On Thursday’s blog, I talked about how I was gutted that my Tokyo trip was canceled. And it’s true I was. But I always remember one thing my mum always says when something bad happens. Translated from Bangla it goes like, “everything happens for a reason”. I believe this is a common quote but I will credit it to my Mum.

It was a windy day today. Just before going to work today, I had to stop at the ATM. I parked my bicycle and got into the ATM. I did what I had to do and came out.

As I came back to my bicycle I saw the wind and knocked down a bicycle. Not mine but someone else's. The owner was nowhere to be seen. I looked around for a few seconds. Then before leaving I decided to pick up the bicycle. Put it upright again. And left the scene. As I was riding to my work I was thinking, that person will probably never know what just happened. He won’t ever know the small act of kindness I did. He might never know but it does feel good.

“A thoroughly socialized person is one who desires only the rewards that others around him have agreed he should long for— rewards often grafted onto genetically programmed desires.”-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Ever since I started running I have seen a positive change in my sleep. I talk about this fact a lot. I am talking about this again. I am in deep sleep stage majority of my sleep time. I have been tracking my sleep with a smartwatch or fitness band for the past 3-4 years and the data shows me how my sleep has been impacted. One other thing I have noticed is that I dream less which might be positive or negative. I am not sure about this point.

Late last year I had this urge to experiment with creating travel content. I had been creating videos since 2016. I always tried to experiment with the content I create and I guess this time it was my turn to try out travel content. I was lucky enough to travel during 2021 and I thought why not take an opportunity and create some content on Instagram.

So before trying it out I followed Instagram accounts about travel in Japan. I wanted to see what people are creating and what kind of content people like to watch. I found a variety of accounts. From native Japanese people to foreign content creators. But my focus was mainly on foreign content creators who made content in English. Because I would be doing the same. After searching for a week I found a good amount of accounts and I did see a few patterns in the content people created. Some accounts were widely similar while others niched down a lot. I also tried to look at smaller accounts rather than bigger accounts. Here are some of the things I noticed.

2 weeks gone of the year just like that. I hope you had a good start to the year. But I hope you stress less each day. Stress is one of the silent killers of everyday life.

I just finished watching season 3 of After Life. Highly recommend anyone to watch the show. It’s a show where you can a lot of life lessons through subtle comedy.

Although I love a lot of different parts of the show, today I want to talk about a scene from Episode 5 Season 3. If you haven’t watched Season 3 please don’t read on.

Vlog 002 starts off with a shot that normally hooks in the viewer. Casey is at St. Barths standing near a bridge when a plane passes by very closely. Interesting enough for the viewer to keep on watching because this shot lasts only 17 seconds.

There are approximately 2.28 million vending machines in Japan. This is from 2020 and apparently, it has been decreasing for the past 7 years. But in spite of the decrease that’s a huge amount of vending machines. 2.28 million!

Vending machines in Japan come in a similar rectangular shape. Most of them sell beverages mostly. There are some unique vending machines in different corners of Japan but mostly its beverages.

The trick is to not listen to your mind. Listen to your body. If your body tells you that you need to rest, listen to it. At least listen to it on most days to avoid injuries. You should have days where you push your body to its limit but you should also be smart with it. Don’t injure yourself.

Back to the point. When your mind isn't feeling like it, try to ignore it on most days. Because your mind is an expert. An expert at making up excuses. An expert at showing you what else you can do instead of exercising. On your bad days, your mind is at an advantage. The ball is in its court and it’s ready to smash it. Whatever argument it throws at you will be nonsense but to you on a bad day, it works. You are not ready to fight. Your mind will have the upper hand.

I will keep today’s blog short and simple. I am currently reading Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I am just in the first few pages and these parts really stuck with me.

”The foremost reason that happiness is so hard to achieve is that the universe was not designed with the comfort of human beings in mind”

”The earth may be our only home but it is a home full of booby traps waiting to go off at any moment.”

I was not a fan of black coffee for 24 years of my life. I am 26 now and black coffee is a big part of my life. So what happened in the past 3 years?

I basically replaced my addiction to coca-cola with black coffee. I talk in more detail in this blog. I am no longer addicted to coca-cola and although initially, coffee did become an addiction but right now I am no longer dependent on coffee. Although I say that, I do enjoy my hot cup of black coffee.

00:37. I just came back from the movie theatre. I finished watching the new Spiderman movie. The movie was good. But today’s post is not about the movie. It’s about the experience of watching movies in the theatre.

Casey Neistat is a big inspiration for any online filmmaker growing up around 2015. His daily vlog revolutionized how people treat vlogging. It also challenged creators on Youtube to up their level. Just like everyone else he is a big influence on me. I got introduced to him by a friend and ever since I discovered him I never stopped watching his videos. Even though he has stopped making videos regularly I often rewatch his old vlogs.
There is a lot to learn from Casey Neistat and his style of storytelling and filmmaking. He himself recently released his own course on monthly. I am not able to afford his course at the moment but his Youtube is a free source to learn from for any creators.
Since his vlog series is what skyrocketed his Youtube growth, I wanted to revisit all of his vlogs and write one blog for every vlog he made in his series. I think he made 534 daily vlogs. That’s a lot of blogs to write. But he is my favorite video creator and I wouldn’t mind rewatching and writing about all his vlogs.