Mitake Shrine dates back to as early as 90 B.C., making it one of the oldest in Japan. Known in Japanese as anzan sugi, Mt. Mitake’s sacred cedar trees are believed to…
I recently went on a waterfall meditation / sound healing retreat for my birthday. It was a very interesting experience for me because it was my first time doing waterfall meditation and my second time experiencing sound healing. I saw a reel from Yamatrips Japan about waterfalls meditation at Seizan-so right right around the time…